ESL Conversation Starters by Level and Grammar Point

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Card 1 · Past perfect, stories and past habits · Medium

When you arrived at your last party or meeting, what had already happened?

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ESL Conversation Starters by Level and Grammar Point: how it works

The card on screen is a speaking question, and Next card deals another. These 212 ESL conversation starters are graded A1 to C1 and sorted into 12 groups by the grammar an answer needs, from present simple to inversion. The list under the deck prints the level and grammar point of every question.

Pick a grammar group, then a level

Tap the group you taught this week. Conditionals (23) climbs from what do you do if you cannot sleep, an A2 zero conditional, to were you to start your career again, which is C1. The level pills follow the CEFR bands: Easy is A1 and A2 (94 questions), Medium is B1 and B2 (92) and Hard is C1 (26). A group and a level can be on together: Present perfect plus Medium leaves nine cards.

First lesson icebreakers and pair work

First lesson icebreakers holds 17 ESL icebreaker questions for a new class, 14 of them A1 or A2, such as why are you learning English this year. For pair work, one learner reads the card and the partner answers in a full sentence, then they swap. Each question in the list has a follow-up in the same grammar, so a fast pair keeps talking while you listen to a slow one.

Tips

Ask for the target form, not just an answer. Pizza answers what would you order; I would order pizza practices the conditional.
The tags follow the British Council and EAQUALS Core Inventory, which puts the second conditional at B1 and mixed conditionals at B2. Your coursebook may differ by a level.
Let a card run. B1 in the CEFR means describing experiences and giving reasons, so one question answered for two minutes beats six answered in a word.

Questions and answers

What level are these ESL questions?

A1 to C1. 54 questions are tagged A1, 40 A2, 49 B1, 35 B2 and 26 C1; eight carry B1 to B2. The tag names the grammar of a natural answer, so an A2 card about last weekend still works at B2 if you ask for more detail.

Can I use the questions for one-to-one tutoring online?

Yes. Share your screen or read the card aloud, and let the learner press Skip on a topic they would rather leave. Pick two groups per lesson: one the learner controls, for fluency, and a new one, for accuracy.

Why does no question start with have you ever?

Because yes or no ends the turn. Every card is an open question, so Present perfect asks what is the best meal you have ever eaten and which cities or countries have you visited. The learner still produces the tense, and the follow-up moves to the past simple.

All 212 questions

First lesson icebreakers 17

How long have you studied English, and where did you start? A2, present perfect. Then: Who was your first teacher?
If this class could take a trip together, where would we go? B1, second conditional. Then: What would we do on the first day?
What are you going to do straight after this lesson? A1, going to. Then: What are you going to eat tonight?
What can you do well that this class does not know about? A1, can. Then: Who taught you?
What did you do last weekend? A1, past simple. Then: Who were you with?
What do you and the person next to you both like? Ask, then tell us. A1, present simple. Then: What does your partner like that you do not?
What have you been doing in English outside class lately? B1, present perfect continuous. Then: How long have you been doing it?
What is the hardest part of English for you? A1, superlatives. Then: What is the easiest?
What is your favorite English word so far? A1, to be. Then: How do you say it in your language?
What might surprise this class about you? B1, might. Then: What might surprise us about your town?
What name do you like people to call you? A1, present simple. Then: Who calls you something different?
What was difficult for you a year ago that is easy now? A1, past simple of to be. Then: What helped?
What would you like to be able to do in English by next year? A2, would like. Then: What do you want to do first?
When do you need English most? A1, present simple. Then: Who do you speak it with?
Where are you from, and what is it famous for? A1, to be. Then: What is the weather like there today?
Which languages do you speak, and who do you speak them with? A1, present simple. Then: Which one do you dream in?
Why are you learning English this year? A1, present continuous. Then: Who are you speaking English with outside class?

Present simple and continuous 20

How do you get to work or school? A1, present simple. Then: How long does it take?
How many hours do you sleep, and how many do you want? A1, how much and how many. Then: How many alarms do you set?
How often do you cook at home? A1, frequency adverbs. Then: What do you never cook?
What are you learning at the moment, apart from English? A1, present continuous. Then: Who is teaching you?
What are you reading or watching these days? A1, present continuous. Then: Why do you like it?
What are you wearing on your feet today? A1, present continuous. Then: Why are you wearing those?
What can you hear at night where you live? A1, can. Then: What can you smell in the morning?
What can you say in a third language? A1, can. Then: What can you not say yet in English?
What do you do on Sunday mornings? A1, present simple. Then: Who do you see?
What do you eat for breakfast? A1, present simple. Then: Who makes it?
What do you hate doing at home? A1, like, love and hate with -ing. Then: What do you love doing there?
What do you never do on a Monday? A1, frequency adverbs. Then: What do you sometimes do on a Friday?
What does your best friend do all day? A1, present simple, he and she forms. Then: Where does he or she live?
What is happening outside the window right now? A1, present continuous. Then: Who is walking past?
What is there in your living room? A1, there is and there are. Then: How many chairs are there?
What is there on your street? A1, there is and there are. Then: What is there not enough of?
What is your town like in winter? A1, to be. Then: What is it like in summer?
What kind of music do you like listening to? A1, like and -ing. Then: When do you listen to it?
What time do you usually get up? A1, present simple. Then: What do you do first?
Who do you talk to every day? A1, present simple. Then: What do you talk about?

Past simple and continuous 20

What did you collect or keep in a box when you were small? A1, past simple. Then: Where did you keep the box?
What did you fix, build or make last year? A1, past simple. Then: How did you learn to do it?
What did you forget this week? A1, past simple, irregular verbs. Then: When did you remember?
What did you have for dinner last night? A1, past simple. Then: Who cooked it?
What did you watch on TV when you were a child? A1, past simple. Then: Who watched with you?
What games did you play as a child? A1, past simple. Then: Who did you play with?
What was happening on your street when you left home today? A2, past continuous. Then: What were people carrying?
What was the last thing you bought? A1, past simple. Then: Why did you buy it?
What was the last trip you took, and how did you travel? A1, past simple. Then: What did you bring home?
What was your first job, or the first work you did for someone? A1, past simple of to be. Then: What did you do there?
What was your street like when you were a child? A1, past simple of to be. Then: Who were your neighbors?
What were you doing at this time yesterday? A2, past continuous. Then: Who were you talking to?
What were you doing when your phone last rang? A2, past continuous and past simple. Then: What did you do next?
What were you thinking about on your way here? A2, past continuous. Then: What were you listening to?
When and where did you first speak English outside a classroom? A2, questions in the past. Then: What did you say?
When did you last laugh a lot? A2, questions in the past. Then: What was funny?
Where did you go on your last day off? A1, past simple. Then: What did you do there?
Where did you live when you were ten? A1, past simple. Then: What was your room like?
Where were you at eight o'clock this morning? A1, past simple of to be. Then: Who was with you?
Who taught you to ride a bike or to swim, and how did it go? A2, questions in the past. Then: How long did it take?

Present perfect 18

How long have you been learning English, and what has helped most? B1, present perfect continuous. Then: What has not helped?
How long have you known your best friend? A2, present perfect with for and since. Then: Where did you meet?
How long have you lived in your home? A2, present perfect with for and since. Then: Where did you live before?
What food have you never eaten but want to try? A2, present perfect with never. Then: Why have you never tried it?
What has been the best news of your year so far? A2, present perfect. Then: Who have you told?
What has changed in your town since you were a child? B1, present perfect and past simple. Then: When did it change?
What have you already finished this week? B1 to B2, present perfect with already and yet. Then: What have you not started yet?
What have you been doing since you woke up? B1, present perfect continuous. Then: What have you been thinking about?
What have you been meaning to do for weeks? B1, present perfect continuous. Then: What has been stopping you?
What have you been watching lately? B1, present perfect continuous. Then: How long have you been watching it?
What have you broken this year? A2, present perfect. Then: How did it happen?
What have you done today so far? A2, present perfect. Then: What have you not done?
What have you wanted to do for years, and what stopped you last time? B1, present perfect and past simple. Then: What has changed since then?
What is the best meal you have ever eaten? A2, present perfect with ever. Then: Where did you eat it?
What is the strangest building you have ever been inside? A2, present perfect with ever. Then: When did you go there?
What sport or hobby have you tried once and stopped? B1, present perfect and past simple. Then: Why did you stop?
Which cities or countries have you visited? A2, present perfect. Then: Which one did you like most?
Who have you just talked to, and what did they say? B1 to B2, present perfect with just. Then: What have you just remembered?

Future forms 18

By the time you retire, what will you have done that makes you proud? B2, future perfect. Then: What will you have given up?
How long will you have been studying English by next summer? B2, future perfect continuous. Then: How will you mark it?
How many English books will you have read by your next birthday? B2, future perfect. Then: Which one will you have enjoyed most?
What are you doing on Saturday? A2, present continuous for the future. Then: Who are you meeting?
What are you going to do differently next week? A1, going to. Then: How are you going to remember?
What are you going to do this evening? A1, going to. Then: Who are you going to see?
What are you going to eat next? A1, going to. Then: Who is going to make it?
What do you think the weather will be like tomorrow? A2, will. Then: What will you wear?
What is going to happen next in a show or a team you follow? B1, going to for prediction. Then: What makes you think so?
What will you be doing at this time tomorrow? B1, future continuous. Then: Who will you be doing it with?
What will you be working on next month? B1, future continuous. Then: Who will be helping you?
What will you do when this course ends? A2, will. Then: How will you keep your English?
What will you have finished by the end of this year? B2, future perfect. Then: What will you not have started?
What will you probably cook this weekend? B1, will with probably. Then: What will you definitely not cook?
What will your town look like in twenty years? B1, will for prediction. Then: What will be gone?
Where will you be living in five years? B1, future continuous. Then: What will you be doing there?
Which job do you think robots will do next? B1, will for prediction. Then: Which job will they never do?
Who are you seeing this week? A2, present continuous for the future. Then: Where are you meeting them?

Comparatives and superlatives 14

How is life today easier than life was for your grandparents? A2, comparatives with than. Then: How is it harder?
How is your town different from the capital: bigger, quieter, slower? A2, comparatives with than. Then: Which is friendlier?
What gets slightly better every year, and what gets a lot worse? B1 to B2, modifying comparatives. Then: What stays exactly as good?
What is much easier to do online than in person? B1 to B2, modifying comparatives. Then: What is a bit harder?
What is the best day of the week? A1, superlatives. Then: What is the worst?
What is the longest line you have ever stood in? A2, superlatives. Then: What was it for?
What is the most boring job at home? A1, superlatives. Then: Which job is the quickest?
What is the most interesting place near your home? A2, superlatives. Then: What is the quietest?
What was the hottest or coldest day you remember? A2, superlatives. Then: What did you do that day?
Which is better for studying, the morning or the night, and why? A1, comparatives. Then: Which is quieter?
Which is easier for you, speaking or writing? A1, comparatives. Then: Which is more useful?
Which is more difficult, English grammar or English spelling? A2, comparatives with than. Then: What is harder than both?
Which two cities you know are the most different, and how? B1, comparatives and superlatives. Then: Which would you rather live in?
Who is the best cook you know, and who is the worst? A1, superlatives. Then: What is the best thing he or she makes?

Modals: advice, rules and guesses 18

A friend is an hour late and not answering. What might have happened? B1, might have. Then: What should you do?
Flowers arrive at your door with no note. Who can't have sent them? B2, can't have. Then: Who might have?
The street is wet but the sky is clear. What must have happened? B2, modals of speculation. Then: What can't have happened?
What are you allowed to do now that you were not allowed to do at twelve? B1 to B2, permission and obligation. Then: What did you have to do then?
What could you do at ten that you cannot do now? A1, could and couldn't. Then: What couldn't you do then?
What did you have to do at school that you hated? A2, have to in the past. Then: What did you not have to do?
What did you worry about that you needn't have worried about? B2, needn't have. Then: What should you have worried about instead?
What do you have to do every morning? A2, have to. Then: What do you not have to do on Sundays?
What may change in your job or studies next year? B1, might and may. Then: What will probably stay the same?
What might you do next summer? B1, might and may. Then: What will you definitely not do?
What must a guest never do in a home in your country? B1, must and have to. Then: What does a guest have to bring?
What must every driver remember? B1, must and have to. Then: What do cyclists have to remember?
What rules do you have to follow at work or school? A2, have to. Then: Which rule should change?
What should a person do to learn English faster? A2, should. Then: What should they stop doing?
What should a visitor do first in your town? A2, should. Then: What should they not do?
What should I eat if I visit your country? A2, should. Then: Where should I eat it?
What should you have done last week but did not? B1, should have. Then: What could you have done instead?
Your neighbor's lights are on at 4 a.m. What must be happening? B1, must and can't for deduction. Then: What can't be the reason?

Conditionals 23

Had you been given one extra year at school, what would you have done with it? C1, inversion in conditionals. Then: Had it been two years, what then?
If English disappeared tomorrow, which language would the world use? B1, second conditional. Then: How would you feel about learning it?
If you could speak any language perfectly by tomorrow, which would you choose? B1, second conditional. Then: Who would you talk to first?
If you finish your next big task early, how will you celebrate? A2, first conditional. Then: What will you do if it is late?
If you had been born a hundred years earlier, what would your job have been? B1, third conditional. Then: What would you have missed?
If you had grown up in another country, which language would you have learned? B1, third conditional. Then: How would your life have been different?
If you had not met your best friend, how would your life be different today? B2, mixed conditional. Then: Who would you call instead?
If you had started English five years earlier, where would you be now? B2, mixed conditional. Then: What would you be reading?
If you taught a class in your own language, what would the first lesson be? B1, second conditional. Then: Which word would you teach first?
If you were braver, what would you have done last year? B2, mixed conditional. Then: What would you have said?
If you were the mayor of your town, what would you change first? B1, second conditional. Then: What would you leave alone?
Should a tourist ask you the way in English tomorrow, how would you cope? C1, inversion in conditionals. Then: Should they speak fast, what would you say?
Were you to start your career again, what would you do differently? C1, inversion in conditionals. Then: Were time no object, what then?
What do you do if you cannot sleep? A2, zero conditional. Then: What happens if you sleep badly?
What happens in your town when it rains hard? A2, zero conditional. Then: What do you do when it happens?
What will happen if you stop studying English for a year? A2, first conditional. Then: What will you forget first?
What will you do if it rains this weekend? A2, first conditional. Then: What will you do if it is sunny?
What will you do tonight if you have a free hour? A2, first conditional. Then: What will you do if you have none?
What would you do if you found a phone on a bus seat? B1, second conditional. Then: What would you do if nobody called it?
What would you have done yesterday if you had had the day off? B1, third conditional. Then: Who would you have seen?
What would you have studied if you had not chosen your subject or job? B1, third conditional. Then: Where would you have studied it?
What would you miss most if you moved abroad? B1, second conditional. Then: What would you be glad to leave?
What would you stop doing if days had only twenty hours? B1, second conditional. Then: What would you keep?

Past perfect, stories and past habits 17

By the age of twelve, what had you decided about your future? B1, past perfect. Then: Who had given you the idea?
How long had you been studying English before you first used it outside class? B2, past perfect continuous. Then: What happened?
How long had you been waiting the last time you gave up and left? B2, past perfect continuous. Then: What had you been waiting for?
On a trip that went wrong, what had you forgotten to do before you left? B1, past perfect. Then: When did you notice?
What did you use to believe as a child that makes you smile now? B1 to B2, used to. Then: When did you stop believing it?
What did you use to eat all the time that you never eat now? B1 to B2, used to. Then: What did you use to refuse?
What had you already learned before you started school? B1, past perfect. Then: Who had taught you?
What had you never done before last year? B1, past perfect. Then: Why had you never tried?
What happened the last time you got lost, and where were you going? B2, narrative tenses. Then: How had you gone wrong?
What is the best surprise you have had, and how did the day unfold? B2, narrative tenses. Then: Who had been planning it?
What small kitchen disaster can you tell from start to finish? B2, narrative tenses. Then: What had you been trying to make?
What was happening on the day you met someone important to you? B2, narrative tenses. Then: What had you planned to do instead?
What would your family do every summer when you were small? B2, would for past habits. Then: What would you complain about?
When you arrived at your last party or meeting, what had already happened? B1, past perfect. Then: Who had already left?
When you were ten, what would you do on a free Saturday? B2, would for past habits. Then: Who would you do it with?
Where did you use to spend your free time as a teenager? B1 to B2, used to. Then: Who used to go with you?
Where were you when you heard some big news, and what did you do next? B2, narrative tenses. Then: What had you been doing just before?

Passives, reported speech and relative clauses 17

What did a teacher once say to you that you still remember? B1, reported speech. Then: What did you say back?
What did people tell you about this town before you came, and was it true? B2, reported speech. Then: Who warned you about what?
What did the last person you spoke to today ask you? B1, reported questions. Then: What did you tell them?
What did your parents always tell you to do? B1, reported speech. Then: What did they tell you not to do?
What has been changed in your city center in the last few years? B2, passives. Then: What should have been left alone?
What is a shop or cafe where the staff know you? B2, relative clauses. Then: Who is someone whose order you know by heart?
What is being built or repaired near your home right now? B2, passives. Then: When will it be finished?
What is made or grown in your region? B1, simple passive. Then: Where is it sold?
What is something you own that you would never lend? B2, relative clauses. Then: Who is the person who asks most?
What should be taught in every school but is not? B2, passives with modals. Then: Who should it be taught by?
What was a time when everything went better than planned? B2, relative clauses. Then: What was the reason why?
What was the last thing someone promised you they would do? B2, reporting verbs. Then: What did you agree to do in return?
What were you given as a child that you still have? B1, simple passive. Then: Who were you given it by?
When was your home built, and what was there before? B1, simple passive. Then: Who was it built for?
Which dish from your country is often cooked badly abroad? B1, simple passive. Then: How should it be made?
Which festival is celebrated most in your town, and how? B1, simple passive. Then: What is eaten that day?
Who is a person who has taught you something important? B2, relative clauses. Then: What was the thing that they taught you?

Wishes and regrets 14

How would you finish this sentence: If only I had known that ...? C1, if only for regrets. Then: When did you find out?
What do you wish people would stop doing on public transport? B2, wish with would. Then: What do you wish they would start doing?
What do you wish someone would invent? B2, wish with would. Then: What do you wish nobody had invented?
What do you wish took half the time it takes? B2, wish. Then: What do you wish lasted longer?
What do you wish you could do in English today? B2, wish. Then: What do you wish you did not have to do?
What do you wish you had asked an older relative? C1, wish for regrets. Then: What do you think they would have said?
What do you wish you knew how to fix? B2, wish. Then: Who do you wish lived closer to help?
What do you wish your town had? B2, wish. Then: What do you wish it did not have?
What is it high time your town did? C1, unreal time. Then: What is it about time you did yourself?
What would you rather guests did when they visit your home? C1, unreal time with would rather. Then: What would you rather they did not do?
Which habit do you wish you had begun as a teenager? C1, wish for regrets. Then: Which do you wish you had never picked up?
Which opportunity do you wish you had taken? C1, wish for regrets. Then: Where might it have led?
Which school subject do you wish you had taken seriously? C1, wish for regrets. Then: Which do you wish you had been spared?
Which skill do you wish you were better at? B2, wish. Then: How good do you wish you were?

C1: inversion, speculation and emphasis 16

Having learned English this far, what would you tell a beginner? C1, participle clauses. Then: Looking back, what would you skip?
How does this end for you: What I miss most about being a child is ...? C1, cleft sentences. Then: And what you miss least?
How does your own story continue after No sooner had I arrived than ...? C1, inversion after negative adverbials. Then: Hardly had that ended when what began?
What could you truthfully say that begins Rarely have I ...? C1, inversion after negative adverbials. Then: And one that begins Seldom do I ...?
What did you understand only after failing at it? Begin: Only after ... C1, inversion after negative adverbials. Then: Only then did you do what?
What do you have done for you that you could do yourself? C1, advanced passives, have something done. Then: What would you never get done by others?
What is due to change in your life soon, and what are you about to decide? C1, future forms revision. Then: What are you on the point of giving up?
What is it that makes a city worth living in? C1, cleft sentences. Then: What you need most in a neighbor is what?
What is said to be true of your country that is only half true? C1, advanced passives. Then: What is it thought to be good at?
What is widely believed about language learning that you doubt? C1, advanced passives. Then: What is rarely said but true?
What might your life have looked like in your grandparents' village? C1, modals in the past. Then: What could you never have become there?
What were you made to do as a child that you are now grateful for? C1, advanced passives. Then: What were you never allowed to do?
When in your life would the phrase Little did I know have fitted best? C1, inversion after negative adverbials. Then: What did you find out?
Which decision of yours could easily have gone the other way? C1, modals in the past. Then: What would have followed?
Which invention ought to have been made years earlier? C1, modals in the past. Then: Who might have made it?
Which memory of yours fits the opening Not until I left home did I ...? C1, inversion after negative adverbials. Then: What did you realize next?

How this list was compiled: Written for this page by the Game Night Generator editors in September 2026; no question or follow-up is copied from another list. Every question is open, so none can be answered with yes or no, and each is built so that a natural answer needs the grammar named beside it. Grammar-to-level tags follow the British Council and EAQUALS Core Inventory for General English as listed level by level at https://www.examenglish.com/CEFR/cefr_grammar.htm (read 2026-09-19): for example past simple and going to at A1, present perfect and the first conditional at A2, the second and third conditionals and the simple passive at B1, mixed conditionals, wish and relative clauses at B2, inversion with negative adverbials at C1. Tags the inventory list does not name were placed by the British Council's own LearnEnglish grammar sections, https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/free-resources/grammar/b1-b2 and https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/free-resources/grammar/c1 (read 2026-09-19): used to, modifying comparatives, permission and obligation, and the present perfect with just, already and yet sit in its B1 to B2 section and are tagged B1 to B2; inversion in conditionals, cleft sentences, participle clauses, unreal time and advanced passives sit in its C1 section. What each level means (A1 and A2 basic user, B1 and B2 independent user, C1 proficient user, as published by the Council of Europe in 2001 with a Companion Volume in 2020) was read at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages on 2026-09-19, because the Council of Europe's own pages at coe.int refused the request that day. The vocabulary was kept plain by the editors but was not checked against the English Vocabulary Profile, which could not be reached. The deck level is an editor's mapping, not a test result: Easy is A1 and A2, Medium is B1 and B2, Hard is C1. Screened against the site blocklist: nothing sexual or romantic, no alcohol or drugs, nothing about a learner's body, pay, politics or religion, and no real people. On 2026-09-19 the deck was compared by script with every other question deck on this site, and questions that repeated one elsewhere were rewritten. This site is not connected with the British Council, EAQUALS, the Council of Europe or Exam English. Licence: own work