It started with past tenses and your first conditionals on 29 June. Twelve days and five batches later, the English B1 curriculum is complete — all 22 lessons are live, free, and waiting for you.
The last batch of six rounds it off: two ways to talk about two things (both/either/neither, question tags), two ways to add emphasis and connect ideas (so/such, linkers of reason and contrast), and two lessons that make everyday speech sound natural (phrasal verbs, modifying comparatives).
🆕 The Last Six B1 Lessons
- Both, either, neither — talking about two people or things together, as a choice, or negatively
- Question tags — isn't it?, don't you? — checking information or inviting agreement
- So / such — adding emphasis to an adjective, adverb, or noun
- Linkers of reason & contrast — because, although, despite — connecting ideas correctly
- Phrasal verbs (introduction) — turn off, look after, give up — and where the pronoun goes
- Modifying comparatives — a bit cheaper, much bigger, far more expensive
👉 All six are on the English B1 learning path, alongside the rest of B1.
👥 Both, Either, Neither
Both, either, and neither all talk about two people or things — the one you need depends on what you want to say: Both books are good (the two together), Take either seat (a free choice), Neither answer is correct (not this one, not that one).
The quick shortcut. Both is positive and plural. Either offers a free choice or appears in negatives/questions. Neither is the negative of both.
Either and neither also have a separate job agreeing with a statement: I don't like coffee either. / Neither do I.
👉 Both, either, neither covers verb agreement, both of / either of / neither of, and these short agreement responses.
❓ Question Tags
A question tag is the little "isn't it?" or "don't you?" added to a statement — You're tired, aren't you? Most of the time it isn't a new question at all; it checks that what you said is right, or invites agreement.
The quick shortcut. A positive statement gets a negative tag; a negative statement gets a positive tag. The tag repeats the statement's auxiliary (or do/does/did) plus its subject as a pronoun: You're tired, aren't you? · You don't smoke, do you?
With a different intonation, the same tag can become a real question rather than a check.
👉 Question tags covers the polarity flip, special cases like I am / there is / let's, and the checking-vs-asking intonation.
💥 So / Such
So and such both add emphasis, but they attach to different things: so goes with an adjective or adverb alone, such goes with a noun (usually with an adjective in front).
- The film was so good. (so + adjective, no noun)
- It was such a good film. (such + a + adjective + noun)
Both also combine with that to give a result: It was so good that we watched it twice.
👉 So / such covers so many/much, the so...that / such...that pattern, and common mistakes.
🔗 Linkers of Reason & Contrast
Once sentences get longer, you need words to glue ideas together — to explain why something happened or how two ideas don't quite fit. The tricky part isn't the meaning, it's the grammar pattern each linker takes.
Quick shortcut. Because, since, as, although, even though, and though are followed by a clause (subject + verb): because it was raining. Because of, despite, and in spite of are followed by a noun or -ing form, never a clause: because of the rain, despite being tired.
👉 Linkers of reason & contrast covers reason, result, and contrast linkers side by side, with the pattern each one needs.
🧩 Phrasal Verbs (Introduction)
English pairs short, everyday verbs with a small word like up, off, on, or out to make a new verb with its own meaning: wake up, turn off, look after. Native speakers use these constantly — often instead of a single "fancier" verb (give up instead of quit).
Quick shortcut. A phrasal verb = verb + particle, and together they often mean something you can't guess from the two words alone. Some can be split by an object (turn off the light / turn the light off), and with a pronoun the split is required: ✅ turn it off, never ❌ turn off it.
👉 Phrasal verbs (introduction) covers literal vs idiomatic meaning, separable vs inseparable patterns, and pronoun placement.
📏 Modifying Comparatives
A comparative on its own doesn't say how big the gap is — This flat is more expensive could mean €5 more or €500 more. English puts a small word or phrase in front of the comparative to be precise: small gap (a bit, a little, slightly), big gap (much, a lot, far).
The one rule to remember. The modifier goes directly before the comparative, and never changes its form: ✅ much cheaper, ✅ a bit more expensive, never ❌ much more cheaper.
👉 Modifying comparatives also covers much/many more before nouns, and any, no, even with comparatives.
🎓 What B1 Gives You
B1 is the level where English stops being a set of fixed phrases and starts being a flexible tool. By the time you've worked through these 22 lessons you can:
- talk about hypothetical situations — real conditions, imaginary present situations, and unreal pasts
- talk about the future with nuance — plans, predictions, and events already scheduled at a specific future moment
- describe what's been happening — the present perfect continuous, and the difference between an experience and a state
- use the passive voice — when the action matters more than who did it
- report what someone else said — with the tense backshift that comes with it
- add detail with relative clauses — including whose, whom, and clauses built around a preposition
- choose the right verb pattern — -ing or to + verb after a first verb
- compare things precisely — equal (as...as), and by how much (much bigger, twice as expensive)
- talk about two things at once — both, either, neither
- check information and invite agreement — question tags
- add emphasis and connect ideas — so/such, and linkers of reason and contrast
- sound natural — everyday phrasal verbs instead of stiffer single-word verbs
📚 All 22 Lessons
⏳ Past Tenses, Done Precisely
The lessons that separate a finished past action from one that still matters now, plus the conditionals for talking about general truths and real future possibilities.
- Present perfect vs past simple — I've lost my keys vs I lost my keys yesterday
- Used to — past habits and states that are no longer true
- Zero conditional — general truths and automatic results: If you heat ice, it melts
- First conditional — real, likely future possibilities: If it rains, we'll stay in
🔮 The Future and the Present Perfect Continuous
Imaginary presents, three more ways to talk about the future, and an ongoing-action tense that's new at this level.
- Second conditional — imaginary present situations: If I won the lottery, I'd travel
- Future time clauses — when, as soon as, until — and why the verb after them isn't future
- Future forms review — choosing between will, going to, and the present continuous
- Present perfect continuous — I've been waiting for an hour — emphasising duration
⚖️ Past Perfect, Modals, and the Passive
Looking further back into the past, guessing and speculating, and shifting the focus from who did something to what happened.
- Past perfect — the past before the past: She had already left when I arrived
- Modals of possibility — may, might, could for things that are possible, not certain
- Modals of deduction: present — must, can't, might for logical guesses about now
- The passive: present & past — The window was broken — when the action matters more than the doer
🔗 Clauses, Speech, Verb Patterns, and Comparisons
Building longer, more precise sentences, retelling what someone said, and comparing things that are equal rather than different.
- Defining relative clauses — whose, whom, and clauses built around a preposition
- Reported speech: statements — backshift, pronouns, and time expressions
- Gerunds & infinitives — which verbs take -ing and which take to + verb
- As...as comparisons — saying two things are equal, not different
🧭 Two Things, Emphasis, and Everyday Speech
The finishing touches: talking about pairs, checking and agreeing, emphasis, linking ideas, phrasal verbs, and precise comparisons.
- Both, either, neither — two people or things, together, as a choice, or negatively
- Question tags — isn't it?, don't you? — checking and agreeing
- So / such — emphasis for adjectives, adverbs, and nouns
- Linkers of reason & contrast — because, although, despite, and the pattern each one takes
- Phrasal verbs (introduction) — turn off, look after, give up
- Modifying comparatives — a bit cheaper, much bigger, far more expensive
📰 How We Got Here
The 22 lessons arrived in five batches over twelve days:
- English B1 begins: past tenses and your first conditionals — 29 June
- English B1 continues: the future and the present perfect continuous — 1 July
- English B1 part 3: past perfect, modals, and the passive — 3 July
- English B1 part 4: relative clauses, reported speech, verb patterns & comparisons — 6 July
- This batch: both/either/neither, question tags, so/such, linkers, phrasal verbs, and modifying comparatives — 10 July
🆓 Still Free, Still Open
Every one of the 22 lessons is free to read — no account, no login, no paywall. Each one ends with a short quick-check so you can test yourself on the spot.
Bookmark the path, share it with someone who's learning, come back whenever a tense or a grammar rule trips you up.
📈 More Than Free Reading
These 22 lessons are free — but GrammarMama's practice side is where the real progress happens, and that part gets personal:
- Know your level. A quick placement conversation places you on the CEFR scale (A1–C2), so practice starts exactly where you are.
- Follow a curriculum, not random exercises. Practice is steered by the same curriculum behind these articles, with a visual roadmap showing what's next and what you've already mastered.
- It remembers your mistakes — and your vocabulary. Every mistake and every new word gets scheduled for review with spaced repetition, so it resurfaces right when you're about to forget it.
- A few minutes a day, every day. Daily exercises adapt to what you need most: a new grammar point, a review of yesterday's mistakes, or vocabulary that's due.
👉 Head to Practice to find your level and start your first exercise.
⭐ What's Next
B1 is done — but the path keeps going. B2, the upper-intermediate level, is next: the third conditional, mixed conditionals, wish / if only, the passive across all tenses, and more.
👉 Open the English B1 learning path for one last look, or head straight to Practice to keep moving forward.