Are you B1/Intermediate? Test your English CEFR Level to figure out!

Medium B1 | Intermediate Conditional sentence Progressive tense Simple tense Past tense Future tense Modal verb Grammatical number Countable and uncountable Noun Preposition Comparative and superlative Adjective Adjective and adverb Pronoun Habits and Routines Vocabulary for B1/Intermediate

This English grammar quiz is designed to check if an English learner is at B1/Intermediate CEFR level.

It covers a range of grammar and vocabulary concepts that are typically associated with Intermediate learners. These concepts include more advanced verb tenses such as present perfect and past continuous, complex sentence structures such as adverbial clauses and modal verbs, and a wide range of vocabulary related to various topics such as hobbies, and opinions. The quiz also tests the learner's ability to understand idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs.

After taking the quiz, learners would be able to see where they stand in terms of their English proficiency and if they are ready to move to the next level. Passing the challenge indicates the control of English grammar enough to move to the next level.

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Conditional sentence

✅ If you heat ice, it melts. — zero conditional (always true)
✅ If it rains, I*'ll** take an umbrella.* — first conditional (real future)
✅ If I had wings, I would fly. — second conditional (unreal present)
✅ If I had left earlier, I would have caught the train. — third conditional (unreal past)

Conditional sentences pair an if-clause with a consequence. Five patterns (zero through mixed) each combine specific tenses to express different levels of reality and time.

Pattern: the tense in the if-clause is always one step "back" from what you'd expect — past for present hypotheticals, past perfect for past hypotheticals.

Progressive tense

✅ I am working in London. — temporary, happening now
✅ I work in London. — permanent/habitual (simple)
❌ I am knowing the answer. — stative verb, can't be progressive
✅ She was reading when I arrived. — past progressive (in progress at that moment)

The progressive = be + -ing. Marks actions as ongoing, temporary, or in-progress at a reference time. NOT used with stative verbs (know, believe, own, want, like) unless meaning shifts.

Rule: is the action temporary/in-progress right now? → progressive. Is it a permanent fact, habit, or schedule? → simple. Is it a stative verb? → almost never progressive.

Simple tense

✅ I go to work every day. — present simple (habit)
✅ She went home yesterday. — past simple (completed action)
✅ I will call you later. — future simple (promise/decision)
✅ Water boils at 100°C. — present simple (general truth)

The simple aspect is the default, unmarked verb form. Present simple = habits, facts, schedules. Past simple = completed actions. Future simple = predictions, promises, decisions. No auxiliary needed (except will for future and do for questions/negatives).

Rule: if the action is a fact, habit, completed event, or scheduled future — and you don't need to emphasise it being in-progress or connected to now → simple tense.

Past tense

I walked home. — simple past (completed action)
I was walking when it rained. — past progressive (in progress)
I had already left when she arrived. — past perfect (earlier past)
I had been waiting for an hour. — past perfect progressive (duration up to a past point)

Four past tense forms: simple past (done), past progressive (was happening), past perfect (had already happened), past perfect progressive (had been happening). Each encodes different timing relative to other past events.

Pattern: simple past = the story's main timeline. Past progressive = background action. Past perfect = flashback to something even earlier.

Future tense

✅ I*'ll** help you.* — spontaneous decision (will)
✅ I*'m going to** study medicine.* — planned intention
✅ I*'m meeting** Sam at six.* — fixed arrangement (present continuous)
✅ The train leaves at 8. — scheduled event (present simple)

English has no single future tense — it uses will, be going to, present continuous, and present simple for different shades of future meaning. The choice signals whether you're predicting, planning, arranging, or stating a schedule.

Pattern: spontaneous → will. Planned → going to. Arranged → present continuous. Timetabled → present simple.

Modal verb

✅ She can swim. — ❌ She can to swim. (modal + bare infinitive, no to)
✅ You must leave now. — strong obligation
✅ It might rain. — possibility (~50%)
✅ He should apologise. — advice/recommendation

Modal verbs (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) are auxiliaries expressing ability, permission, possibility, obligation, or speculation. Always + bare infinitive. Never inflected (she can, not she cans).

Rule: modals never take to after them, never add -s for third person, and can't combine directly (must can ❌ — use must be able to).

Grammatical number

✅ The data show… — ❌ The data shows… (traditionally plural)
✅ Each student has a book. — ❌ Each student have a book. (each = singular)
✅ The team is ready. (BrE: are also fine) — collective noun
✅ children, mice, teeth — irregular plurals (no -s)

Grammatical number = singular vs plural on nouns, pronouns, and verbs. Nouns usually add -(e)s; verbs must agree with their subject's number.

Trap: collective nouns (team, staff, data), quantifiers (each, every = singular; both, several = plural), and irregular plurals (children, criteria, phenomena) all cause agreement errors.

Countable and uncountable

✅ some advice — ❌ an advice / advices (uncountable → no article, no plural)
✅ a piece of furniture — ❌ a furniture / furnitures
✅ How much water? — ❌ How many water? (uncountable → much)
✅ fewer people — ❌ less people (countable plural → fewer)

English nouns are either countable (take a/an, form plurals, use many/few) or uncountable (no plural, use much/little). The choice is partly arbitrary and must be memorised.

Test: can you put a number in front? Three chairs → countable. Three furnitures ❌ → uncountable. Use a unit phrase instead: three pieces of furniture.

Noun

The cat sat on the mat. — concrete nouns (things you can touch)
Happiness is important. — abstract noun (idea/quality)
London is beautiful. — proper noun (specific name, capitalised)
I need some information. — uncountable noun (no a/an, no plural)

A noun names a person, place, thing, idea, or quality. Nouns determine article choice, verb agreement, and pronoun reference. Types: common/proper, concrete/abstract, countable/uncountable.

Test: can you put the or a before it? Can you make it plural? If yes to either → it's functioning as a noun.

Preposition

✅ interested in — ❌ interested on
✅ good at football — ❌ good in football
✅ depend on — ❌ depend of
✅ arrive at the station — ❌ arrive to the station

Prepositions link nouns to the rest of the sentence: time (at 5pm), place (in London), manner (with care), abstract (afraid of). Most are idiomatic — the "correct" preposition must be memorised with each verb/adjective combination.

Rule: there is no universal rule. English prepositions are learned by combination: interested IN, good AT, depend ON, afraid OF. Your native language's equivalent will often mislead.

Comparative and superlative

✅ She is taller than me. — ❌ She is more taller than me. (double comparative)
✅ This is the most interesting book. — ❌ This is the interestingest book.
✅ He did better than expected. — ❌ He did more good than expected. (irregular)
✅ That's the worst idea ever. — ❌ That's the baddest idea ever.

Comparatives compare two things (-er or more); superlatives pick the extreme of three+ (-est or most). Short adjectives use -er/-est; longer ones use more/most. Never combine both.

Rule: one or two syllables → -er/-est (with exceptions). Three+ syllables → more/most. Irregulars (good/better/best, bad/worse/worst) must be memorised.

Adjective

✅ a tall building — ❌ a tally building
✅ The soup is hot — ❌ The soup is hotly
✅ a lovely small old table — ❌ a small lovely old table
✅ She seems tired — ❌ She seems tiredly

These bolded words are adjectives — words that describe nouns or pronouns. They sit before a noun (a tall building) or after a linking verb (The soup is hot).

Pattern: if a word can slot between a/the and a noun (a ___ thing) and can take -er/-est, it's almost certainly an adjective.

Adjective and adverb

✅ a quick response — ❌ a quickly response
✅ she spoke quietly — ❌ she spoke quiet
✅ the food tastes good — ❌ the food tastes well
✅ he runs fast — ✅ a fast car (same word, both roles)

Adjectives modify nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Most adverbs add -ly to the adjective (slow → slowly), but some words — fast, hard, late — serve as both without changing form.

Rule: if the word describes a noun → adjective. If it describes an action or degree → adverb.

Pronoun

✅ between you and me — ❌ between you and I (objective case after preposition)
✅ its colour — ❌ it's colour (it's = it is)
✅ She did it herself. — reflexive pronoun
✅ The person who called… — relative pronoun

Pronouns replace nouns: personal (I/me/my), demonstrative (this/that), relative (who/which/that), interrogative (who?/what?), reflexive (myself), indefinite (everyone/nobody). They carry case that nouns have lost.

Trap: pronouns are where English case still matters: I vs me, who vs whom, its vs it's. Get these wrong and it's instantly noticeable.

Habits and Routines

✅ I always get up at 7. — ❌ I get up always at 7. (adverb before main verb)
✅ She usually walks to work. — present simple for current habit
✅ I used to smoke. — past habit (no longer true)
✅ He would always bring flowers. — would for repeated past actions

Habits and routines use present simple + frequency adverbs for current habits, and used to / would for past habits. Adverb placement: before the main verb, after be.

Rule: frequency adverbs (always, usually, often, sometimes, never) go BEFORE the main verb but AFTER be: She always eats breakfast vs She is always hungry.

Vocabulary for B1/Intermediate

Opinion & argument: I believe, in my opinion, it depends on, although, however
Abstract concepts: opportunity, responsibility, environment, relationship
Emotions refined: disappointed, frustrated, relieved, grateful (not just happy/sad)
Wider phrasal verbs: come up with, look forward to, get along with

B1 vocabulary = ~2,500–4,000 words. Opinion language, abstract nouns, news vocabulary, refined emotions, more phrasal verbs. The level where small talk becomes real conversation.

Focus: discourse markers (however, although, therefore), opinion verbs (believe, consider, assume), and the abstract nouns that let you discuss ideas, not just things.

B1 | Intermediate

✅ If I had more time, I would travel more. — second conditional
✅ The bridge was built in 1920. — passive voice
✅ She said she was tired. — reported speech with backshift
✅ Although it rained, we enjoyed the trip. — complex sentence with concession

These are B1 patterns — the CEFR intermediate level. At B1 you link ideas, use passive voice, handle reported speech, and manage second conditional — enough for travel, work basics, and everyday independence.

Marker: if you can explain why something happened and follow a news story, you're B1.

Medium

If I were you, I would apologise. — one rule (second conditional), but distractors like was tempt you
Answers require active thought, not instant pattern recognition
Vocabulary and context are realistic, not artificially simplified
Usually tests one rule, but the wrong answers are plausible

Medium marks middle-difficulty challenges: A2–B1, one rule tested, but with realistic distractors that require genuine understanding.

Use "Medium" when Easy feels too obvious but Hard feels overwhelming. This is where most productive learning happens — the sweet spot of difficulty.