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English Grammar Lessons — A1 to B2

Learn English grammar step by step. These free lessons cover 90 grammar topics from beginner (A1) to upper-intermediate (B2) — tenses, articles, modals, conditionals, reported speech and more — each with clear rules, examples and a quiz.

A1 · Beginner 27 grammar topics A2 · Elementary 31 grammar topics B1 · Intermediate 18 grammar topics B2 · Upper-Intermediate 14 grammar topics

What each CEFR level covers

Which level should you start at?

The honest answer is that most self-taught learners start too high. Reading a grammar page you almost understand feels productive and teaches very little; reading one you find easy is where fluency actually comes from. If you are between two levels, take the lower one.

As a rough guide: if you are still thinking about the third-person -s, start at A1. If you can hold a simple conversation about your day but the present perfect is a mystery, start at A2. If you can tell a story in the past but reported speech and the past perfect feel unstable, start at B1. If your grammar is broadly accurate and what you want is range and register, start at B2. The free placement test will place you in about five minutes if you would rather not guess.

How grammar actually becomes automatic

Grammar knowledge and grammar ability are different things, and studying only produces the first. Almost every learner who plateaus has a good understanding of rules they cannot use under time pressure — which is a practice problem, not a knowledge problem.

Three things reliably close that gap. First, reading at a level slightly below your ceiling, because that is where you meet a structure often enough to absorb it rather than merely recognising it. Second, producing the structure in sentences about your own life, since invented content is forgotten and real content is not. Third, spacing the practice out: four ten-minute sessions across a week beat one forty-minute session, by a wide margin and for reasons that are well established in memory research.

What does not work is moving on as soon as a rule makes sense. The point at which a structure feels understood is the point at which practice starts paying off, not the point at which it can stop.

How to use these grammar lessons

Grammar sticks when you meet it in the right order, at the right level. Start by finding your true CEFR level with the free online grammar test — studying B1 conditionals with A2 foundations wastes weeks. Then work through your level's topics in sequence: each lesson gives you the rules in plain English, real example sentences, the mistakes we see most often in our classrooms (with corrections and the reason behind each one), and a teacher's study tip. Finish every topic in the interactive classroom, where a scored quiz confirms you have actually absorbed the rule before you move on. Fifteen focused minutes a day, one topic at a time, is the routine our most successful students share.

English grammar: frequently asked questions

Which CEFR level should I start with?

Take the free placement test rather than guessing — studying above your level wastes weeks and studying below it wastes motivation. As a rough guide, A1 suits complete beginners, A2 those who can describe their routine but not their past, B1 those who can hold a conversation but avoid complex sentences, and B2 those who are fluent but imprecise about register and nuance.

How long does it take to learn English grammar?

The Council of Europe estimates roughly 100 hours of guided study to reach A1, 200 cumulative to A2, 400 to B1 and 600 to B2. These figures assume regular study and vary considerably with your first language: speakers of Germanic and Romance languages typically progress faster than speakers of languages with different scripts and grammatical systems.

What is the CEFR, and why does it matter?

The Common European Framework of Reference is the international standard for describing language ability, running from A1 to C2. It matters because universities, employers and immigration authorities specify requirements in CEFR terms, and because it lets you sequence your learning — each level assumes the one below it, so knowing your level tells you what to study next.

Should I study grammar rules or just practise?

Both, in the right proportion. Adult learners acquire structure noticeably faster when a rule is explained than when they are left to infer it, but a rule that is never used is forgotten within days. The productive pattern is to read the rule, see it in examples, then use it immediately in sentences about your own life — which is how each lesson here is built.

Are these grammar lessons free?

Yes. Every one of the 90 topics is free to read with no account required, including the rules, examples, common mistakes and practice questions. The interactive classroom, the vocabulary lists and the levelled reading stories are free as well. Only the optional CEFR certificate involves a formal assessment process.

Should I learn grammar rules or just absorb them from reading?

Both, in that order within each topic. A short explanation tells you what to notice; reading is what makes it automatic. Learners who only read tend to fossilise errors that nobody corrects, and learners who only study rules tend to produce accurate English slowly and unnaturally. Ten minutes of explanation followed by an hour of reading at the right level is a far better ratio than the reverse.

How long does it take to get from A1 to B2?

Published estimates put A1 at roughly 80–100 hours of study, A2 at a further 180–200, B1 at another 350–400 and B2 at 500–600 more, so the whole path is somewhere between 1,100 and 1,300 hours. Those figures assume classroom-style study; they shorten considerably if you also read and listen for pleasure, and lengthen if your first language is distant from English.

Do I need to study grammar in order?

Within a level, roughly — each level hub suggests an order, and it matters because later topics assume earlier ones. Across levels, no: it is perfectly sensible to work through A2 while dipping into a B1 topic you keep meeting in the wild. What does not work is skipping the present simple to get to the conditionals faster.

Turn the rules into real English