Free grammar practice
Learn English grammar, one rule at a time
Short rule pages in plain English, 20-question drills that mark every answer at once, and a free level test from A1 to C2. No account. No email. Nothing to install.
Take the level testStart with a drill
- Free
- No account
- 1800 practice questions
- Levels A1 to C2
Grammar topics
90 topics, chosen for demand and for the mistakes learners make most. Each page has the rule, examples, a common-mistakes box and a 20-question drill with an explanation for every answer.
Present perfect vs past simple
The classic contrast: finished time takes the past simple, a link to now takes the present perfect.
20 instant-marked questions
Irregular verbs
The three forms (go, went, gone) grouped by pattern, with the mistakes to avoid.
20 instant-marked questions
Phrasal verbs
Verb plus particle, three types, and the pronoun rule that learners break most often.
20 instant-marked questions
Phrasal verbs with get
One small verb, a score of meanings: the get phrasal verbs learners meet every day.
20 instant-marked questions
Conditional sentences (type 1, 2 and 3)
If plus the right verb pattern: real, unreal and impossible situations, with the comma rule.
20 instant-marked questions
First conditional
If plus the present simple, will plus the base verb: a real possibility in the future.
20 instant-marked questions
Second conditional
If plus the past simple, would plus the base verb: the present that is not real.
20 instant-marked questions
Third conditional
If plus had and the past participle, would have plus the past participle: the past that cannot change.
20 instant-marked questions
Reported speech
Direct to indirect: one step back, pronouns move, time words change, say vs tell.
20 instant-marked questions
Articles: a, an and the
New or known, sound not letter, and the zero article for general statements.
20 instant-marked questions
Prepositions of time and place: at, on and in
At, on and in for clock times, days and periods, and for points, surfaces and spaces.
20 instant-marked questions
The passive voice
Be plus past participle, when the doer matters and when the result matters more.
20 instant-marked questions
Modal verbs: can, could, must, should, may
No -s, no to, no do: what modals share, and which one fits each job.
20 instant-marked questions
Can vs could
Can for now, could for the past and for polite requests, plus the one past situation that refuses could.
20 instant-marked questions
Gerund vs infinitive
Verb plus -ing or verb plus to: the pattern lists, and the verbs where meaning flips.
20 instant-marked questions
Past continuous
Was or were plus -ing: the action in progress, the interruption, and the background of a story.
20 instant-marked questions
Past simple vs past continuous
The event or the background: choosing the right past tense, and how when and while help.
20 instant-marked questions
Will vs going to
The future has two shapes: will for decisions made now, going to for plans and visible evidence.
20 instant-marked questions
Present continuous for the future
Fixed plans with a time and a place: why "I am meeting Anna at six" sounds more certain than "I will meet Anna".
20 instant-marked questions
Future time clauses: when, before, after, until
When, before, after, as soon as and until take the present, even when the meaning is future.
20 instant-marked questions
Future continuous
Will be plus -ing: the action in progress at a future moment, and the polite way to ask about plans.
20 instant-marked questions
Future perfect
Will have plus the past participle: what will already be finished before a deadline in the future.
20 instant-marked questions
Present perfect with for and since
For counts a period. Since names the starting point. Both connect the past to now.
20 instant-marked questions
Present perfect with just, already and yet
Just for a moment ago, already for earlier than expected, yet for the question and the negative.
20 instant-marked questions
Present perfect continuous
Have been plus -ing: the activity that fills the time up to now and often leaves a visible result.
20 instant-marked questions
Present perfect simple vs continuous
A result or a count takes the simple form; a continuing activity takes the continuous.
20 instant-marked questions
Some vs any
Some for positive sentences, any for negatives and questions, and the polite exceptions that use some.
20 instant-marked questions
Much vs many
Many counts things you can number. Much measures what you cannot, and positive sentences prefer a lot of.
20 instant-marked questions
A few vs a little
A few counts things you can number. A little measures what you cannot, and both mean enough.
20 instant-marked questions
Few vs little: not enough
Without the little word a, both phrases turn negative: few things and little stuff are not enough.
20 instant-marked questions
A vs an: choose by sound
Choose a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound. Spelling is not the test; your ears are.
20 instant-marked questions
The or no article: general and specific
The points to one specific thing. No article speaks about things in general. The difference changes the meaning of a sentence.
20 instant-marked questions
Prepositions of time: at, on and in
At marks a point on the clock, on marks a day, in marks a bigger period. The size of the time decides the preposition.
20 instant-marked questions
Prepositions of place: at, on and in
In puts something inside a space, on puts it on a surface, and at marks a point. The same object can take all three, depending on how you see it.
20 instant-marked questions
By vs until: deadline or duration
By names the latest moment for a finished action. Until names the end of a continuing situation. The verb decides which one you need.
20 instant-marked questions
How much vs how many: count the noun
How many counts separate things. How much measures an amount, a price or an uncountable idea.
20 instant-marked questions
Ever and never with the present perfect
Ever means at any time up to now, and it lives in questions. Never means at no time up to now, and it lives in statements.
20 instant-marked questions
Zero conditional: facts and habits
When the result is always true, both halves of the sentence take the present simple. If and when mean the same thing here.
20 instant-marked questions
Mixed conditionals: past and present together
When one half of a conditional looks at the past and the other at now, the sentence is mixed. The time words tell you which pattern you need.
20 instant-marked questions
Must vs have to: rules and obligations
Must is the obligation you feel or state. Have to is the obligation the world gives you. The two negatives mean completely different things.
20 instant-marked questions
May vs might: possibility and permission
May sounds a little more likely and a little more formal. Might sounds more remote and tentative. Both never take to.
20 instant-marked questions
Phrasal verbs with up: finish, increase, arrive
The particle up often means completely, higher or appearing. Learn the verbs in meaning groups instead of one long list.
20 instant-marked questions
Separable or inseparable phrasal verbs
A noun object can often move, but a pronoun cannot. It must sit between the verb and the particle in a separable phrasal verb.
20 instant-marked questions
Reported questions: word order and tense
A reported question stops being a question. It takes statement word order, drops the auxiliary, and often moves one tense back.
20 instant-marked questions
Reported commands and requests: tell and ask
A reported command takes told plus a person plus to. A reported request takes asked plus a person plus to. The infinitive never backshifts.
20 instant-marked questions
Remember, stop, try: gerund or infinitive
With these six verbs, the -ing form looks at the action itself, and to plus the verb looks at the purpose or the task still to do.
20 instant-marked questions
Used to, be used to and get used to
Used to plus the base verb looks at the past. Be used to and get used to take a noun or an -ing form and describe comfort with something.
20 instant-marked questions
Passive voice: present and past tenses
The passive always takes a form of be plus the past participle. The tense lives in be, and the doer moves behind by or disappears.
20 instant-marked questions
Passive voice with modal verbs
A modal passive keeps the modal in front and puts be plus the past participle after it. For the past, be becomes have been.
20 instant-marked questions
Past perfect vs past simple: which came first
When one past event happens before another, the earlier event takes had plus the past participle. The later event stays in the past simple.
20 instant-marked questions
Phrasal verbs with look: after, for, forward to and more
Look keeps its basic idea of attention or eyes, and the particle decides what happens next: caring, searching, waiting, investigating or resembling.
20 instant-marked questions
Phrasal verbs with take: off, up, after and over
The particle decides whether take means removing clothes, leaving the ground, starting a hobby, resembling a parent or gaining control.
20 instant-marked questions
Unless: if not, and how to use it
Unless introduces the one condition that stops something: "Unless you hurry, we will be late." The clause stays in the present simple, even about the future.
20 instant-marked questions
Wish and if only: past, present and future regrets
Wish moves the tense one step back to show that the situation is unreal: past simple for now, past perfect for then, and would for what annoys you.
20 instant-marked questions
Reporting verbs: say, tell, ask, advise and warn
A reporting verb decides the shape of the sentence: tell needs a person, say does not, and verbs like advise and warn take an object plus an infinitive.
20 instant-marked questions
The with geographic names: the UK, the USA, no article
Most single country names take no article. The takes over with plural names, group names and rivers, seas, oceans and mountain ranges.
20 instant-marked questions
Prepositions of movement: to, into, through and across
Movement prepositions answer the question "which way?". Into and out of are about entering and leaving, through and across are about crossing, and to is the destination.
20 instant-marked questions
Adjective + preposition: good at, interested in, afraid of
An adjective and its preposition form a fixed pair. Learn the pair, not the preposition alone: interested in, good at, afraid of, proud of and keen on.
20 instant-marked questions
Verb + preposition: depend on, listen to, wait for
A verb and its preposition form a fixed pair: depend on, listen to, wait for, agree with. Learn the pair with one example and use it as a single unit.
20 instant-marked questions
Have something done: the causative explained
Have something done puts the focus on the service and the result, not on who did the work: "I had my hair cut" means a professional cut it.
20 instant-marked questions
Mustn't vs don't have to: ban or choice
Mustn't means you cannot do it. Don't have to means you can, but nobody requires it. The two negatives sit almost opposite each other.
20 instant-marked questions
Should vs ought to: advice and expectation
Should and ought to mean almost the same thing. Both give advice and state expectations; should is more common and takes questions and negatives without help.
20 instant-marked questions
Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
Must have shows certainty, might have shows possibility and can't have shows impossibility about the past. All three take have plus the past participle.
20 instant-marked questions
Verbs followed by a gerund: enjoy, avoid, suggest
A group of common verbs takes an -ing form after them: enjoy, avoid, suggest, finish, practise and mind. Learn the group as a fixed pattern.
20 instant-marked questions
Verbs followed by an infinitive: decide, hope, promise
Many common verbs take to plus the base verb after them: decide, hope, promise, want, need and plan. Some also need a person before the infinitive.
20 instant-marked questions
Present perfect with today, this week and this year
Unfinished time takes the present perfect: today, this week and this year are still open. Finished time takes the past simple: yesterday, last week and in 2019.
20 instant-marked questions
Past perfect continuous: had been doing
Had been plus -ing describes an activity that was in progress before another past moment. It stresses the duration, not the finished result.
20 instant-marked questions
Too much vs too many: countable and uncountable
Too much takes uncountable nouns such as water and time. Too many takes countable plural nouns such as books and people. Enough goes after an adjective and before a noun.
20 instant-marked questions
Each vs every: one by one or all together
Each sees the members of a group one by one. Every sees the whole group together. Both take a singular noun and a singular verb.
20 instant-marked questions
Both, either and neither: pairs and choices
Both means the two together, either means one or the other, and neither means not the one and not the other. Both and either take a plural view; neither is usually singular.
20 instant-marked questions
Irregular verbs: the past participle
The third form of an irregular verb, the jobs it does after have, has, had and be, and the mistakes it causes.
20 instant-marked questions
Irregular verbs that stay the same
One group of irregular verbs never adds -ed: cut, put, hit, let, set, shut, cost, hurt and read.
20 instant-marked questions
Phrasal verbs with put
The everyday meanings of put on, put off, put up, put out, put down and put away, with the separable word order.
20 instant-marked questions
Phrasal verbs with turn
The main meanings of turn on, off, up, down, into, out and around, with the pronoun rule for separable verbs.
20 instant-marked questions
Have gone vs have been
Have gone means someone left and is still away; have been means the visit is over or the person has experience of the place.
20 instant-marked questions
In case vs if
If says what must happen first; in case says do something now because something might happen later.
20 instant-marked questions
As long as, provided that and on condition that
Three formal ways to say "only if", the present simple after them, and the difference from if and unless.
20 instant-marked questions
Say vs tell
The object rule: say takes the words, tell takes the person, plus the fixed phrases that ignore the pattern.
20 instant-marked questions
If vs whether
Both words introduce reported yes or no questions, but whether is required after prepositions and before to-infinitives.
20 instant-marked questions
Articles with school, hospital and bed
No article when the place is used for its normal purpose; a or the when it is just a building or a specific one.
20 instant-marked questions
During vs while
During + noun answers when; while + subject and verb answers what else was happening at the same time.
20 instant-marked questions
By car, on foot, in a taxi: transport prepositions
By + vehicle for the way you travel, on or in + a/the + vehicle when you picture the journey, and the fixed phrase on foot.
20 instant-marked questions
Prepositions at the end of questions
Wh- questions often end in a preposition because the question word is the object; formal English moves it to the front.
20 instant-marked questions
Future in the past: was going to and would
The past forms of will and going to: plans that may never happen, predictions and interrupted moments.
20 instant-marked questions
Would rather vs prefer
Would rather + base verb for one choice now; prefer + noun or -ing for a general taste, and pref ... er ... to ... for comparisons.
20 instant-marked questions
Had better: strong advice
A fixed phrase for strong advice: had better + base verb, had better not for warnings, and no to after better.
20 instant-marked questions
Would vs used to: past habits
Both describe the past, but would cannot describe states, and used to cannot repeat forever without a time frame.
20 instant-marked questions
Gerund after prepositions
Every verb after a preposition becomes an -ing form, including after two-word prepositions and the tricky to in look forward to.
20 instant-marked questions
Another vs other vs others
Another adds one more of the same kind, other describes different things, and others stands alone as a pronoun.
20 instant-marked questions
Countable and uncountable nouns
The two noun groups, the words that only work with each, the measures that make uncountables countable, and the nouns with two meanings.
20 instant-marked questions
See the CEFR level map to study by level, or browse the confusing word pairs — one pair per page, with a 15-question drill — or thecommon English idioms, one idiom per page with a 10-question drill.
How this site works
Read the rule
One page, one rule, short sentences. The examples show the pattern in real sentences, and the mistakes box shows the traps.
Answer 20 questions
Each answer is marked the moment you choose it, with the reason under the question. Unanswered questions are never counted as correct.
Find your level
36 questions place you from A1 to C2 and show which band to work on next.
What makes these drills different
- Every question and explanation is written for this site. Nothing is copied from another course.
- The rule is explained in plain English, not in grammar jargon.
- Every answer has a reason, so a wrong answer teaches the rule.
- The pages are static and fast, and the site is free.
English Ocean is a Senty project. Read about the site or the privacy policy.