B1 · Intermediate

B1 Grammar Exercises with Answers

B1 is where English stops being a collection of forms and starts being a set of choices. At A2 most questions had one grammatical answer; at B1 several answers are grammatical and only one says what you meant. That shift is why intermediate learners often feel they have stopped progressing — the errors are no longer obvious, so the feedback dries up.

The three sets below cover the structures that carry most of that weight. The present perfect against the past simple decides how you report events. The conditionals decide how likely you are presenting something as. The passive decides what your sentence is about. Each is less a rule than a lever, and using them accurately is most of what separates B1 from A2.

Every set is marked instantly and followed by a written answer key. The explanations concentrate on why the wrong options are wrong, because at this level the plausible-but-incorrect answer is where the learning is.

3 exercise sets 38 questions Answer key included Free, no sign-up

Written and reviewed by Vugar Novruzov, Academy Director · How we write our lessons

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Exercise 1 — present perfect vs past simple

The distinction that separates B1 from A2, drilled on the hard cases.

Most learners can state this rule and still get it wrong in production, because the deciding factor sits somewhere else in the sentence. A finished time expression forces the past simple; an unfinished period allows the present perfect. The exercise below deliberately includes sentences where the time expression is implied rather than stated, which is where the real difficulty lives.

Seven questions contrasting the two tenses.

Complete: I ___ in this city since I was a child.live / lived / have lived / was living
Sort the sentences by the tense they require: … when I was at university, … three times this week, … in 2018, … ever since the accident, … the day before yesterday, … up to nowcategories: Past simple / Present perfect
She ___ three novels so far this year.wrote / has written / was writing / writes
Shakespeare ___ 37 plays.has written / wrote / has been writing / writes
I ___ him at the conference last March.have met / met / have been meeting / meet
___ you finished the report?Did / Have / Were / Are
When ___ you arrive?have / did / has / are
The company ___ since 1998 and is still trading.operated / has operated / was operating / operates
I ___ my wallet — I cannot pay.lost / have lost / was losing / lose

Show the answer key for present perfect vs past simple

I ___ in this city since I was a child.: have lived — Since opens an unfinished period.
Sorting: when I was at university, in 2018, the day before yesterday: Past simple — All three name closed periods.
Sorting: three times this week, ever since the accident, up to now: Present perfect — None of these has closed.
She ___ three novels so far this year.: has written — The year is still running.
Shakespeare ___ 37 plays.: wrote — The subject is dead, so the period is closed.
I ___ him at the conference last March.: met — Finished time expression.
___ you finished the report?: Have — Present relevance, no stated time.
When ___ you arrive?: did — When demands a specific past point.
The company ___ since 1998.: has operated — Unfinished period, still true.
I ___ my wallet.: have lost — The consequence is present.

Exercise 2 — zero, first and second conditionals

Choosing how likely you want the situation to sound.

A conditional does not report a fact; it reports how you are framing one. "If it rains, we will cancel" and "If it rained, we would cancel" describe the same weather and different attitudes to it — the first treats rain as a live possibility, the second as unlikely or hypothetical. That is why the exercise below gives context sentences: the grammar follows from the framing, not the other way round.

Seven questions on the first three conditionals.

Complete: If you heat water to 100°C, it ___.would boil / will boil / boils / boiled
If I finish early, I ______ you.word bank: will call, would travel, melts, were
If I had more money, I ______ more.word bank: will call, would travel, melts, were
If you leave ice in the sun, it ______.word bank: will call, would travel, melts, were
If I ______ you, I would apologise.word bank: will call, would travel, melts, were
If it ___ tomorrow, the match will be postponed.will rain / rains / rained / would rain
If I ___ the answer, I would tell you.know / knew / have known / will know
Water ___ if you cool it enough.would freeze / freezes / will freeze / froze
If she ___ harder, she would pass.studies / studied / will study / has studied
I ___ you if I hear anything.would tell / will tell / told / tell
If I were rich, I ___ that house.will buy / would buy / bought / buy
Which is correct?If it will snow, we stay home. / If it snows, we will stay home. / If it snow, we will stay home. / If it would snow, we stay home.

Show the answer key for zero, first and second conditionals

If you heat water to 100°C, it ___.: boils — Always true — zero conditional.
If I finish early, I ___ you.: will call — A real future possibility.
If I had more money, I ___ more.: would travel — Contrary to present fact.
If you leave ice in the sun, it ___.: melts — A general truth.
If I ___ you, I would apologise.: were — Fixed second-conditional phrase about now.
If it ___ tomorrow, the match will be postponed.: rains — No will in the if-clause.
If I ___ the answer, I would tell you.: knew — The speaker does not know.
Water ___ if you cool it enough.: freezes — Zero conditional.
If she ___ harder, she would pass.: studied — Presented as not happening.
I ___ you if I hear anything.: will tell — Real possibility.
If I were rich, I ___ that house.: would buy — Second conditional main clause.
Which is correct?: If it snows, we will stay home. — Present simple after if, will in the main clause.

Exercise 3 — the passive voice

Turning sentences around, and knowing when it is worth doing.

Forming the passive is mechanical: take the object, put it at the front, and use be in the original tense plus the past participle. The part worth practising is the tense, because the be carries it and learners routinely lose it — "the bridge is built in 1890" is a very common intermediate error. The exercise below varies the tense in almost every question for that reason.

Seven questions on passive forms.

Complete: The bridge ___ in 1890.is built / was built / has built / built
English ______ spoken all over the world.word bank: is, was, will be, has been
The letter ______ posted yesterday.word bank: is, was, will be, has been
The results ______ announced next week.word bank: is, was, will be, has been
My car ______ repaired — it is ready.word bank: is, was, will be, has been
This room ___ every morning.is cleaned / cleans / was cleaned / has cleaning
The parcel ___ tomorrow.is delivered / will be delivered / was delivered / delivers
The windows ___ last month.are replaced / were replaced / have replaced / replace
Which sentence is passive?They built the house. / The house was built. / The house looks old. / The house stood there.
The report ___ by the committee at the moment.is reviewing / is being reviewed / reviews / has reviewed
Nothing ___ about it so far.has been decided / is deciding / was deciding / decides
The bill must ___ by Friday.pay / be paid / paid / being paid

Show the answer key for the passive voice

The bridge ___ in 1890.: was built — Past time, so a past be.
English ___ spoken all over the world.: is — A present general truth.
The letter ___ posted yesterday.: was — Finished past time.
The results ___ announced next week.: will be — Future passive.
My car ___ repaired.: has been — Present relevance — it is ready now.
This room ___ every morning.: is cleaned — Present routine.
The parcel ___ tomorrow.: will be delivered — Future.
The windows ___ last month.: were replaced — Plural, finished past.
Which sentence is passive?: The house was built. — Be plus past participle, subject receives the action.
The report ___ at the moment.: is being reviewed — Present continuous passive.
Nothing ___ so far.: has been decided — Present perfect passive.
The bill must ___ by Friday.: be paid — Modal plus be plus participle.

The conditionals, in one table

Conditionals confuse learners mostly because they are taught as four numbered types rather than as a scale of likelihood. Read the middle column first — the forms follow from it.

Type	What it presents the situation as	Form
Zero	always true — a fact or a law	If + present simple, present simple
First	a real possibility in the future	If + present simple, will + infinitive
Second	unlikely, imaginary, or contrary to fact now	If + past simple, would + infinitive
Third	impossible — the past cannot be changed	If + past perfect, would have + past participle

The past forms in the second and third conditionals are not about past time. They mark distance from reality, which is why "If I were you" refers to right now and not to yesterday.

When the passive is the right choice

The passive has a poor reputation from writing guides that treat it as a stylistic failing. It is not: it is a tool for choosing what a sentence is about. Four situations call for it.

The doer is unknown

"My bike was stolen." Nobody knows who took it, and the active would force you to invent a subject you do not have.

The doer is obvious or irrelevant

"He was arrested on Tuesday." Adding "by the police" says nothing the reader had not already assumed.

The receiver is the topic

A paragraph about a building keeps the building as the subject: "The tower was completed in 1889." The active would hand the sentence to the architects, who are not what the paragraph is about.

You are being deliberately impersonal

Scientific and official writing uses the passive to keep the focus on the procedure rather than the person: "The samples were heated to 40°C."

Frequently asked questions

What grammar do I need at B1 level?

The present perfect against the past simple, the present perfect continuous, all four conditionals, the passive in the common tenses, reported speech, relative clauses, and the gerund-or-infinitive choice after common verbs.

Do these B1 exercises include answers?

Yes. Each set is marked as you answer and has a written answer key beneath it explaining every item, including why the tempting wrong answers are wrong.

What is the difference between the second and third conditional?

The second imagines a present or future situation that is not the case; the third imagines a past that did not happen. "If I had money I would buy it" is about now; "If I had had money I would have bought it" is about a lost opportunity.

Is B1 the same as intermediate?

Yes. B1 is the third CEFR level and corresponds to intermediate. It is the level most commonly required for general work and study purposes.

Why do I keep getting the present perfect wrong at B1?

Almost always because a finished time expression is present. Scan the sentence for yesterday, ago, last, in 2019 or when — any of them forces the past simple regardless of how relevant the event still is.

Should I avoid the passive in my writing?

No. Avoid it when it hides a doer your reader needs, but use it whenever the receiver of the action is what the sentence is about. Blanket avoidance produces worse writing, not better.