Mastering Short Answers: A Lesson on Responding Succinctly in English

Mastering Short Answers: A Lesson on Responding Succinctly in English

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to confidently use short answers in English conversations.

What do you already know about short answers in English?

What are Short Answers?

Short answers are brief responses used to reply to yes/no questions or to confirm information. They consist of a subject pronoun and an auxiliary verb.

Forming Short Answers

To form a short answer, use the appropriate subject pronoun followed by the auxiliary verb and 'not' for negative responses. For positive responses, only the auxiliary verb is needed.

Examples of Short Answers

Question: 'Do you like ice cream?'
Short Answer (Affirmative): 'Yes, I do.'
Short Answer (Negative): 'No, I don't.'

Practice: Yes/No Questions

Create short answers for the following questions:
1. 'Are you tired?'
2. 'Did you watch the movie?'

Practice: Tag Questions

Complete the short answers for the tag questions:
1. 'You like pizza, _____?'
2. 'We won't be late, _____?'

Real-life Scenarios

In pairs, create short answers for the following real-life scenarios:
1. 'Can I borrow your pen?'
2. 'Would you like some coffee?'

Review and Recap

Short answers are concise responses used in English conversations. They consist of subject pronouns and auxiliary verbs. Practice forming short answers to improve fluency.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.