At a B1 level you can understand the main points in situations regularly encountered at work, school and in your free time. Travelling becomes easier. You can describe experiences, events, hopes, dreams and ambitions. Think of B1 English grammar as another key in a house full of locked doors.
PAST TENSE
The simple past is used to talk about finished events while the past continuous is good for telling stories.
Most Common Irregular Past Tense Verbs
Travel Disasters: ESL Simple Past Exercise
William Shakespeare: Past Simple Verbs
Irregular Past Simple Exercise
A Great Party (Past Simple Verbs)
Travelling (Past Simple Verbs and Comparatives)
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
Past Simple vs Past Continuous
NEGATIVE DETERMINERS
We use negative determiners in positive sentences to emphasise negative ideas.
CONJUCTION JUNCTION
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
B1 English grammar starts to become a little more complex. The present continuous is used to talk about actions happening now—in the moment–and for some actions in the future.
Present Continuous – English Grammar Exercise
MIX-UPS
There are lots of verbs that look similar between languages but do not always have the same definition.
ADJECTIVES
How do you describe a noun? With an adjective.
-ed vs. -ing: Adjective Exercise
SO vs. SUCH
Technically speaking, such is a determiner while so is an adverb, but they often have the same meaning: “very” or “to this degree.” How do we know which to choose?
COMPARATIVES
It is fun to be able to compare experiences and things. Is Captain America cooler than avocados? Let the debate begin.
Travelling (Past Simple Verbs and Comparatives)
Cities of the World English Comparatives
TOO vs. ENOUGH
For negative situations we use “too” while “enough” is used positive ones. “Too” comes before the adjective or adverb it’s describing. “Enough” comes after the adjective or adverb. Enough comes before a noun, whereas too is never used before a noun. Try out the exercise.
Too vs. Enough – English Language Exercise
EVERYONE’S FAVORITE VERB: “GET”
“Get” has so many different uses that if you forget a verb, using “get” might be the correct choice!
MUST vs. HAVE TO
“Have to” mainly expresses general obligations, while “must” is used for specific obligations.
Must vs Have To – English Language Exercise
PREPOSITIONS
You’ll encounter prepositions at every level because it’s like they are randomly assigned!
Verb + Preposition Collocations
PERMISSION & POSSIBILITY
“May I go to the bathroom.” – Students every 5 minutes.
Allowed, Permitted, Supposed To
BORROW vs LEND
When you give something, you lend it. When you receive something, you borrow it. “May I borrow a pen? I forgot mine.” Don’t forget to return it!
PASSIVE VOICE
Passive is used mostly for explaining how things are made or in the news, when the action is more important than the subject. It uses the verb “to be” + past participle.
English Exercise – Passive Voice
Passives – Famous Female Writers
DURING vs FOR vs WHILE
The prepositions during, for, and while are used a lot with time expressions.
During vs For vs While – Grammar Exercise
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
These pronouns don’t refer to any person, amount, or thing in particular.
MAKE vs DO
In most situations, use “make” for when you create or produce something. Use “do” for actions you must complete, like jobs or work, and for general activities.
Meet the Conditionals
The 1st conditional is used for expressing future consequences of a realistic possibility now or in the future. The 2nd conditional is used to imagine present or future situations that are impossible or unlikely in reality. There is also a 3rd conditional and a “mixed” conditional, but that is a story for another time.
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