BAFFLE ME – PAST SIMPLE

The Past Simple is one of those tenses that appears very early on when learning English — and can cause problems just as quickly. The theory seems straightforward, but when you need to ask a question, answer without hesitation or talk about something from the past, you suddenly start mixing up word order, forgetting the auxiliary verb and struggling to find the right form.

BAFFLE ME – PAST SIMPLE helps you practise this tense in a practical, fast-paced and engaging way. Instead of yet another list of sentences to complete, participants ask questions, answer them, listen to one another and respond under time pressure. As a result, the Past Simple ceases to be merely a topic from a textbook and begins to function in real-life communication.

The game is based on a simple mechanism that strongly engages participants. You have to think quickly, speak precisely and pay attention to the other players’ answers. Every correct response brings you closer to victory, so the motivation to use English appears naturally — without being forced, without boredom and without the feeling that it’s just another grammar exercise.

In the BAFFLE ME variant, players compete against each other by asking questions at a rapid pace to provoke an incorrect answer and eliminate their opponent from the game. In the ASK ME variant, the task is to create questions that match the short answers shown on the circles. It’s a great way to practise Past Simple structures in both questions and answers.

BAFFLE ME – PAST SIMPLE is ideal for use in class, during private tuition, at a language school, at home with a child, or as a way for English learners to revise together.

It’s a game for those who want to move from ‘I know the rules of the Past Simple’ to ‘I can use it quickly and confidently’. Because it’s only then that grammar really starts to help with speaking.