Complex participles and gerunds, their perfect, passive or perfect-passive forms are interesting. The accurate understanding and usage of such participial nad gerund constructions especially after the verb to be and different prepositions; before nouns; and also in set expressions and constructions shows... shows...

Actually, go and try to figure it out yourself.

Correct Answers

Question 1

Select the correct form.

It's ____________________________ to guess who will win the competition this year.

It's no use... + present participle is a set expression. The participle must use -ing, so only no use trying is acceptable here.

Question 2

Select the correct form.

I even saw the Brazilian team _________________________ from my hotel room.

Again we need to use the -ing form of the verb, but we can't use the word to with a present participle.

Question 3

Select the correct form.

The World Cup final is always a very _________________________ event.

Note that here we need a predicative adjective, which is formed using the present participle: exciting.

Question 4

Select the correct form.

_________________________ looked at the groups for the World Cup, I think Russia will do well.

Here the past tense looked indicates we need to use the participle form having as the auxiliary verb.

Question 5

Select the correct form.

There's ________________________________ the outcome. The World Cup is always unpredictable.

There's no point in... is another set expression that requires the present participle -ing form: no point in guessing.

Question 6

Select the correct form.

However, we were really pleased about Argentina _________________________ all the way to the final.

We need to follow the preposition about with a noun (Argentina) and a gerund (-ing). The correct phrasal verb form is: making it.

Question 7

Select the correct form.

Analysts predict Saudi Arabia is likely to be the _________________________ team in the opening game.

We need to change the word lose to its present participle form in order to create an adjective describing the team.

Question 8

Select the correct form.

There's no longer a good chance of _____________________________ on time.

In this sentence our team functions as a possessive noun and so it requires the gerund arriving.

Question 9

Select the correct form.

At 400 dollars per person, the tickets really are ___________________________.

The set expression not worth... also requires the present participle -ing form: not worth buying.

Question 10

Select the correct form.

The Russian manager says his team isn't even thinking about _________________________ the tournament at this early stage.

Although the verb be is used to form the present continuous for is not thinking, after the preposition about we have to use a gerund: winning.

Question 11

Select the correct form.

Although German fans are still proud of _________________________ the previous tournament in Brazil, they're careful not to be overconfident.

We have to follow the preposition of with the gerund (-ing), but we can't use it twice as in having winning. This event is the past so having won is the correct answer.

Question 12

Select the correct form.

I wonder what the reaction to ___________________________ the World Cup will be.

Here we need a gerund (-ing) to follow the possesive noun: Russia's.

Question 13

Select the correct form.

Germany and England _________________________ last-minute preparations for the tournament in St Petersburg.

This is an action currently taking place, so we need to use the present continuous. Germany and England must be followed by the third-person plural.

Question 14

The team should be confident about _________________________ it through to the final stages.

We need a noun after the phrasal verb be confident about and the gerund form making serves this purpose.

Question 15

Select the correct form.

Spain and Portugal are wary of _________________________ the most difficult group.

Again the preposition must be followed by a simple gerund (-ing), as the first part of the sentence refers to the present.

Question 16

Select the correct form.

We had so much __________________________ tickets for the semi-finals, even a year before the competition.

The set expression have so much trouble... also requires the present participle -ing form: trouble finding.

Question 17

Select the correct form.

After the training session, they'll probably _________________________ the stadium.

This is a future tense sentence and doesn't require the gerund or a participle. We don't need to change the form of the main phrasal verb head to, as it follows the auxiliary will.

Question 18

Select the correct form.

They complained about their hotel and training ground _________________________ from the stadium.

This sentence is more complex, but we can think of their hotel and training ground as a possessive noun here. This means it must be followed by the gerund (-ing).

Question 19

Select the correct form.

It's going to be really exciting, what with _________________________ the tournament this year.

Here we have a preposition (with) and so the correct form here must be a gerund. However, we still need to use the subject: Russia for the sentence to make sense.

Gerund

A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun — swimming, reading, being late. It can sit in any position a noun can: as the subject (Swimming is fun), as the object of a verb (I enjoy swimming), or as the complement of a preposition (She's good at swimming).

Gerunds matter because dozens of common English verbs and almost every preposition force you into the -ing form. Pick the wrong shape — I enjoy to swim, good at to swim — and the sentence sounds clearly off to a native speaker. Knowing which contexts demand a gerund (vs. an infinitive) is what makes verb patterns click.

Participle

A participle is a verb form that doubles as an adjective or adverb. English has two: the present participle ending in -ing (running, sitting) and the past participle (broken, gone, written). Both build tenses (is running, has gone), but they also stand alone modifying nouns (the broken window) or verbs (Exhausted, we fell asleep).

Participles look like simple parts of speech but pull double duty — most learner errors come from confusing the present participle with the gerund (also -ing but acting as a noun) or the past participle with the past tense.

B2 | Upper Intermediate

B2 is the upper-intermediate level in the CEFR framework, sitting between B1 and C1. At B2 you can read editorials, follow most TED talks without subtitles, and hold extended conversations on abstract topics — including topics outside your everyday life.

Grammatically, B2 means flexible control of mixed conditionals, passive voice across tenses, reported speech with proper backshifting, and participle clauses. B2 is the standard target for university entrance exams (IELTS 5.5–6.5, TOEFL 87–109) and most skilled-migration thresholds — knowing whether you're there shapes your study plan.

Difficulty: Hard

The Hard difficulty tag marks questions and challenges aimed at upper-intermediate to advanced learners — typically B2 and above. Expect interacting rules, edge cases, distractors that look right at first glance, and contexts where the surface meaning and the grammatical answer don't match.

Filter by Hard when you're past the basics and want material that genuinely tests your understanding. These questions catch the gaps your textbook didn't — register-sensitive choices, exception cases, mixed conditionals, the difference between would have been and had been.