I’d like to change something (verb patterns)

Inna | Jan 02, 2026Dec 29, 2025

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson on verb patterns are to:

• talk about life changes and challenges;
• practise verb patterns;
• watch a video about a man who changes something in his life.

With this lesson, students talk about personal challenges, read short texts about people who made changes and explore how different verbs are followed by other forms (e.g. fail, help, keep). They share their opinions on attitudes to change and self-improvement, talk about changes they want to make and debate what leads to changes in a person’s life. Students also watch a video about a man who changes a habit and discuss personal experiences.

WARM-UP AND VERB PATTERNS

This lesson on verb patterns starts with a warm-up. Students examine different categories (e.g. becoming a vegetarian, having children, retiring). They rank them from the one that requires the most changes to the one that requires the least. Students explain their opinions. Afterwards, they read about changes people had to make and answer questions about each person’s experience. Moving on, students decide if different verbs (e.g. advise, decide, mind) are followed by a gerund (-ing), an infinitive with ‘to’ or an object (someone/something) and an infinitive with ‘to’. They then put them in the correct columns in a table. Following that, students complete sentences involving change-related decisions with the correct form of verbs. Next, they choose three sentences from the previous task (e.g. You should keep trying if you really want something better in life.) and elaborate on them using But…, So…, or Also,….

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

In this part of this lesson on verb patterns, students choose a change they’d like to make (e.g. improve my English). They talk about it by completing sentences (e.g. If I want to…, I’ll try…) and adding details. After that, students examine pairs of scenarios (e.g. a mistake you make one day OR a routine you do every day) and decide which are more likely to lead to life changes. They explain. Next, students watch the first part of a video about a man making a life change. They discuss what he might do next, using different verbs (e.g. can’t stand, expect, keep). Moving on, students watch the rest of the video and compare their ideas with what the man actually does. They then discuss making changes in life. Finally, students read personal challenges and suggest lifestyle changes. They use the target verbs from the lesson.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson on verb patterns also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students write the second line in dialogues using verbs in prompts. Choose one of the first verbs to use with the second verb. You may need to change the form. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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