ESL Shopping Writing

When learning English, writing exercises can be useful. These ESL shopping writing exercises will help you learn shopping vocabulary.

By writing and using vocabulary you will have a good opportunity to really learn the vocabulary so you can use it correctly. This page has writing tasks and activities to help you learn the ESL shopping vocabulary. 

This page has four exercises as follows:

• Writing topics.
• Writing a summary of a passage.
• Writing a description of a picture.
• Writing role-plays.

ESL Shopping Writing Exercises

Exercise 1 – Writing Topics

In this ESL shopping writing exercise you have three topics to write something about. You should pick one and then write as much as you can. Once you have finished the first you can do the other two if you want to.

• What are your favourite types of shops to go shopping in, and why?
• Describe what you can do to make shopping more fun.
• Would you like to work as a shop assistant, and why?

Exercsie 2 - Writing a Summary

You should write a summary of the following passage. This means that you need to rewrite it. You should keep all the information the same but use new words and vocabulary.

Shopping for the Best Quality and Price

Some people see price as more important than quality while others try to buy things that are of good quality and not too expensive. It is often true that better quality items will usually last longer but they usually cost more money. It is a good idea to wait for special discounts to get both the right price and quality. Special discounts are common around the same time as public holidays or celebrations such as Christmas and New Year.

Items which are popular must be bought quickly or it is likely that the shop will run out of stock. Items which are very rarely bought are sometimes lowered in price to encourage customers to buy them and allow for the shop to make space for new stock. Most shops sell similar items. The big superstores may sell things cheaper than smaller shops. 

Not everyone has money to enjoy shopping. It is common for shops to have thieves try to take things without paying. Shops usually have a security tag on their items to stop thieves from taking them without paying at the till. The products with the highest value are more likely to be security tagged. A sales assistant will take off the security tag when the item is paid for by the customer.

Items bought regularly are often on sale or part of a special promotion. It is difficult to get a good deal with luxury items as these are rarely lowered in price. People often buy luxury items in the New Year sale as the sale price can be up to 50% off the original price.

A customer should be careful when paying for goods. Some smaller shops may charge 5% extra for credit card transactions so cash should be used to save money.

Exercise 3 - Describe a Picture

The picture in this ESL shopping exercise shows a man in a shop. Write a description of what the picture shows, and explain what you think is happening. What is the man buying? What did he do before this? What will be do next?

Write as much as you can and give as many details as possible.

Exercise 4 – Role-plays

For this ESL shopping writing exercise you will need to write one or two role-plays. In each of the role-plays below you have been given the location (which is where it happens), the situation (which is what is happening) and the participants (who are the people involved). You need to write what each of the people would say. 

Role-play 1

• Location: At home.
• Situation: Deciding what they need to buy and where to get it.
• Participants: Two people.

Role-play 2

• Location: In a shop.
• Situation: Sales assistant is helping a customer chose something to buy.
• Participants: 2 customers and a sales assistant.