Sign up for freeSign up

What's it like to work in space? It's + adjective + to and what is it like to…?

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches What is it like to…? and It's hard to… through life in space and Ellen Ochoa's flute on the space shuttle Discovery.

Grammar
It's + adjective + to + verb (It's hard to sleep in space.), with for + a person, questions and short answers, and What's it like to…? for experiences.
Topic
Ellen Ochoa's 1993 flight on Discovery, sleeping and washing in space, and a planetarium after closing, with words such as weightless, gravity, strap and washcloth.
Activities
A feature to read, a planetarium dialogue and a listener's message to hear, five self-checking drills, an interview chat and open boxes.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Space, here we come!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: life and work in spaceVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a flute in orbit

    • Look at the photo: a shuttle in orbitPictureUnlock
    • Read Jade's featureArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3After closing at the planetarium

    • Listen to Jade and Darius at the planetariumListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Listener's Take: BarryListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: It's hard to sleep in space!

    • Study the scheme: It's hard to… and What's it like to…?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: It's + adjective + toFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: for me, for you, for him…Fill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: what's it like?

    • Choose the right replies: interview an astronaut-to-beChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: life in space and on EarthOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: space cluesMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: make sentences with It's … toFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the table: questions and short answersFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Jade's answer to BarryChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: a planetarium flyerDrag and dropUnlock

32 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Space vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • weightless
  • tricky
  • gravity
  • mission
  • flute
  • washcloth
  • toothpaste
  • planetarium
  • director

Grammar: it's + adjective + to and What's it like to…?

It's hard to sleep in space tells how an action feels: it, a form of be, an adjective, then to + verb. With Ellen Ochoa's flight on Discovery and a night at a planetarium, learners add for + a person to say who, ask questions with short answers, and describe experiences with What's it like to…?

It's hard to sleep in space!

It + be + adjective + to + verb says how an action feels. What's it like to…? asks someone to describe an experience.

It + be + adjective + to + verb

The sentence opens with It's or It was, adds an adjective such as hard, tricky or possible, and ends with to + the base form. It points ahead to the action after to: in It's hard to sleep in space, sleeping is what's hard.

The pattern

It + is / wasadjective(for + someone)to + verb

It's hard for astronauts to sleep in space.

It was possible for her to play the flute.

Is it easy for you to float?

Adjectives for this pattern

  • hard
  • easy
  • difficult
  • tricky
  • fun
  • exciting
  • amazing
  • strange
  • scary
  • important
  • possible
  • impossible

For + a person: who finds it hard

Put for + a person right before to: It's hard for astronauts to sleep. After for, pronouns take the object form, so it's for me, for him, for us and for them, never for I or for they.

Personfor + …Example
Ifor meIt's hard for me to sleep on a plane.
youfor youIs it easy for you to get up early?
hefor himIt was fun for him to float.
shefor herIt was possible for her to play the flute.
it (a kitten)for itIt's hard for it to climb the stairs.
wefor usIt's important for us to check the facts.
theyfor themIt isn't easy for them to wash in space.

Questions and short answers

In a question, is or was goes before it: Is it easy to float? Was it hard to sleep? The short answer repeats is or was: Yes, it is. No, it wasn't. So Yes, it did doesn't fit.

QuestionAnswer
Is it easy to float?Yes, it is. / No, it isn't.
Was it hard to sleep?Yes, it was. / No, it wasn't.
Is it fun for you to play music?Yes, it is!
What's it like to live in space?It's strange but amazing!
What was it like to see Earth?It was beautiful.

What's it like to…? for an experience

What's it like to float? asks someone to describe how an experience feels, and the answer is an adjective: It's fun! Here like isn't the verb like. With like, the question starts with What, and the past is What was it like to…?

What's it like to…?

Ask What's it like to + verb? (= What is it like to…?) about an experience: how does it feel? Here like is not the verb like (love). Answer with an adjective: It's fun. It was scary. For the past, ask What was it like to…? Not: How is it like…? Not: What is like…?

Sleeping is hard: the -ing way

An -ing word at the start says the same thing: Sleeping in space is hard. Both forms are right, and everyday English often starts with It's. Right after to, the verb stays in its base form: to sleep, not to sleeping.

Another way to say it

You can also start with an -ing word: Sleeping in space is hard. It means the same as It's hard to sleep in space. Both are right! In everyday English, people often start with It's.

Common mistakes

  • It's hard sleep in space.

    It's hard to sleep in space.

    adjective + to + verb

  • It's hard to sleeping in space.

    It's hard to sleep in space.

    to + the base form

  • How is it like to float?

    What's it like to float?

    What … like? (not How)

  • It's difficult for me understand.

    It's difficult for me to understand.

    for + me + to + verb

In this lesson

  • It's hard for astronauts to sleep, so they strap themselves down.
  • It isn't easy to wash in space.
  • It was possible to play the flute on Discovery.
  • What's it like to float? – It's fun!
  • Is it OK to swallow your toothpaste? – Yes, it is.
  • It's easy for Darius to sleep on a bus.

More lessons on this grammar: Gerunds and infinitives lessons and exercises

Try the it's + adjective + to exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 18 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say how an action feels with It's + adjective + to + verb: It's hard to sleep in space. It was possible to play the flute.
  • name the person with for + an object pronoun: It's easy for him to sleep on a bus, not for he
  • ask and answer with is or was: Is it easy to wash in space? – No, it isn't. Was it hard to sleep? – Yes, it was.
  • ask about an experience with What's it like to…? or What was it like to…? and answer with an adjective: It was heavy and hot!

Lesson 9 opens Space and discovery, unit 3 of English B1.1 · Stories That Travel. It grows out of A1.2 lesson 5, where What's the weather like? first asked for a description, and A2.1 lesson 29, which put to + verb after want and hope. Lesson 10 compares future forms with a Moon mission. Sleeping, washing and brushing your teeth all turn tricky when everything floats, so life in orbit keeps asking Is it easy to…?

Students spin a wheel of questions about space, music and sleeping anywhere, then learn twelve words, from strap and swallow to planetarium and director, with pictures and audio. Jade's feature on Ellen Ochoa comes with true-or-false statements and a quiz. Under the dark dome of the planetarium where Jade works, she and Darius talk about floating and washing, and Barry, 16, from Florida, asks what Jade would find hardest; both are AI-voiced. Five self-checking drills follow the scheme, among them a for me, for him, for them table. Then students interview Serena, an astronaut candidate, in a chat and open boxes about life in space and on Earth.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: four for the words (a match, an anagram, a gap-fill and a memory game of space clues), then a choice of forms, It's … to sentences from prompts, a table of questions and short answers, a quiz, Jade's answer to Barry with choices and a planetarium flyer with words to drag in.

Grammar:
It + be + adjective + to-infinitive · for + someone + to-infinitive · What's it like to…?
Topic:
space · Ellen Ochoa · the space shuttle Discovery · life in space · astronauts · planetariums · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

  • Start with everyday actions: write sleep, wash, float and brush your teeth on the board, and ask which are easy in space. Students guess with It's hard to…, then check in the dialogue.
  • Before the feature, hide the instrument: tell students that an astronaut took something musical on a 1993 shuttle flight and let them guess what it was. They read to check, then say whether they think it was easy to play.
  • Underline the person in It's hard for astronauts to sleep, then swap in me, him, her or them. Students see that only one word changes and the rest of the sentence stays the same.
  • Put an astronaut in the hot seat after the chat: one student is just back from space, and the class asks What was it like to…? questions. The astronaut answers with It was + an adjective and one detail.

Liked it?

Teach the whole lesson in edio

32 exercises in 6 chapters, ready to teach. edio is an online platform for language schools and teachers: ready-made interactive lessons, live classes, homework and student progress in one place.

  1. Start a free trial

    7 days, no credit card.

  2. Open the lesson

    Find it in the library of 621 ready lessons. Teach it as it is, or copy any chapter into your own lessons.

  3. Teach it live or as homework

    Students work in their own accounts, in sync with you during the lesson, and the practice exercises check themselves.

Teach it free for 7 days

The whole course: English B1.1 · Stories That Travel

32 lessons for adults at B1 in American English, each built around a true story. Riley, Jade and Darius make a podcast in Kansas City about true American stories, and each lesson tells one, from a seaplane airport in Alaska to the Marfa Lights of West Texas. Learners compare the present perfect with the past simple, use future forms, modals and quantifiers, and give their own opinions. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Travel smart

    the present perfect vs the past simple, for and since, indirect questions, be used to and get used to

    1. Lesson 1Would you visit an airport just for fun?Present perfect vs past simple
    2. Lesson 2Would you sleep in a 300-year-old inn?For and since with the present perfect
    3. Lesson 3My suitcase has gone to Honolulu!Indirect questions for polite requests
    4. Lesson 4Can you practice a flight?Be used to and get used to

  2. Unit 2 Dream jobs, new jobs

    will have to and won't be allowed to, the present perfect continuous, simple vs continuous, would vs used to

    1. Lesson 5Would you jump off a moving boat for a job?Will have to, will be able to and will be allowed to
    2. Lesson 6Working from anywherePresent perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 7Could you be a camp counselor?Present perfect simple vs continuous
    4. Lesson 8Would you live in a lighthouse?Would vs used to for the past

  3. Unit 3 Space and discovery

    it's + adjective + to, What's it like to…?, future forms compared, future time clauses, too and enough + to

    1. Lesson 9 · you're hereWhat's it like to work in space?It's + adjective + to and What's it like to…?
    2. Lesson 10Who will walk on the Moon next?Future forms compared by meaning
    3. Lesson 11A message for the starsFuture time clauses
    4. Lesson 12A helicopter on Mars?Too and enough + to-infinitive

  4. Unit 4 Life online

    the more…, the more…, be supposed to, ought to and had better, let, make and allow

    1. Lesson 13The internet's first word was “LO”Comparative and comparative; the more…, the more…
    2. Lesson 14Who sent the first spam?Be supposed to for rules, expectations and plans
    3. Lesson 15Is your password really safe?Ought to and had better for advice and warnings
    4. Lesson 16Who writes Wikipedia?Let, make and allow + someone

  5. Unit 5 Screen and page

    -ed and -ing adjectives, gradable and extreme adjectives, present tenses for a plot, articles for things in general

    1. Lesson 17Why do readers still love Nancy Drew?-ed and -ing adjectives for feelings
    2. Lesson 18Movie night in your carGradable and extreme adjectives
    3. Lesson 19Would you review a book on TV?Present tenses to tell a plot
    4. Lesson 20Where are the books about girls like me?Articles for things in general and specific things

  6. Unit 6 Green living

    few and a few, little and a little, all, most, some and none, each and every, fewer and less

    1. Lesson 21A year's trash in one jar?Few, a few, little and a little
    2. Lesson 22No food in the trash!All, most, some and none (of)
    3. Lesson 23A farm in the middle of DetroitEach and every
    4. Lesson 24A trash collector with googly eyesFewer and less

  7. Unit 7 Sporting moments

    could, was able to and managed to, for, during and while, present tenses for live commentary, question tags

    1. Lesson 25From a leg brace to three goldsCould, was able to and managed to
    2. Lesson 26A doctor and an Olympic champion?For, during and while
    3. Lesson 27Who's that runner coming from behind?Present simple and continuous for live commentary
    4. Lesson 28Why do high jumpers go backward?Question tags

  8. Unit 8 Mysteries and lost worlds

    both… and, either… or and neither… nor, uncountable nouns, how sure we are about the future, unless, as long as and in case

    1. Lesson 29A calendar made of posts?Both… and, either… or, neither… nor
    2. Lesson 30What was the Great House for?Uncountable abstract nouns
    3. Lesson 31What does Newspaper Rock say?Certainty about the future
    4. Lesson 32What are the Marfa Lights?Unless, as long as and in case

Questions about this lesson

What does "What is it like?" mean?
What is it like? asks someone to describe an experience: how does it feel, or what is it really like? It doesn't ask whether you enjoy it. The answer usually starts with It's or It was + an adjective: What's it like to float? – It's fun! The B1 lesson What's it like to work in space? on edio.ai teaches it with astronauts' days on a space shuttle.
What is the rule for It's + adjective + to?
The pattern is it + be + adjective + to + base form: It's hard to sleep in space. It was possible to play the flute. It stands at the front, and to + verb names the action that is hard or easy. To say who finds it so, add for + a person before to: It's easy for Darius to sleep on a bus.
What are some examples of "What is it like to…?"
These questions come from What's it like to work in space?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai: What's it like to train for space? What was it like to put on the suit for the first time? What's it like to work under all these stars? Each one expects a description, not yes or no: It's exciting, but it's hard work. It was heavy and hot!
What's the difference between "What is it like?" and "Do you like it?"
Do you like it? uses the verb like and asks whether you enjoy something, so the answer is Yes, I do or No, I don't. In What is it like?, like isn't the verb at all: the question asks for a description, and It's strange but amazing! answers it. A tip in the scheme of What's it like to work in space? on edio.ai points this out.
Is it "How is it like" or "What is it like"?
It's What is it like?, never How is it like? When the question ends in like, it starts with What: What's it like to float? What was it like to see Earth? Another slip is What is like to float?, which drops it. The chat in What's it like to work in space?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, offers both wrong questions next to the right one.
Can you say "Sleeping in space is hard" instead?
Yes. An -ing subject gives the same meaning: Sleeping in space is hard = It's hard to sleep in space. Both are correct, and in everyday English people often begin with It's. Mixing the two doesn't work: It's hard sleep drops to, and It's hard to sleeping puts -ing after to. One homework question asks which sentence means the same as It's fun to float.
Who is Ellen Ochoa?
Ellen Ochoa is a former NASA astronaut. In April 1993, on the space shuttle Discovery, she became the first Hispanic woman to fly in space, NASA says, and during that flight she played the flute for 15 minutes for her crew. She flew four times, and from 2013 to 2018 she led NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. She wasn't the first Hispanic astronaut: a Hispanic man flew before her.
How do I teach It's + adjective + to to B1 students?
Begin with actions that change in space, such as sleeping, washing and eating, and ask how each one feels up there: Is it easy to wash? Collect the answers as It's + adjective + to, then add for + a person. What's it like to work in space? on edio.ai moves from a feature and a planetarium dialogue to the scheme, five drills and an interview chat.
What's a good game for practicing What is it like to…?
An open-the-box interview works well: one box says Interview your partner: What's it like to …? (learn English, have a pet, live in your city), and the student who opens it asks, while a partner answers aloud. Other boxes bring in the rest of the pattern, such as Is it easy for you to sleep in a new place? Why or why not?
What's good homework for It's + adjective + to?
Good homework moves from single sentences to a real text: prompts such as Our new apartment is very quiet, so ___ (easy / sleep) there, a table that turns statements into questions with short answers, and a flyer to complete. In What's it like to work in space? on edio.ai, all ten homework tasks check themselves, and the last one is a planetarium flyer for Space Night.
How do you practice It's + adjective + to one-to-one?
Trade questions about real experiences: the teacher asks What was it like to start a new job? or Is it hard for you to get up early?, the student answers with It was or It's + an adjective, then asks back. The chat in What's it like to work in space?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, needs no partner: the student interviews Serena, choosing each line from three.
Are there interactive exercises for It's + adjective + to?
Yes. With no account, this page plays three parts of What's it like to work in space?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai: Jade and Darius's talk at the planetarium after closing, a gap-fill that builds It's + adjective + to from prompts, and the interview chat with Serena, an astronaut candidate. Every gap and reply gets feedback right away. The rest opens with an account.
Unlock full lesson

Teach this lesson with your students

Book a demoStart free trial

No credit card required