English Grammar: B1 Intermediate

About this course

The step from getting by in English to using it accurately, pitched at CEFR level B1 and organised around the structures that actually separate the two. It opens with the present perfect, which is the single tense most learners get wrong for longest, because many languages have a form that looks identical and works differently. The lesson explains the rule that decides it, and why a finished time expression makes the choice for you. Then the future, where English has no future tense but at least five ways of talking about one, each carrying a different attitude. Then conditionals, presented as one system rather than four unrelated patterns: each step back in tense takes one step further from reality. The second half covers modal verbs, including the negative pair whose meanings are opposite and which learners reverse constantly, then the passive, reported speech, and relative clauses, where a pair of commas changes how many sisters you have. It closes with gerunds and infinitives, and the ten B1 errors that survive longest. Every section has a quiz, and there is a 25-question exam at the end. Read the first lesson before anything else. It says exactly what the certificate means, and what it does not.

What you will learn

• Choose correctly between the present perfect and past simple, and explain why
• Use all five ways English talks about the future, and avoid the double-future error
• Handle the four conditionals as one system of distance from reality
• Use modal verbs for obligation, ability and deduction, including must not against do not have to
• Form the passive in any tense, and notice when it is hiding who did something
• Report speech and questions accurately, and punctuate relative clauses so they mean what you intend

Before you begin

• Roughly A2, meaning the present and past tenses, articles and basic word order
• Everything is text, so no microphone, headphones, or audio needed
• No prior qualification, and no external test booking required