Help the hungry customer make up their mind at the fancy restaurant by dragging the correct phrases into the dialogue.
Waiter: "For your main course, would you like the steak or the salmon?"
Customer: "They both sound amazing, but I'll have the salmon, please."
Waiter: "For your main course, would you like the steak or the salmon?"
Customer: "They both sound amazing, but I'll have the salmon, please."
We use would you like for specific, polite offers. "Do you like" is incorrect here because it asks about general preferences (e.g., "Do you like seafood in general?").
For spontaneous decisions made at the moment of speaking—like ordering food in a restaurant—we use the future with "will" (I'll have), rather than the present simple ("I have").
Modal verb
Must vs should vs might: the most confused modal trio. Must = strong obligation/near-certainty. Should = advice/expectation. Might = possibility. Getting these wrong changes the force of your statement: You must see a doctor (urgent) vs You should see a doctor (advice) vs You might need a doctor (maybe).
Modal verbs are auxiliaries that encode modality: ability (can), permission (may), necessity (must), advice (should), possibility (might), future (will).
Diagnostic: what meaning are you adding? Obligation → must/have to. Advice → should. Possibility → might/could. Ability → can. Future → will.
Interrogative sentence or clause
Interrogative vs declarative: declarative = subject before verb (She is ready.). Interrogative = auxiliary before subject (Is she ready?). The structural difference is inversion — swap subject and auxiliary to turn a statement into a question.
An interrogative sentence asks a question: yes/no (Is he…?) or wh- (What is…?). Formed by inversion or do-support, ending with a question mark.
Diagnostic: is the auxiliary/do before the subject? → interrogative. Is the subject first? → declarative (even with rising intonation).
English grammar
Grammar vs vocabulary: vocabulary gives you the words; grammar gives you the system for combining them into meaning. Knowing 10,000 words without grammar produces incoherent sentences. Knowing grammar with limited vocabulary produces clear, correct sentences about fewer topics. Both matter — but grammar is the framework.
English grammar is the complete rule system: parts of speech, phrase and sentence structure, tenses, agreement, word order, and punctuation.
Diagnostic: if your sentences are understood but "sound wrong" → grammar issue. If you can't find the right word → vocabulary issue. If both → start with grammar.
Future tense
Will vs going to: the most confused future pair. Will = spontaneous decisions and predictions (I'll have the fish; It will rain). Going to = pre-existing plans and evidence-based predictions (I'm going to study law; Look at those clouds — it's going to rain). Swap them and you sound either impulsive or weirdly formal.
English encodes future time through will, be going to, present continuous (arrangements), and present simple (schedules) — each with different implications.
Diagnostic: is the decision happening right now? → will. Was it already planned? → going to. Is it a confirmed arrangement with another person? → present continuous.
Present tense
Simple present vs present progressive: simple present = habits, routines, permanent facts (I work here). Present progressive = right now, temporary, changing (I'm working from home today). The most common confusion: using progressive for habits (I'm working here ❌ for permanent job) or simple for right-now (I work now ❌ for current activity).
The present tense has four forms: simple, progressive, perfect, perfect progressive — each relating the action to "now" differently.
Diagnostic: is it a habit/permanent fact? → simple. Happening right now? → progressive. Started in past but still relevant? → perfect. Ongoing duration up to now? → perfect progressive.
Verb tense
Tense vs aspect: tense locates the action in TIME (past/present/future). Aspect describes its SHAPE — is it completed (perfect), ongoing (progressive), or just a fact (simple)? English combines these independently: was working = past (tense) + progressive (aspect). Confusing tense with aspect is why the 12-form grid feels overwhelming.
Verb tense = 3 time references × 3 aspects = 12 forms. Tense says when; aspect says how the action unfolds relative to that time.
Diagnostic: wrong time? → tense error. Right time but wrong "shape" (e.g., I work here for ten years instead of I've worked)? → aspect error.
Questions
Direct vs indirect questions: direct questions invert and end with ? (Where does she live?). Indirect questions DON'T invert and end with a period (I wonder where she lives.). Mixing these up — I wonder where does she live? ❌ — is one of the most common structural errors.
Questions in English use inversion/do-support. Types: yes/no, wh-, negative, tag. Direct questions invert; indirect don't.
Diagnostic: is your question embedded inside a statement (I wonder, Do you know, Can you tell me)? → DON'T invert. Is it a standalone question? → invert.
B1 | Intermediate
B1 vs B2: B1 handles standard everyday communication and simple opinions. B2 handles abstract topics, sustained arguments, and nuanced register. If you can chat about your life but struggle to debate an issue or write a formal essay, you're B1.
B1 is the intermediate CEFR level: independent handling of familiar topics, second conditional, basic passive, reported speech, and linking words for cause and contrast.
Diagnostic: can you read a newspaper article on a familiar topic and summarise the argument? Comfortably → B2. Struggle with abstractions → still B1.
Medium
Medium vs Easy: Easy has one obviously correct answer and clearly wrong distractors. Medium has one correct answer but plausible distractors — you need to actually know the rule, not just guess from sound.
The Medium tag filters for A2–B1 challenges with realistic difficulty: one rule per question, plausible alternatives, everyday contexts.
Diagnostic: if you're scoring 90%+ on Easy, move here. If you're below 60% on Medium, go back to Easy for that topic. Target 70–80% accuracy for maximum learning.