B1+ Grammar

Complete B1+ grammar contents

Choose a grammar topic to open the full explanation and practice page. Work through the sections in order or jump directly to the grammar you need.

35 topics · 15 sections

Present tenses

Refine perfect forms for result, duration and recent activity.

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Present perfect simple or continuous

Choose the simple perfect for completed result and quantity, and the continuous for duration, repeated effort or recent activity with a visible effect.

Past tenses

Use narrative tenses to shape sequence and background.

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Narrative tenses

Combine past simple, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous to control event sequence, background and earlier duration in stories.

Future

Look beyond basic future forms.

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Future continuous and future perfect

Use the future continuous for an activity in progress or expected routine at a future time, and the future perfect for completion before a future point.

Verb tense review

Consolidate the B1-B2 tense system.

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B1-B2 verb tense review

Integrate simple, continuous and perfect aspect across present, past and future, choosing forms according to viewpoint rather than isolated time words.

Modals and related verbs

Express necessity, deduction, probability, habits, perception and collocation.

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Needn't, don't need to, didn't need to, needn't have

Distinguish no present need, no past need and an action that actually happened but turned out to be unnecessary.

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Past modals of deduction

Use modal + have + past participle to judge past explanations: must have for strong certainty, can't/couldn't have for impossibility, and may/might/could have for possibility.

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Likely, unlikely, bound, definitely and probably

Express probability with adjective and adverb structures, paying attention to word order and strength.

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Used to, be used to and get used to

Contrast a former habit/state with being familiar with something and the process of becoming familiar with it.

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Would and used to for past habits

Use would and used to for repeated past actions, but use used to rather than would for past states and situations.

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Verbs of the senses

Use look, sound, smell, taste and feel with adjective complements, like + noun, and as if/as though + clause.

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Do or make

Develop accuracy with less basic do/make collocations and distinguish activity/work from creation, result or effect.

Conditionals, wishes and regrets

Combine real, unreal and time-based conditions with unreal past forms.

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Zero and first conditional

Distinguish general cause-and-effect truths from realistic future conditions.

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Future time clauses

Use present forms after future time conjunctions, and choose the present perfect when completion before the next future event matters.

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Second and third conditionals

Contrast unreal present/future conditions with unreal past conditions and results.

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Wishes and regrets

Use wish/if only with past forms to express dissatisfaction now, past regrets and desired changes in behavior.

Passive and causative structures

Use passive forms for formal reporting and services.

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Passive voice across tenses

Keep the original tense and aspect in the verb be, then add the past participle: passive voice changes focus, not time meaning.

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Passive with reporting verbs

Use impersonal and personal passive reporting structures to present beliefs, claims and expectations at a distance from the writer/speaker.

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Have something done

Use have/get + object + past participle for services arranged with another person and for experiences that happen to someone or their possessions.

Gerunds, infinitives and reporting verbs

Control more complex verb patterns.

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Gerund or infinitive patterns

Choose gerund or infinitive after verbs and recognize important meaning changes with remember, forget, stop, try and regret.

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Would rather and would prefer

Use would rather + base verb and would prefer + to-infinitive, and use a past form after would rather when the preferred action has a different subject.

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Reporting verbs

Use reporting verbs with their required complement patterns, including that-clauses, to-infinitives, object + infinitive and -ing forms.

Quantifiers

Use broader quantifier systems accurately.

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All, most, both, either, neither, any, no and none

Choose broad and paired quantifiers according to group size, scope, polarity and whether a noun is stated or replaced.

Relative structures

Use fused relative forms for people, places, time, manner and alternatives.

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Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever and however

Use compound relative words to mean any thing/time/place/person/way or to introduce an unrestricted choice or unknown reference.

Auxiliary verbs

Use auxiliaries for emphasis, substitution, agreement and shortened forms.

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Auxiliary verbs: different uses

Use do, be, have and modals not only to build tenses but also for emphasis, short answers, agreement and avoiding repetition.

Adjectives and adverbs

Add nuance to comparison, degree, adjective order and time adverbs.

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The... the... comparatives

Use paired comparatives to show that a change in one situation is linked to a change in another.

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Participles as adjectives

Use present and past participles as adjectives to describe causes, effects, completed states and characteristics.

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So and such

Use so with adjectives/adverbs and such with noun phrases, including result clauses and emphatic structures.

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Adjectives without nouns

Use adjective structures such as the + adjective for groups and certain fixed adjective complements without repeating an obvious noun.

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Adjective order

Place multiple adjectives in a natural order and separate opinion from more factual description.

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Already, still and yet

Place already, still and yet according to sentence type, tense and the speaker's expectation about timing.

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Pretty, rather, quite and fairly

Use degree adverbs to express moderate or strong intensity, recognizing differences in tone and adjective type.

Conjunctions and clauses

Build more flexible contrast and purpose clauses.

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Clauses of contrast and purpose

Use although/even though, despite/in spite of, whereas/while and a range of purpose structures with correct clause or noun patterns.

Questions

Use less direct and more complex question patterns.

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Different question types

Review direct yes/no and wh- questions, subject questions, negative questions, question tags and choice questions with correct auxiliary behavior.

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Indirect questions

Use polite or embedded question introductions followed by statement word order rather than direct-question inversion.

Word order

Place adverbs naturally for meaning and emphasis.

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Position of adverbs and adverb phrases

Choose front, mid or end position according to adverb type, information focus and the auxiliary/main-verb structure.