The first four B1 lessons sorted out the past — present perfect vs past simple, used to, and the zero and first conditionals. Now the second batch is live, and it turns attention to the future and to one of the most expressive tenses for talking about ongoing activity.
Four new B1 lessons are open. They complete two natural themes: how English handles the future (including an imaginary one), and how to emphasise duration with the present perfect continuous.
🆕 Four New B1 Lessons
- The second conditional — imaginary and unlikely present/future situations
- Future time clauses — why when takes the present simple, not will
- Future forms review — choosing between will, going to, and the present continuous
- Present perfect continuous — emphasising how long an activity has been going on
👉 All four are on the English B1 learning path.
🔀 Imaginary Worlds: The Second Conditional
The first conditional covered real possibilities: If it rains, I'll take an umbrella. The second conditional takes you one step further — into imaginary, unlikely, or hypothetical situations.
If I had more money, I would travel more. The speaker doesn't have more money right now — this is imagination, not expectation.
The form is if + past simple in the condition, would + base verb in the result. The past form in the if-clause is the classic English signal that you're not predicting but imagining. That's why If I were you, I'd apologise uses were, not am — the subjunctive signals "this is hypothetical."
Could and might can replace would in the result clause when you want to add a sense of ability (could) or uncertainty (might) even inside the imaginary world.
👉 Second conditional covers the full form, the were vs was question, second-conditional questions, and the most common mistake — writing If I would have… instead of If I had…
🕰️ Future Time Clauses
Here's something that surprises many learners: after words like when, as soon as, until, before, and after, English uses the present simple — even when you're clearly talking about the future.
❌ I'll call you when I will arrive. → ✅ I'll call you when I arrive.
Why? Because when, until, and their companions introduce time clauses, not predictions. The future meaning is carried by the main clause (I'll call you). The time clause just says when — and for that, English uses the present.
The same rule applies to all future forms in the main clause: I'm going to start once everyone is here. The default is the present simple, but the present continuous (while you*'re studying***) and present perfect (after you have finished) also appear when the meaning calls for it.
There is one exception: when when means at what time in an indirect question, will is correct. I don't know when he will arrive — here when is asking about time, not setting it.
👉 Future time clauses works through all the conjunctions, the when vs if distinction (expectation vs possibility), and the by the time + future perfect pattern.
🔭 Future Forms Review: Will, Going To, Present Continuous
English has three very common ways to talk about the future, and choosing between them comes down to why you're talking about the future.
| Form | Typical use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| will | prediction (opinion) or instant decision | I think it'll be fine. / I'll get it. |
| be going to | plan decided before now; prediction from evidence | I'm going to call him. / Look — it's going to fall! |
| present continuous | fixed arrangement with a time or place | I'm meeting her at noon. |
The clearest dividing line is will vs going to for predictions: will is your opinion or belief; be going to points to visible, present evidence. Look at those clouds — it's going to rain vs I think it'll be cold tomorrow.
Be going to and the present continuous often overlap for plans — I'm going to see the lawyer tomorrow and I'm seeing the lawyer tomorrow are both natural when a meeting is already arranged.
👉 Future forms review puts all three side by side, covers the spontaneous-decision will ("The phone's ringing." — "I'll get it."), and revisits the no-will-in-time-clauses rule.
🔄 Present Perfect Continuous
You already know the present perfect (I've lived here for two years). The present perfect continuous shifts the focus from the result to the activity in progress.
I've been studying all morning. (How long — the activity is the point.) Why are your hands dirty? — I've been gardening. (Recent activity explains the present.)
The form is have / has + been + verb-ing. The three main uses:
- Duration up to now — how long something has been going on: She's been working here since 2020.
- Recent activity with a visible result — the cause of what you can see right now.
- Repeated action over a recent period — He's been calling me every day this week.
The key B1 contrast is simple vs continuous: the simple focuses on a completed result or count (I've written three emails); the continuous focuses on the ongoing activity or duration (I've been writing emails all afternoon). And state verbs — know, own, like, have (possession) — stay in the simple even for duration: I've known her for years, not I've been knowing her.
👉 Present perfect continuous covers the forms, negatives, questions, the state-verb exception, and the simple vs continuous comparison with side-by-side examples.
🆓 Free and Open
All four lessons are free to read — no account, no login, no paywall. Each ends with a quick check so you can test yourself straight away.
⭐ Keep Going
👉 Open the English B1 learning path and continue where you left off.