- Time
- 5-8 min
- Level
- A1-B2
- Grouping
- Pairs / small groups
- Materials
- None
Two Truths and a Lie is a speaking warm-up where each student says three sentences about themselves — two true, one invented — and the rest of the group has to guess which one is the lie. It needs no materials, works with any group size, and doubles as review for whichever tense you assign to the sentences.
What it practices
The game itself doesn't teach grammar — it gives students a reason to produce sentences in a specific tense and then defend or question them. Which tense you assign decides what it reviews:
- Present simple ("I have three brothers", "I work on Saturdays") — facts and routines, good for A1-A2.
- Past simple ("I once met a famous singer", "I broke my arm at age 10") — personal history, good for A2-B1 once regular/irregular forms are stable.
- Present perfect ("I've been to Japan", "I've never eaten sushi") — life experience, for B1-B2 classes contrasting it with past simple.
How to run it
- Model it yourself first. Say your own three sentences and let the class guess which is the lie — this shows the format faster than explaining it.
- Announce the target tense so every student's sentences are gradable, not just "any three facts."
- Give 1-2 minutes of silent thinking time. Students who speak without a moment to plan tend to default to the simplest sentence they know, which defeats the review purpose.
- Run it in pairs or groups of three or four. Whole-class only works with small groups (under 10) — otherwise most students never get a turn.
- Require one follow-up question from each listener before they guess ("Where did you meet them?"). This is what actually generates extra output, not just the three original sentences.
- Close with 2-3 volunteers repeating their best sentence to the whole class. Correct form on the spot if you heard errors during the pair-work stage.
Classroom management tip: cap it at three rounds per group. The game is naturally repeatable, but past round three engagement drops fast and it stops being a warm-up and starts eating lesson time.
Level variations
- A1Supply a sentence frame on the board ("I have ___", "I can ___") so students aren't building sentences from zero while also inventing a lie.
- A2-B1Switch the tense to past simple and require at least one irregular verb in the three sentences.
- B1-B2Use present perfect and ban the most common experiences ("I've been to Paris") to force more specific, harder sentences.
Free worksheets for follow-up practice
Pair this warm-up with a full lesson on the tense you targeted:
- Present Simple – Grammar (A2) — full reference and practice for the present simple version of the game.
- Past Simple Tense (A2) — mixed controlled practice, regular and irregular verbs, for the past simple version.
- Write About Yesterday – Past Simple Writing (A2) — freer production once the game has warmed students up.
Browse the full set of grammar worksheets or see the guide on how to teach past simple for a complete lesson plan.