82%
Choose the correct option.
They ____________________________ for the company for over a decade, but they're still passionate about their work.

The sentence is describing an action that began in the past and is still ongoing, the correct answer is have been working, as it is the present perfect continuous form of the verb "to work" indicating that the action of working for the company began in the past and is still ongoing.

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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.

Progressive tense

Progressive vs simple: I work in London (permanent job) vs I am working in London (temporary assignment). Simple = fact/habit/permanent. Progressive = ongoing/temporary/in-progress. Same verb, different aspect, different meaning. The choice isn't about grammar preference — it changes what you're communicating.

The progressive = be + -ing. Marks ongoing/temporary actions. Stative verbs resist it.

Diagnostic: is the action happening RIGHT NOW and likely to stop? → progressive. Is it a general truth, habit, or scheduled event? → simple. Is the verb stative (know, own, believe)? → simple (even if happening now).

Perfect tense

Present perfect vs simple past: I lost my keys (past: specific time, done). I have lost my keys (perfect: result matters NOW — I still don't have them). The perfect always connects past action to present relevance. If the time is specified (yesterday, in 2010) → simple past. If the result matters now → present perfect.

The perfect aspect = have + past participle. Marks completion relative to a time point. Three forms: present/past/future perfect.

Diagnostic: does the sentence mention a specific finished time (yesterday, last year, in 1999)? → simple past. Is it about the result/relevance NOW? → present perfect.

B2 | Upper Intermediate

B2 vs C1: B2 means effective communication on complex topics with some effort. C1 means effortless fluency with precise register control. If you can argue a point but still reach for words and make structural slips under pressure, you're B2.

B2 is the upper-intermediate CEFR level: mixed conditionals, complex passives, reported speech with backshift, participle clauses, and sustained written argument.

Diagnostic: does your writing read as "competent non-native" or "could be native"? The former → B2. The latter → C1.

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 A2B1 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.