Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request.

An example of a verb used in the imperative mood is the English sentence Please be quiet. Such imperatives imply a second-person subject (you), but some other languages also have first- and third-person imperatives, with the meaning of let's (do something) or let him/her/them (do something) (the forms may alternatively be called cohortative and jussive.

Imperative mood can be denoted by the glossing abbreviation. It is one of the irrealis moods.

Formation

Imperative mood is often expressed using special conjugated verb forms. Like other finite verb forms, imperatives often inflect for person and number. Second-person imperatives (used for ordering or requesting performance directly from the person being addressed) are most common, but some languages also have imperative forms for the first and third persons (alternatively called cohortative and jussive respectively).

In English, the imperative is formed using the bare infinitive form of the verb (see verbs for more details). This is usually also the same as the second-person present indicative form, except in the case of the verb to be, where the imperative is be while the indicative is are. (The present subjunctive always has the same form as the imperative, although it is negated differently – the imperative is negated using do not, as in Don't touch me!) The imperative form is understood as being in the second person (the subject pronoun you is usually omitted, although it can be included for emphasis), with no explicit indication of singular or plural.

First and third person imperatives are expressed periphrastically, using a construction with the imperative of the verb let:

• Let us (Let's) have a drink! (equivalent to a first person plural imperative)
• Let him/her/them be happy! (equivalent to a third person imperative; constructions with may are also used)

Usage

Imperatives are used principally for ordering, requesting or advising the listener to do (or not to do) something: Put down the gun!; Pass me the sauce; Don't go too near the tiger. They are also often used for giving instructions as to how to perform a task (Install the file, then restart your computer). They can sometimes be seen on signs giving orders or warnings (Stop; Give way; Do not enter).

The use of the imperative mood may be seen as impolite, inappropriate or even offensive in certain circumstances. In polite speech, orders or requests are often phrased instead as questions or statements, rather than as imperatives:

• Could you come here for a moment? (more polite than Come here!)
• It would be great if you made us a drink. (for Make us a drink!)
• I have to ask you to stop. (for Stop!)

Politeness strategies (for instance, indirect speech acts) can seem more appropriate in order not to threaten a conversational partner in their needs of self-determination and territory: the partner's negative face should not appear threatened. As well as the replacement of imperatives with other sentence types as discussed above, there also often exist methods of phrasing an imperative in a more polite manner, such as the addition of a word like please or a phrase like if you could. Imperatives are also used for speech acts whose function is essentially not to make an order or request, but to give an invitation, give permission, express a wish, make an apology, etc.:

• Come to the party tomorrow! (invitation)
• Eat the apple if you want. (permission)
• Have a nice trip! (wish)
• Pardon me. (apology)
• Visit Estonia and Armenia! (advertisement)

When written, imperative sentences are often, but not always, terminated with an exclamation mark. First person plural imperatives (cohortatives) are used mainly for suggesting an action to be performed together by the speaker and the addressee (and possibly other people): Let's go to Barbados this year; Let us pray. Third person imperatives (jussives) are used to suggest or order that a third party or parties be permitted or made to do something: Let them eat cake; Let him be executed. There is an additional imperative form that is used for general prohibitions, consisting of the word no followed by the gerund form. The best known examples are No Smoking and No Parking. This form does not have a positive form; that is, Parking by itself has no meaning unless used as a noun when it tells that parking is permitted.

English usually omits the subject pronoun in imperative sentences:

• You work hard. (indicative)
• Work hard! (imperative; subject pronoun you omitted)

However, it is possible to include the you in imperative sentences for emphasis.

English imperatives are negated using don't (as in Don't work!) This is a case of do-support as found in indicative clauses; however in the imperative it applies even in the case of the verb be (which does not use do-support in the indicative):

• You are not late. (indicative)
• Don't be late! (imperative)

It is also possible to use do-support in affirmative imperatives, for emphasis or (sometimes) politeness: Do be quiet!; Do help yourself!.

The subject you may be included for emphasis in negated imperatives as well, following don't: Don't you dare do that again!

Infinitive

Regarding English, the term infinitive is traditionally applied to the unmarked form of the verb when it forms a non-finite verb, whether or not introduced by the particle to.

Hence sit and to sit, as used in the following sentences, would each be considered an infinitive:

• I can sit here all day.
• I want to sit on the other chair.

The form without to is called the bare infinitive; the form introduced by to is called the full infinitive or to-infinitive.

The other non-finite verb forms in English are the gerund or present participle (the -ing form), and the past participle – these are not considered infinitives.

Moreover, the unmarked form of the verb is not considered an infinitive when it is forms a finite verb: like a present indicative ("I sit every day"), subjunctive ("I suggest that he sit"), or imperative ("Sit down!"). (For some irregular verbs the form of the infinitive coincides additionally with that of the past tense and/or past participle, like in the case of put.)

Certain auxiliary verbs are defective in that they do not have infinitives (or any other non-finite forms).

This applies to the modal verbs (can, must, etc.), as well as certain related auxiliaries like the had of had better and the used of used to. (Periphrases can be employed instead in some cases, like (to) be able to for can, and (to) have to for must.) It also applies to the auxiliary do, like used in questions, negatives and emphasis like described under do-support. Infinitives are negated by simply preceding them with not.

Of course the verb do when forming a main verb can appear in the infinitive. However, the auxiliary verbs have (used to form the perfect) and be (used to form the passive voice and continuous aspect) both commonly appear in the infinitive: "I should have finished by now"; "It's thought to have been a burial site"; "Let him be released"; "I hope to be working tomorrow."

Perfect Infinitive

There are nonfinite constructions that are marked for perfect, progressive or perfect progressive aspect, using the infinitives, participles or gerunds of the appropriate auxiliaries. The meanings are as would be expected for the respective aspects: perfect for prior occurrence, progressive for ongoing occurrence at a particular time. (Passive voice can also be marked in nonfinite constructions – with infinitives, gerunds and present participles – in the expected way: (to) be eaten, being eaten, having been eaten, etc.)

Examples of nonfinite constructions marked for the various aspects are given below.

Bare infinitive:

• You should have left earlier. (perfect infinitive; for similar constructions and their meanings see modal verbs)
• She might be revising. (progressive; refers to an ongoing action at this moment)
• He must have been working hard. (perfect progressive; i.e. I assume he has been working hard)

To-infinitive:

• He is said to have resigned. (perfect infinitive)
• I expect to be sitting here this time tomorrow. (progressive)
• He claims to have been working here for ten weeks. (perfect progressive)

Present participle:

• Having written the letter, she went to bed. (perfect)
• The man having left, we began to talk. (perfect, in a nominative absolute construction)
• Having been standing for several hours, they were beginning to feel tired. (perfect progressive)

Past participle:

• We have been waiting a long time. (progressive, used only as part of a perfect progressive construction)

Gerund:

• My having caught the spider impressed the others. (perfect)
• We are not proud of having been drinking all night. (perfect progressive)

Other aspectual, temporal and modal information can be marked on nonfinite verbs using periphrastic constructions. For example, a "future infinitive" can be constructed using forms such as (to) be going to eat or (to) be about to eat.

Object

Traditional grammar defines the object in a sentence as the entity that is acted upon by the subject. There is thus a primary distinction between subjects and objects that is understood in terms of the action expressed by the verb, e.g. Tom studies grammar—Tom is the subject and grammar is the object. Traditional theories of sentence structure divide the simple sentence into a subject and a predicate, whereby the object is taken to be part of the predicate. Many modern theories of grammar (e.g. dependency grammars), in contrast, take the object to be a verb argument like the subject, the difference between them being mainly just their prominence; the subject is ranked higher than the object and is thus more prominent.

The main verb in a clause determines whether and what objects are present. Transitive verbs require the presence of an object, whereas intransitive verbs block the appearance of an object. The term complement overlaps in meaning with object: all objects are complements, but not vice versa. The objects that verbs do and do not take is explored in detail in valency theory.

Types

Various object types are commonly acknowledged: direct, indirect, and prepositional. These object types are illustrated in the following table:

The descriptions "entity acted upon" and "entity indirectly affected by the action" are merely loose orientation points. Beyond basic examples such as those provided in the table, these orientation points are not much helpful when the goal is to determine whether a given object should be viewed as direct or indirect. One rule of thumb for English, however, is that an indirect object is not present unless a direct object is also present. A prepositional object is one that is introduced by a preposition. Despite the difficulties with the traditional nomenclature, the terms direct object and indirect object are widespread.

The term oblique object is also employed at times, although what exactly is meant varies from author to author. Some understand it to be an umbrella term denoting all objects (direct, indirect, and prepositional), whereas others use the term to denote just a prepositional object.

Syntactic Category

While the typical object is a pronoun, noun, or noun phrase, objects can also appear as other syntactic categories, as illustrated in the following table:

Identification

A number of criteria can be employed for identifying objects, e.g: The object follows the subject. Languages vary significantly with respect to these criteria. The first criterion identifies objects reliably most of the time in English, e.g.

Fred gave me a book.

• a. A book was given (to) me. — Passive sentence identifies a book as an object in the starting sentence.
• b. I was given a book. — Passive sentence identifies me as an object in the starting sentence.

The second criterion is also a reliable criterion for isolating languages such as English, since the relatively strict word order of English usually positions the object after the verb(s) in declarative sentences.

The third criterion is less applicable to English, though, since English lacks morphological case, exceptions being the personal pronouns (I/me, we/us, he/him, she/her, they/them).

Verb Classes

Verbs can be classified according to the number and/or type of objects that they do or do not take. The following table provides an overview of some of the various verb classes:

Ergative and object-deletion verbs can be transitive or intransitive, as indicated in the following table:

The distinction drawn here between ergative and object-deletion verbs is based on the role of the subject. The object of a transitive ergative verb is the subject of the corresponding intransitive ergative verb. With object-deletion verbs, in contrast, the subject is consistent regardless of whether an object is or is not present.

Simple Present

The simple present or present simple is a form that combines present tense with "simple" (neither perfect nor progressive) aspect.

In the indicative mood it consists of the base form of the verb, or the -s form when the subject is third-person singular (the verb be uses the forms am, is, are). However, with non-auxiliary verbs it also has a periphrastic form consisting of do (or third-person singular does) with the bare infinitive of the main verb — this form is used in questions (and other clauses requiring inversion and negations, and sometimes for emphasis.

The principal uses of the simple present are given below.

To refer to an action or event that takes place habitually. Such uses are often accompanied by frequency adverbs and adverbial phrases such as always, often, from time to time and never.
Examples:

• I always take a shower.
• He writes for a living.

This contrasts with the present progressive, which is used for actions taking place at the present moment.

With stative verbs in senses that do not use progressive aspect, to refer to a present or general state, whether temporary, permanent or habitual. (In senses that do use progressive aspect, the present simple is used when the state is permanent or habitual.)

• You are happy.
• I know what to do.
• Denmark lies to the north of Germany.

When quoting someone or something, even if the words were spoken in the (usually very recent) past:

• The label says "External use only".
• Mary says she's ready.

To refer to a single completed action, as in recounting the events of a story in the present tense (see historical present), and in such contexts as newspaper headlines, where it replaces the present perfect:

• In Hamlet, Ophelia drowns in a stream.
• 40-year-old wins gold medal.

Sometimes to refer to an arranged future event, usually with a reference to time:

• We leave for Berlin tomorrow at 1 pm.

In providing a commentary on events as they occur, or in describing some theoretical sequence of events:

• I chop the chives and add them to the mixture.
• According to the manager's new idea, I welcome the guests and you give the presentation.

In many dependent clauses referring to the future, particularly condition clauses, clauses expressing place and time, and many relative clauses (see below):

• If he finds your sweets, he will eat them.
• We will report as soon as we receive any information.

In certain situations in a temporal adverbial clause, rather than the present progressive:

• We can see the light improving as we speak.

In colloquial English it is common to use can see, can hear for the present tense of see, hear, etc., and have got for the present tense of have (denoting possession.

See have got and can see below.

For the present subjunctive, see subjunctive.

For uses of modal verbs (which may be regarded as instances of the simple present) see modal verbs.

Present progressive

The present progressive or present continuous form combines present tense with progressive aspect. It thus refers to an action or event conceived of as having limited duration, taking place at the present time. It consists of a form of the simple present of be together with the present participle of the main verb and the ending -ing.

• We are cooking dinner now.

This often contrasts with the simple present, which expresses repeated or habitual action (We cook dinner every day). However, sometimes the present continuous is used with always, generally to express annoyance about a habitual action:

• You are always making a mess in the study.

Certain stative verbs do not use the progressive aspect, so the present simple is used instead in those cases. The present progressive can be used to refer to a planned future event:

• We are tidying the attic tomorrow.

It also appears with future reference in many condition and time clauses and other dependent clauses:

• If he*'s sleeping* when you arrive, wake him up.
• I will finish the job while the children are playing.

It can also refer to something taking place not necessarily at the time of speaking, but at the time currently under consideration, in the case of a story or narrative being told in the present tense (as mentioned above under present simple):

• The king and queen are conversing when Hamlet enters. For the possibility of a present subjunctive progressive, see English subjunctive.

Present Perfect

The present perfect (traditionally called simply the perfect) combines present tense with perfect aspect, denoting the present state of an action's being completed, that is, that the action took place before the present time. (It is thus often close in meaning to the simple past tense, although the two are not usually interchangeable.) It is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary have (namely have or has) and the past participle of the main verb.

The choice of present perfect or past tense depends on the frame of reference (period or point in time) in which the event is conceived as occurring. If the frame of reference extends to the present time, the present perfect is used. For example:

• I have written a letter this morning. (if it is still the morning)
• He has produced ten plays. (if he is still alive and professionally active)
• They have never traveled abroad. (if they are still alive and considered capable of traveling)

If the frame of reference is a time in the past, or a period that ended in the past, the past tense is used instead. For example:

• I wrote a letter this morning (it is now afternoon);
• He produced ten plays (he is now dead or his career is considered over, or a particular past time period is being referred to);
• They never traveled abroad (similarly).

See Simple past for more examples.

The simple past is generally used when the occurrence has a specific past time frame – either explicitly stated (*I wrote a book in 1995; *the water boiled a minute ago), or implied by the context (for example, in the narration of a sequence of events). It is therefore normally incorrect to write a sentence like I have written a novel yesterday; the present perfect cannot be used with an expression of past time such as yesterday.

With already or yet, traditional usage calls for the present perfect: ''Have you eaten yet? Yes, I've already eaten.* However, current informal American speech tends to use the simple past: *Did you eat yet? Yes, I ate already.''

Use of the present perfect often draws attention to the present consequences of the past action or event, as opposed to its actual occurrence. The sentence she has come probably means she is here now, while the simple past she came does not. The sentence, "Have you been to the fair?" suggests that the fair is still going on, while the sentence, "Did you go to the fair?" could mean that the fair is over. (See also been and gone below.) Some more examples:

• I have eaten. (implies that I'm no longer hungry)
• We have made the dinner. (implies that the dinner is now ready to eat)
• The weather has gotten cloudier. (implies that it is now more cloudy than previously)

It may also refer to an ongoing state or habitual action, particularly in saying for how long, or since when, something is the case. For example:

• I have lived in Paris for five years.
• He has held the record since he won his Olympic gold.
• We have eaten breakfast together every morning since our honeymoon.

This implies that I still live in Paris, that he still holds the record and that we still eat together every morning (although the first sentence may also refer to some unspecified past period of five years).

When the circumstance is temporary, the present perfect progressive is often appropriate in such sentences (see below); however, if the verb is one that does not use the progressive aspect, the basic present perfect is used in that case too:

• Amy has been on the swing for ten minutes.

The present perfect may refer to a habitual circumstance, or a circumstance being part of a theoretical or story narrative being given in the present tense (provided the circumstance is of an event's having taken place previously):

• Whenever I get home, John has usually already arrived.
• According to the plan, the speeches have already been given when the cake is brought out.

The present perfect may also be used with future reference, instead of the future perfect, in those dependent clauses where future occurrence is denoted by present tense. For example:

• When you have written it, show it to me.

Present Perfect Progressive

The present perfect progressive (or present perfect continuous) construction combines some of this perfect progressive aspect with present tense.

It is formed with the present tense of have (have or has), the past participle of be (been), and the present participle of the main verb and the ending "-ing"

This construction is used for ongoing action in the past that continues right up to the present or has recently finished:

• I have been writing this paper all morning.
• Why are his eyes red? He has been crying.

It is frequently used when stating for how long, or since when, something is the case:

• She has been working here since 1997.
• How long have you been sitting there?
• They have been arguing about it for two weeks.

In these sentences the actions are still continuing, but it is the past portion of them that is being considered, and so the perfect aspect is used. (A sentence without perfect aspect, such as I am sitting here for three hours, implies an intention to perform the action for that length of time.)

With stative verbs that are not used in the progressive, and for situations that are considered permanent, the present perfect (nonprogressive) is used instead.

Transitive Verb

A transitive verb is a verb that requires one or more objects. This contrasts with intransitive verbs, which do not have objects. Transitivity is traditionally thought a global property of a clause, by which activity is transferred from an agent to a patient.

A verb that is followed by an object is called a transitive verb. Transitive verbs can be classified by the number of objects they require. Verbs that require only two arguments, a subject and a single direct object, are monotransitive. Verbs that require two objects, a direct object and an indirect object, are ditransitive, or less commonly bitransitive. An example of a ditransitive verb in English is the verb to give, which may feature a subject, an indirect object, and a direct object: John gave Mary the book. Verbs that take three objects are tritransitive. In English a tritransitive verb features an indirect object, a direct object, and a prepositional phrase – as in I'll trade you this bicycle for your binoculars – or else a clause that behaves like an argument – as in I bet you a pound that he has forgotten. Not all descriptive grammars recognize tritransitive verbs.

In contrast to transitive verbs, some verbs take zero objects. Verbs that do not require an object are called intransitive verbs. An example in English is the verb to swim.

Verbs that can be used in an intransitive or transitive way are called ambitransitive verbs. In English, an example is the verb to eat; the sentences You eat (with an intransitive form) and You eat apples (a transitive form that has apples as the object) are both grammatical.

The concept of valency is related to transitivity. The valency of a verb considers all the arguments the verb takes, including both the subject and all of the objects. In contrast to valency, the transitivity of a verb only considers the objects. Subcategorization is roughly synonymous with valency, though they come from different theoretical traditions.

Traditionally, transitivity patterns are thought of as lexical information of the verb, but recent research in construction grammar and related theories has argued that transitivity is a grammatical rather than a lexical property, since the same verb very often appears with different transitivity in different contexts.

Consider:

• Does your dog bite? (no object)
• The cat bit him. (one object)
• Can you bite me off a piece of banana? (two objects)
• The vase broke. (no object; anticausative construction)
• She broke the toothpick. (one object)
• Can you break me some toothpicks for my model castle? (two objects)
• Stop me before I buy again. (no object; antipassive construction)
• The man bought a ring. (one object)
• The man bought his wife a ring. (two objects)

In grammatical construction theories, transitivity is considered as an element of grammatical construction, rather than an inherent part of verbs.

Examples

The following sentences exemplify transitive verbs in English.

• We're gonna need a bigger boat.
• You need to fill in this form.
• Hang on, I'll have it ready in a minute.
• The professor took off his spectacles.

Intransitive Verb

In grammar, an intransitive verb does not allow a direct object. This is distinct from a transitive verb, which takes one or more objects. The verb property is called transitivity. Intransitive verbs can often be identified as those which can't be followed by a "who" or a "what".

Examples

In the following sentences, verbs are used without a direct object:

• "Rivers flow."
• "I sneezed."
• "My dog ran."
• "Water evaporates when it's hot."
• "You've grown since I last saw you!"
• "I wonder how old I will be when I die."

The following sentences contain transitive verbs (they take one or more objects):

• "We watched a movie last night."
• "She's eating popcorn."
• "When I said that, my sister smacked me."
• "Santa gave me a present."
• "He continuously clicked his pen and it was incredibly annoying to me."

Some verbs allow for objects but do not always require one. Such a verb may be used as intransitive in one sentence, and as transitive in another:

In general, intransitive verbs often involve weather terms, involuntary processes, states, bodily functions, motion, action processes, cognition, sensation, and emotion.

Valency-changing Operations

The valency of a verb is related to transitivity. Where the transitivity of a verb only considers the objects, the valency of a verb considers all the arguments the verb takes, including both the subject of the verb and all of the objects.

It is possible to change the transitivity of a verb, and in so doing to change the valency.

In languages that have a passive voice, a transitive verb in the active voice becomes intransitive in the passive voice.

In this sentence, hugged is a transitive verb taking Mary as its object. The sentence can be made passive with the direct object Mary as the grammatical subject as follows:

This shift is called promotion of the object.

The passive-voice construction cannot take an object. The passivized sentence could be continued with the agent:

It cannot be continued with a direct object to be taken by was hugged. For example, it would be ungrammatical to write Mary was hugged her daughter in order to show that Mary and her daughter shared a hug.

Intransitive verbs can be made passive in some languages. In English, intransitive verbs can be used in the passive voice when a prepositional phrase is included, as in, The houses were lived in by millions of people.

In the context of a nominative–accusative language like English, this promotion is nonsensical because intransitive verbs don't take objects, they take subjects, and so the subject of a transitive verb (I in I hug him) is also the subject of the intransitive passive construction (I was hugged by him).

Verb

A verb is a word that expresses an action, a state, or an occurrence — and it's the engine of every English sentence. Understanding how verbs work is foundational to everything else in English grammar, from forming questions to building complex sentences.

Verb Forms

Most English verbs have five inflected forms:

• Base form (go, write, climb) — used as an infinitive, imperative, present subjunctive, and present indicative in all persons except third-person singular.
• -s form (goes, writes, climbs) — used for the present tense, third-person singular (she writes).
• Past tense (went, wrote, climbed) — also called the preterite.
• Past participle (gone, written, climbed) — identical to the past tense for regular verbs, but often different for irregular verbs.
• -ing form (going, writing, climbing) — serves as the present participle and gerund.

The verb be is a special case with more forms than any other English verb (am, is, are, was, were, been, being). Modal verbs like can, must, and should have fewer forms than typical verbs.

Main Verbs and Auxiliaries

Verbs in English often appear in combinations: one or more auxiliary verbs paired with a main verb.

• The dog was barking very loudly.
• My hat has been cleaned.
• Jane does not really like us.

The first verb in the combination is the finite verb (it carries tense and agrees with the subject). The rest are nonfinite (infinitives or participles). Notice that these verbs don't always sit next to each other — as in does not really like.

Tense, Aspect, and Mood

English expresses tense (time reference), aspect (how an action unfolds over time), and mood (the speaker's attitude toward the action) mostly through verb combinations rather than word endings. That's why you'll encounter labels like "present progressive" or "conditional perfect" — these are specific tense–aspect–mood combinations built with auxiliaries.

Self-check: If you can change the time of a sentence by swapping one word (She runs → She ran), that word is the verb.

Keep Practising

To build your verb skills from the ground up, try these challenges: Basics. "To be" in Present Tense, Basics. Common Uses of Auxiliary Verbs, and Transitive and Intransitive Verbs.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary in English language can be thought of as a toolbox that you use to express yourself and understand others. It's important to continue expanding and refining it. This means learning new words, phrases, and idiomatic expressions and understanding how to use them in different contexts. The more tools you have in your toolbox, the more effectively you can communicate and understand others. Having a broad vocabulary also allows you to understand and engage with more complex texts and ideas, giving you access to new information and opportunities. Additionally, having a strong vocabulary is essential for academic and professional success, as it allows you to express yourself clearly and persuasively in writing and speaking. Like a carpenter who continues to learn new tools and techniques to improve their craft, expanding your vocabulary is an ongoing process that will help you improve your communication skills.

B2 | Upper Intermediate

B2, or Upper Intermediate, is the fourth level on the CEFR scale. It marks the point where you move from "getting by" to genuinely comfortable communication — handling complex topics, expressing nuanced opinions, and understanding most of what you read or hear in real-world contexts.

What a B2 user can do

At this level, you're expected to:

• Understand complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in your own field.
• Follow extended speech and lectures, even when the structure isn't entirely clear, as long as the topic is reasonably familiar.
• Interact fluently and spontaneously enough that conversations with native speakers flow naturally — without strain on either side.
• Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects, using connectors and cohesive devices to build well-structured arguments.
• Explain and defend a viewpoint on a topical issue, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of different options.
• Recognize implicit meaning — reading between the lines in demanding, longer texts.

What B2 grammar looks like in practice

B2 is where grammar stops being about isolated rules and starts being about flexibility and precision. You're expected to control structures like:

• Advanced conditionals and mixed conditionals — moving beyond simple if-clauses to express hypothetical and counterfactual meaning.
• Passive voice in varied tenses and contexts, not just present and past simple.
• Reported speech with correct sequence of tenses, including backshifting and reporting verbs.
• Participle clauses and the distinction between participles and gerunds.
• Comparative and superlative structures beyond basic -er/-est, including double comparatives and qualifying expressions.

Errors still happen at B2, but they rarely cause misunderstanding. The goal is controlled, flexible use of language across social, academic, and professional settings.

How B2 fits in the CEFR progression

B2 builds directly on the foundations of B1 (Intermediate) and prepares you for C1 (Advanced). Many university entrance exams, professional certifications, and immigration requirements target B2 as the minimum standard.

Self-check: If you can read a newspaper editorial, follow most of a TED talk without subtitles, and write a clear essay arguing a position — you're likely operating at B2.

Ready to test yourself? Try Is your English level B2/Upper Intermediate? or practise specific B2 grammar with challenges like Basics. Advanced Conditionals And "wish", Basics. Passive Voice, and Sequence of Tenses in Indirect Speech.

Difficulty: Medium

Medium difficulty. Difficulty levels represent author's opinion about how hard a question or challenge is.