Have You Ever? is a simple game to practice the Present Perfect Simple verb form using the “have you ever” question construction.

It’s very easy to set up and run and is ideal for reinforcing when we use and how we construct the verb form.

To begin, write up on the board

Have you ever…

and then put up a couple of endings (which should be appropriate to your class age and makeup, etc):

…eaten sushi?
…visited India?

Go over these with your students and make sure they understand what they mean and how the question was constructed. Depending on your class you might want to break down the form of the present perfect simple.

While you’re doing this, of course, you will want to ask the questions around class and see who has done any of these things!

Running the Activity

Get the class sitting in their chairs ideally in a circle. Stand in the middle of the circle and begin by asking a simple “have you ever” question which you know several students will answer with yes.

Have you ever been in an airplane?

All the students who have done this must stand up. Go around them and one by one they must say, “Yes, I have.” When all the standing students have answered the question ask another question.

Have you ever drunk wine?

Again, several students will stand up and admit to it

Now you may well notice a couple of students haven’t stood up yet so make sure you ask a question you’ll know they’ll have to answer. If, for example, you notice two girls haven’t stood up yet, ask a question like:

Have you ever worn a skirt?

Good generic questions like this are good to begin with to give everyone a chance to answer.

involving students more

Once everyone has the hang of the game introduce a new rule.

If only 1 person stands up they must swap places with whoever is asking the question.

Then keep asking questions till you find one specific enough so only one person will stand up and answer affirmatively:

Have you ever visited Japan?

If one person only stands up; after they’ve answered you swap places with them. Now the new student in the middle has to ask present perfect simple questions until just 1 person stands up at which point they can swap places with them.

Useful Links

Present Perfect Simple‏‎ in English Grammar – an overview of the present perfect simple in English