Daily routine vocabulary – A1 beginner English vocabulary lesson and exercises

In this A1 Beginner English vocabulary lesson, you'll learn useful words and phrases to talk about your daily routine. You'll practise vocabulary such as wake up, get dressed, have breakfast, go to work, go to school, have lunch, go home, have dinner and go to bed.

These exercises will help you understand and use everyday routine vocabulary in real-life situations. You'll complete different activities to practise matching words and pictures, choosing the correct vocabulary, and understanding routine activities in context. By the end of the lesson, you'll be able to talk about your daily habits and describe a typical day in English.

Reading text

Example sentences with time expressions

When we talk about daily routines, we often use time expressions to indicate a time, a general time, how often we do something or in what sequence.

  • On weekdays, I get up early in the morning.
  • I get dressed at half seven and then I have breakfast at 8.00 a.m.
  • I go to work at a quarter past eight.
  • I have lunch at 12:30 p.m.
  • I go home at 4:00 p.m.
  • I have dinner with my family in the evening.
  • After that I usually watch TV.
  • I go to bed at 10:00 p.m.

Use these expressions to describe when you do your daily activities:

  • Times of day: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night
  • Specific times: at 7 o'clock, at half past seven, at quarter past eight, at quarter to nine
  • How often: every day, every morning, every evening, on weekdays, at the weekend, usually, always, often, sometimes, never
  • Sequence: first, then, next, after that, finally

Daily routines and the present simple

We usually talk about our daily routines using the present simple tense because routines and habits are actions that happen regularly.

Examples:

  • I have breakfast at 8:00 a.m.
  • My daughter goes to school every day.
  • We have lunch at home.
  • They go to bed at 10:00 p.m.

Remember: In the present simple, we usually add -s or -es to the verb when talking about he, she, or it.

  • I wake up at 7:00.
  • She wakes up at 7:00.

See our Present simple grammar page for a more detailed explanation.

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Task 6

Discussion

Language level

Average: 4.1 (114 votes)

Submitted by Dorisvh on Mon, 19/01/2026 - 19:34

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Past simple                               Present

brushed your teeth                  brush zour teeth

did homework                         go homework

got up                                      get up

went home                              go home

had lunch                                have lunch

woke up                                  wake up

Submitted by Moe Nadi on Sun, 11/01/2026 - 08:35

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In our country we have lunch at 11 A.M.

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Submitted by feysal55 on Wed, 31/12/2025 - 21:02

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In Somali, people usually have launch between 5:00 Am and 6:00Am

Submitted by teachernaam on Tue, 30/12/2025 - 08:12

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“People where I live have lunch at 1:00 p.m.”

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Submitted by maeen_alfakih on Sun, 23/11/2025 - 15:15

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In Yemen we usually have lunch at half past 12 p.m and sometimes at 1 p.m

Submitted by bmarachini on Fri, 14/11/2025 - 19:00

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I live in Indaiatuba, a city in São Paulo, Brazil. People here have lunch around midday or 1 pm, but it depends on the routine of each one.

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Submitted by quyareyna on Tue, 28/10/2025 - 10:22

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In my city, lunch is served until noon, as usual. But it depends on each person's pace.

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