PPL
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
The Café: Something Isn't Right
Secrets. Suspicion. Half-truths. And one very uncomfortable coffee date.
Your mission: analyse the evidence, learn advanced vocabulary, investigate the grammar, and decide who is telling the truth.
Lesson route: Warm-up → Vocabulary → Mystery reading → Grammar → Investigation tasks → Speaking → Final challenge.
1Warm-up: Trust issues
Time: 5 minutes. There are no right or wrong answers. Give reasons and examples, and challenge your teacher's opinions, too.
Let's talk
- Have you ever had a feeling that something was wrong, even though you had no evidence?
- What makes a person suspicious: their words, body language, or timing?
- Would you rather know an unpleasant truth or believe a comforting lie?
- Is it ever acceptable to keep a secret from your best friend?
- How can you tell the difference between intuition and overthinking?
Choose your instinct
You see someone enter a café, notice you, and immediately leave. Your first reaction?
2Vocabulary: The language of secrets
Time: 8 minutes. Read the IPA, learn the Ukrainian meaning, and say each example aloud. Try to create a second example of your own.
Vocabulary quick check
Choose the best word for each definition.
1. To hear something accidentally:
2. A reason someone secretly wants something:
3. To accidentally reveal a secret:
4. To form an opinion before knowing all the facts:
3The story: A table for five
Time: 7 minutes. Read carefully. The smallest detail might be the most important one.
It was raining in Rosewood, the kind of rain that made the café windows look like they were covered in tears. Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily were squeezed around a small table near the window. They had planned to discuss a school project. Naturally, they had discussed everything except the project.
At the table behind them, Aria's mum, Ella, was chatting with her new boyfriend, Daniel. He looked polished, confident and almost suspiciously perfect. He had a quiet voice and the sort of smile that made adults trust him immediately.
“I've been offered a place at a conference in Boston,” Daniel said. “Why don't you come with me this weekend? We could make a little trip out of it.”
Ella glanced towards Aria. “That sounds lovely, but I can't leave my daughter. She needs me here.”
“Aria is practically an adult,” Daniel replied. He said it lightly, but something about the way he checked his watch made Ella hesitate.
“She may be growing up,” Ella said, “but that doesn't mean I can simply disappear for a weekend.”
Hanna leaned towards the others. “Did he just try to make her feel guilty for being a mum?” she whispered.
“We don't know that,” Emily murmured. “Don't jump to conclusions.”
“I'm not jumping,” Hanna said. “I'm making a very graceful, evidence-based leap.”
Before Spencer could respond, the café door opened. A gust of cold air swept inside, followed by Melissa Hastings — Spencer's older sister.
Melissa was not supposed to be in Rosewood that afternoon. At least, that was what Spencer had been told. She was meant to be visiting a friend two towns away. Yet here she was, carrying no umbrella, looking completely dry, and scanning the room as if she were searching for someone.
When Melissa noticed the girls, she stopped. For half a second, her expression changed. Then she smiled.
“Spencer. What a surprise.”
“I thought you were out of town,” Spencer replied.
“Plans changed.” Melissa's answer was immediate, but oddly vague. She looked at Aria's mum, then at Daniel, and finally at the girls again.
“Do you know him?” Aria asked quietly.
“Know who?” Melissa replied, too quickly.
Across the café, Daniel had noticed Melissa. His smile disappeared. He picked up his phone, read a message, and stood up.
“I'm sorry, Ella. Something urgent has come up. I'll call you.” He left without finishing his coffee.
Melissa watched him go. She did not look surprised. She looked disappointed — as if a plan had just failed.
Then Spencer's phone vibrated. An unknown number had sent her a photograph. It showed Daniel and Melissa standing outside the same hotel, dated three nights earlier.
Under the photograph were seven words:
“Ask your sister why she was there.”
Spencer looked up. Melissa was already walking towards the exit.
“Melissa!” Spencer called.
Her sister turned around. “Yes?”
Spencer held up her phone. “Care to explain this?”
For the first time that afternoon, Melissa had nothing to say.
4Reading comprehension: What do we know?
Choose one answer for each question, then check your score.
5Grammar: Past Simple & Past Continuous
Why this grammar? Mystery stories often describe an action in progress when another event interrupts it.
Past Continuous
was / were + verb-ing
Use it for an action in progress at a particular time in the past, often to set the scene.
The girls were sitting in the café.
Ella was chatting with Daniel.
Past Simple
past form of the verb
Use it for a completed action or event, often one that interrupts another action.
Melissa walked into the café.
Daniel stood up and left.
Build the timeline
Longer background action: The girls were talking.
Shorter event: Melissa entered.
Combined sentence: The girls were talking when Melissa entered the café.
While often introduces the longer action: “While Ella was chatting with Daniel, Melissa walked in.”
When often introduces the shorter event: “The girls were whispering when Daniel suddenly stood up.” These are useful patterns, not absolute rules.
Grammar challenge: Choose the correct form
Upgrade your sentences
Combine each pair using while or when. Say your answers aloud, then reveal the sample versions.
- The girls were having coffee. Melissa walked in.
- Ella was talking to Daniel. He checked his phone.
- Spencer was looking at the photograph. Melissa started to leave.
2. While Ella was talking to Daniel, he checked his phone.
3. Spencer was looking at the photograph when Melissa started to leave.
6Investigation room: Fact or assumption?
C1 critical-thinking task. Mark each statement as a fact from the story or an assumption.
Speaking follow-up: Which assumption is the most tempting to believe? Why might it still be wrong?
7Speaking: Secrets, loyalty & suspicion
Time: 10 minutes. Give developed answers, support opinions with reasons, and respond to follow-up questions. Aim to use at least five new vocabulary items.
Character analysis
- Was Ella right to refuse Daniel's invitation, or was she being overprotective?
- Why might Melissa have lied about being out of town?
- What does Daniel's reaction suggest — and what does it fail to prove?
- Which girl would make the best detective? Which would make the worst? Explain.
- Is Spencer justified in confronting Melissa immediately?
Big questions
- Can keeping a secret ever be an act of kindness?
- Is loyalty always a good thing, even when a friend is wrong?
- Would you forgive someone who lied to protect you?
- What is more dangerous: a convincing lie or a half-truth?
- How much evidence should we need before accusing someone?
Useful C1 speaking language
“One plausible explanation is that…”
“She may well have been trying to…”
“It is conceivable that…”
“I see your point, but I would argue that…”
“That interpretation overlooks the fact that…”
“We cannot rule out the possibility that…”
“The strongest piece of evidence is…”
“This is suggestive rather than conclusive.”
“We should distinguish between evidence and speculation.”
Role-play: The confrontation
Student: You are Spencer. You have just shown Melissa the photograph. Ask three difficult questions without revealing everything you know.
Teacher: You are Melissa. Give evasive answers at first, then accidentally let one important detail slip.
Challenge: stay in character for two minutes. Use “ulterior motive”, “alibi”, “evasive”, “confront”, and “jump to conclusions”.
8Final test: Who is telling the truth?
Eight questions. Choose carefully — one point per correct answer.
9The next episode: Your theory
Continue the story in 100–150 words. What happened at the hotel? Why did Daniel leave? What is Melissa hiding? Include one twist that changes how we interpret the photograph.
Your writing must include:
- At least five vocabulary items from this lesson.
- Two Past Continuous sentences and two Past Simple sentences.
- One piece of evidence and one assumption.
- A final sentence that ends on a cliffhanger.
Word count: 0
Exit ticket
Complete these sentences aloud:
- One detail that made me suspicious was…
- One thing we know for certain is…
- One thing we are only assuming is…
- The most useful new expression for me is…