60 Would You Rather Questions for ESL (By Level)

Here are 60 would you rather questions written specifically for ESL students, organised by level: 26 concrete questions for A2, 20 everyday trade-offs for B1, and 14 abstract dilemmas for B2 and above. Every question is culturally neutral — no brand names, no local trivia — so they work with students from anywhere, and each one is designed to be impossible to answer well in one word.

You can copy them straight from this page, or play them as a free game: our Would You Rather game deals the same 60 dilemmas one card at a time in your browser, no signup needed.

Why does Would You Rather work so well in ESL lessons?

Would You Rather works because it forces a choice, and a choice demands a justification. The question does three jobs at once: it removes the blank-page problem (the student doesn't have to think of something to say, only decide), it generates genuine opinion-gap conversation (you can honestly disagree), and it drills one of the most valuable structures in English almost invisibly — the second conditional. "I'd rather give up chocolate, because if I gave up cheese, I couldn't eat pizza" is a textbook conditional sentence, produced by a student who thinks they're just chatting.

It also scales beautifully with level. The same format that gets an A2 student producing "I'd rather have a dog because cats are boring" gets a B2 student debating whether fame without privacy is worth more than freedom without recognition — see the CEFR level descriptors for why that's exactly the A2-to-B2 journey: from concrete, familiar topics to abstract argument.

How do I use these questions in a lesson?

Use three to five questions per lesson, not twenty. The value is in the follow-up, so treat each dilemma as a conversation seed:

Ask, and make the student choose. No "both" and no "neither" — the choice is the engine.
Demand the why. The first answer is usually one sentence; the second question ("Why not the other one?") is where the language happens.
Switch sides. Ask the student to defend the option they rejected — brilliant for B2 students who need practice conceding and contrasting ("I see why some people would…, but…").
Note the language, not just the errors. Each round naturally produces comparatives, conditionals and opinion phrases. Capture the good vocabulary that comes up — if you teach on Tuton, words you tag mid-lesson go straight to the student's spaced-repetition vocabulary deck.

Which would you rather questions work for A2 students?

A2 questions should be concrete: food, animals, travel, home, daily life. The student needs to picture both options instantly, so all the effort goes into expressing the preference, not decoding the question. Would you rather…

…eat pizza every day or eat noodles every day?
…give up chocolate forever or give up cheese forever?
…eat only sweet food for a week or only salty food for a week?
…cook dinner every night or wash the dishes every night?
…drink only water for a year or drink only juice for a year?
…eat breakfast food for dinner or dinner food for breakfast?
…have a pet dog or a pet cat?
…be able to talk to animals or be able to fly like a bird?
…have a tiny pet elephant or a giant pet hamster?
…ride a horse to school or work, or ride a camel?
…swim like a dolphin or climb like a monkey?
…spend a week at the beach or a week in the mountains?
…visit a big famous city or a quiet little village?
…always travel by train or always travel by plane?
…go camping in a forest or stay in a fancy hotel?
…travel with one small bag or with three big suitcases?
…live in a treehouse or live on a houseboat?
…have a huge kitchen or a huge balcony?
…never clean your room again or never do laundry again?
…live where it is always summer or where it is always winter?
…always be a little too hot or always a little too cold?
…wake up very early every day or stay up very late every night?
…wear the same colour every day or wear a funny costume every Friday?
…never lose your keys again or never wait in line again?
…be great at singing or be great at dancing?
…be very fast or be very strong?

Which questions work for B1 students?

B1 questions compare everyday trade-offs — phones, work, free time, learning. The options are still familiar, but choosing now requires weighing real costs and benefits. Would you rather…

…play every sport well or play every instrument well?
…live without music or live without movies and series?
…give up your phone for a month or give up sugar for a month?
…have free flights for life or free restaurants for life?
…speak ten languages a little or speak two languages perfectly?
…always know the right word or always have perfect pronunciation?
…learn a new word every hour or never forget a word you've learned?
…work four long days a week or five short days a week?
…teach a class of small children or a class of teenagers?
…have a robot that cleans or a robot that cooks?
…have slow internet that always works or fast internet that sometimes stops?
…get a new phone every year or one extra week of holiday every year?
…meet your favourite musician or your favourite writer?
…remember everything you read or learn every new skill twice as fast?
…always know what time it is or always know which direction is north?
…live in the busy city centre or in the quiet countryside?
…have breakfast in bed every day or an afternoon nap every day?
…get an extra hour every day or an extra day off every month?
…sing everything you say for one day or dance everywhere you go for one day?
…be able to pause time for ten minutes a day or skip the boring parts of your day?

Which questions challenge B2 and C1 students?

B2 dilemmas are abstract: identity, success, time, money, regret. There's no obviously right answer, which is the point — the student has to build an argument, not state a preference. Would you rather…

…have more money or have more free time?
…be famous but never alone, or unknown but completely free?
…know what happens in your future, or be able to change one decision from your past?
…always say exactly what you think, or always know what others think of you?
…have a job you love with average pay, or a boring job with double pay?
…live one hundred years in the past or one hundred years in the future?
…be the funniest person in the room or the smartest person in the room?
…never make a small mistake again, or never worry about mistakes again?
…have one extraordinary talent or be quite good at everything?
…lead a big team or work for yourself, alone?
…give a speech to a thousand people or sing a song to fifty people?
…always be ten minutes early or always arrive at the very last second?
…succeed through pure luck or succeed through years of hard work?
…have unlimited books or unlimited travel?

How do I get more than a one-word answer?

The trick is to never accept the choice as the answer — the choice is just the opening move. Five follow-ups that work on any question above:

"Why not the other one?" — forces a contrast structure.
"What would be the worst part of your choice?" — forces concession ("I suppose I'd miss…")
"What would your best friend choose?" — third-person practice and reported opinion.
"Would your answer have been different ten years ago?" — past hypotheticals for strong B2s.
"Convince me." — turn it into a 60-second persuasion task.

If your student answers in one word anyway, the question was too easy for them — jump a level. And if you'd rather not read from a list during the lesson, the free game version shows one dilemma at a time with big tappable cards, which keeps the energy of a game rather than a worksheet.

Frequently asked questions

What level are would you rather questions best for?

They work from A2 to C1. The format scales with the content: concrete choices (food, pets, travel) suit A2–B1, while abstract dilemmas (fame, money, regret) give B2–C1 students real argumentative work. The 60 questions above are grouped by level so you can pick the right band.

How many would you rather questions should I use in one lesson?

Three to five, as a warm-up or a mid-lesson change of pace. Each question should generate two to four minutes of conversation with follow-ups. Twenty questions in a row turns a conversation engine into a quiz.

What grammar do would you rather questions practise?

Primarily the second conditional and would for hypotheticals ("I'd rather…", "I'd choose…", "if I gave up…, I couldn't…"), plus comparatives, opinion language and concession phrases. It's one of the few formats where students produce conditionals spontaneously rather than in a gap-fill.

Do these questions work for teenagers and adults?

Yes — all 60 were written to be culturally neutral and age-flexible: no dating, no alcohol, no brand names, nothing dark. The A2 set leans playful (giant pet hamsters), which teenagers love; the B2 set leans philosophical, which adults love.

Can I play would you rather online with my student?

Yes — the free Would You Rather game runs in the browser with no signup: 60 dilemmas dealt one at a time, with a pick-a-side tap for the student. Share your screen in any video call, or open it alongside your lesson if you teach in an online classroom.