The English A2 curriculum is complete — all 28 lessons, every tense and structure you need to function at elementary level.

Now it's time to go further.

English B1 is open. Four new lessons are live, and they tackle two of the trickiest areas that trip up A2 learners moving into intermediate English.

🆕 Four New B1 Lessons

The first batch falls into two natural pairs:

  • The past, done precisely — sorting out when to use the present perfect and when to reach for the past simple, plus a dedicated structure for talking about the past that no longer applies.
  • Your first conditionals — the zero conditional for things that are always true, and the first conditional for real future possibilities.

👉 You'll find them all on the English B1 learning path.

🕰️ The Past, Done Precisely

Present perfect vs past simple

Both tenses talk about the past. So why does English say I've lost my keys in one moment and I lost my keys yesterday in another?

The difference comes down to time windows. The past simple is for finished, closed-off time — yesterday, last week, in 2019. The present perfect keeps one foot in the present: the event is in the past, but its connection to now is still live.

That's why I've lost my keys means they're still missing — the situation matters right now. I lost my keys just describes something that happened. The time is gone; the connection is cut.

👉 Present perfect vs past simple works through the time-signal test, the "news then detail" pattern (She's won the race — she won it by two seconds), and the common mistakes that persist all the way into fluency.

Used to (past habits and states)

Used to is a dedicated past-only structure that says: this was true for a period, but it's not true any more.

I used to live in Warsaw. (I don't now.) She used to hate coffee. (She loves it now.)

It doesn't just say something happened — it marks the contrast with the present. That makes it more precise than the past simple in many situations, and gives your English a distinctly intermediate feel.

👉 Used to (past habits & states) covers the forms (didn't use to, Did you use to…?), the typical uses (repeated actions, long-lasting states, childhood routines), and the traps — including why I was used to means something completely different.

🔀 Your First Conditionals

Zero conditional

The zero conditional is for things that are always true — scientific facts, cause-and-effect rules, instructions that always apply.

If you heat water to 100°C, it boils. When you press this button, the light comes on.

Both halves use the present simple, and the result is guaranteed. It's not about a specific future event — it's about a general, automatic truth.

👉 Zero conditional explains why when and if are interchangeable here, how it differs from the first conditional, and how to use it for instructions and definitions.

First conditional

The first conditional is for real, possible future situations and their likely result.

If it rains, I'll take an umbrella. If you study hard, you'll pass the exam.

The if-clause is present simple (not future); the result clause uses will. The key word is real: this is something that could genuinely happen, not a fantasy or a general rule.

👉 First conditional covers the structure, the word-order flip (I'll take an umbrella if it rains), how modals like might and can soften the result, and why you never write if it will rain.

🆓 Still Free, Still Open

All four lessons are 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.

⭐ Take a Look

The B1 path is just getting started.

👉 Open the English B1 learning path, begin with present perfect vs past simple, and take the first step into intermediate English.