Grammar · A1–C2 · Free CEFR Test

Online English Grammar Test (Free, Adaptive, A1–C2)

Grammar is where an English level is won or lost — and where random quizzes help least. Scoring 7/10 on a mixed-bag grammar quiz tells you almost nothing, because it never says which seven, or what the ten were measuring. This free online grammar test works like a proper placement instrument instead: adaptive rounds that climb from everyday structures to the formal machinery of academic English, until they find the exact point where your grammar stops.

You will see multiple-choice sentences only — no terminology, no “name this tense” — because the goal is to measure what you can use, not what you can label. The result is a CEFR level for your grammar, alongside vocabulary, reading and writing, and a study plan pointed at the first structure you missed.

Adaptive A1–C2Real-usage questionsCEFR grammar levelFree · no sign-up

What the grammar ladder actually tests

The bank behind the test covers the full CEFR grammar syllabus. Here is the climb, band by band — with one real example question from each:

A1–A2 · Foundationsbe/have, present and past simple, plurals, articles, comparatives, going to, basic modalsExample: “You ___ eat in the library — it's not allowed.” (mustn't)
B1 · Thresholdpresent perfect with for/since, second conditional, passives, reported speech, relative clauses, gerunds and infinitivesExample: “She asked me where ___.” (I lived)
B2 · Vantagethird conditional, future perfect continuous, modal passives, unreal past (“It's high time we left”), inversion after Hardly/NeverExample: “I'd rather you ___ smoking in here.” (stopped)
C1–C2 · Masterysubjunctive, inverted conditionals (“Should the committee approve…”), cleft sentences, absolute constructions, formal ellipsisExample: “Little ___ that the decision would haunt him for years.” (did he know)

How the adaptive grammar ladder works

Every round you answer moves the ladder: pass and it climbs a band, struggle and it steps down — with a strict-majority pass mark and loop protection, exactly like professional computer-adaptive exams. Because each question is tagged to a CEFR band, your final grammar level is not a percentage but a position on the international scale, comparable across every test on this site.

Two details make the result trustworthy. First, distractors are real learner errors — “more better”, “didn't went”, “I am agree” — so the test can distinguish knowing the rule from pattern-matching. Second, the same sitting also measures vocabulary, reading and writing, so grammar is reported in context: strong grammar with weak vocabulary is a different diagnosis, and a different study plan, than the reverse.

The mistakes that reveal a level

Experienced teachers can place a learner from a single paragraph, because grammatical errors are not random — they are stratified. “She go to work” is an A1 slip; “I have seen him yesterday” is the classic A2–B1 boundary error, made by learners who have acquired the present perfect but not its limits; “If I would have known” marks a B2 learner mid-assault on the third conditional; and a C1 candidate betrays themselves not by breaking rules but by avoiding structures — never risking an inversion, never fronting a clause — so their English is correct but strangely flat.

The test's question bank is built on exactly this stratification. Each distractor at each band is a real error harvested from real learner writing at that stage, which is why your final grammar band lines up so well with what a human examiner would conclude — in a fraction of the time.

From result to repair: fixing what the test finds

A grammar level is only useful if it changes what you study tomorrow. Your result links straight into our grammar classroom — 77 topics from A1 to B2, each with plain-English rules, the classic mistakes, and a quiz — so the structure you missed in the test is the lesson you open next. Vocabulary lists, graded stories and the levelled learning paths then supply the volume that turns a corrected rule into a habit.

Grammar study resources

Frequently asked questions

Which grammar does the test cover?

The full CEFR range: from be/have and the present simple at A1, through conditionals, passives and reported speech at B1–B2, up to the subjunctive, inversion and cleft sentences at C1–C2. Questions are served adaptively, so you only see the bands that matter for you.

Will I see grammar terminology?

No. Every question is a real sentence with four options. The test measures whether you can use structures correctly, not whether you can name them — naming comes later, in the lessons your result links to.

How long does the grammar test take?

The grammar section takes two to three minutes inside the 5–7 minute quick test, which also measures vocabulary, reading and writing so your grammar level lands in context.

Is the grammar test free?

Completely. The adaptive test, your CEFR grammar level and the linked study plan are free, with no account needed to start. A free full placement exam with a downloadable certificate is available afterwards.

My grammar level is lower than my speaking. Is that normal?

Very. Fluent speakers often plateau with fossilised errors — the test exposes exactly which structures fossilised. The fix is targeted: study the specific topics your result flags, not “grammar” in general.

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