B2 level intermediate Flashcards
Present continuous
“I’m not checking my email. I’m studying!” :)
“Please explain that to me again. I’m not understanding you.” :(
Some verbs are not usually used in the continuous form. They are often verbs of thinking and feeling, for example ‘understand’.
Past perfect continuous
I had been studying Spanish for two years before I first visited Spain. :)
I have been studying Spanish for two years before I first visited Spain. :(
Remember to use the past perfect continuous (had/hadn’t + been + verb -ing) when describing a situation that was happening over a period of time up to another event in the past. It is often used to give background information.
Neither of these wallets is mine.
After ‘neither of’, the verb is always positive and can be singular (‘is’) or plural (‘are’), so ‘neither of these wallets are mine’ is also common.
Phrasal verbs
A: When did you break up with your boyfriend?
B: Oh, I told him last night. I didn’t think he would break down in tears when I told him.
That’s correct! Here, ‘break up’ means ‘separate’ and ‘break down’ means ‘get very upset’.
The following questions were asked at a tourist information office. Which question is correct?
Can you give me informations about hotels? :)
Please could you give me an advice? :(
‘Advice’ is an uncountable noun. It is not used with the indefinite article ‘a’ or ‘an’. It is correct to say, ‘some advice’.
In this spoken sentence, what does I‘d…I‘d represent? “If I’d seen the thief, I’d have called the police.”
I had + I would
Spoken third conditional sentences can be confusing. This is correct because ‘I’d’ in the ‘if’ part is ‘I had’, and ‘I’d’ in the main part is ‘I would’.
ALL these sentences contain the abstract uncountable noun ‘happiness’, but only ONE is correct. Which?
Money can’t buy you happiness.
When we use an abstract uncountable noun to make a general statement, we don’t use the articles ‘the’ or ‘a/an’.
Your work colleague is talking on the phone, explaining why he was late this morning. Which phrase would you expect to hear?
My train was cancelled. Thus, I’m late. :)
My train was cancelled. Therefore, I’m late. :(
The sentence is grammatically correct but ‘therefore’ is used mainly in writing or formal speech.
I was always happy at school.
Second position adverbs are usually placed before the main verb, (‘He carefully opened the box’) but when the main verb is ‘to be’, the adverb usually goes immediately after the verb.
Which sentence is correct in natural spoken English?
“It’s the first time I’ve been to America.”
You have remembered that we need to use ‘the’ (or a possessive) with ordinal numbers.
Which sentence is correct?
“I used to cycle everywhere before I passed my driving test.”
In this sentence, the speaker regularly cycled in the past but doesn’t anymore since passing her driving test. We used ‘used to + infinitive’ in these situations.
