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GUIDE TO
B2
GRAMMAR

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 Milly Muñoz

November, 2020

Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia

Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación

Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras con énfasis en Inglés

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CONTENTS
CONTENTS ................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 5
UNIT 1 ........................................................................................... 6
SIMPLE PASSIVE ..................................................................... 7
Use ............................................................................................ 7
Form ......................................................................................... 7
Example ................................................................................... 7
PAST PERFECT ......................................................................10
Use ..........................................................................................10
Example .................................................................................10
Form .......................................................................................11
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS ...........................................12
Use ..........................................................................................12
Example .................................................................................12
Form .......................................................................................13
UNIT 2 .........................................................................................14
PHRASAL VERBS ...................................................................15
SEPARABLE PHRASAL VERBS ............................................15
Use ..........................................................................................15
Form .......................................................................................15
Example .................................................................................15
INSEPARABLE PHRASAL VERBS ........................................17
Use ..........................................................................................17
Form .......................................................................................17
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES ..........................................19

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 Use ..........................................................................................19
Form .......................................................................................19
REPORTED SPEECH..............................................................21
Use ..........................................................................................21
Form .......................................................................................21
UNIT 3 .........................................................................................24
WILL / GOING TO .................................................................25
Use ..........................................................................................25
Form .......................................................................................25
WISH / IF ONLY ....................................................................27
Use ..........................................................................................27
Form .......................................................................................27
USED TO / WOULD ..............................................................30
Use ..........................................................................................30
Form .......................................................................................31
Common Mistakes ..............................................................31
REFERENCES ..............................................................................32

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INTRODUCTION

The Guide to B2 Grammar is an account of

grammatical forms and the way they are used in
standard B2 English level today, which is the level
required for students majoring in English Teaching
at UNAD. The emphasis is on meanings and how
they govern the choice of grammatical patterns.
This guide pays most attention to points that are of
importance to intermediate and advanced learners
of English.

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UNIT 1

Simple Passive
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous

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 SIMPLE PASSIVE
Use
The passive voice is used:
a) When the object of a sentence is more important
than the subject
The city was destroyed by the volcano.
b) When the subject of the sentence is unknown.
This cheese was made in Canada.
It is common in formal and scientific writing.
Form
You can use the passive voice in all tenses. Use the
correct form of be + the past participle of the
verb.
Example
Present Past The workers
Simple: am participle collect the
I are rubbish of
you / they / we is Wednesdays.
It / She / he taken => The rubbish
given is collected on
built Thursdays.
Past Simple: made People built the
you / they / we were eaten castle over 800
I / It / She / he was brought years ago.
=> The castle

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 cooked was built over
left... 800 years ago.
Present Someone has
Perfect: have taken my book!
I / you / they / been => My book has
we has been taken!
It / She / he been
Past Perfect: When we arrived
I / you / they / had at the airport,
we / it / she / been someone had
he resold our tickets.
=> When we
arrived at the
airport, our
tickets had been
resold.
Modals You must wear a
I / you / they / can be hard hat in this
we / it / she / will be area.
he would => Hard harts
be must be worn in
must this area.
be
should
be
could
be

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To mention who caused the action, use by.
The bins were emptied by the cleaning staff.

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 PAST PERFECT
Use
a) The past perfect is a narrative tense. This means
it is used when telling a story about the past.
It is used in the same paragraph as verbs in the past
simple tense and is often used in the same sentence
as a past simple verb.
The past perfect describes an event which
happened before another event in the past. We
use it when we do not want to say the events in the
order they happened.
Example
A sentence with the events in the order they
happened:
John went to the shop on the way home from work,
so he got home late.
Both verbs are in the past simple.
A sentence in which the events are NOT in order:
John got home late because he had gone to the shop
on the way home from work.
The event which happened before the other verb is
in the past perfect tense.
b) The past perfect is also used in other structures
such as:
I wish: I wish I had cleaned the
house!

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 Third Conditional: If I had practiced harder, we
might have won the context.
Form
I
you had past participle
he / she / it hadn’t
we
they
Write any adverbs between had and the past
participle.
The film had already started.
The post had just been delivered.

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 PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
Use
The past perfect continuous is used when telling a
story about the past. It is generally used alongside
other narrative tenses such as the past simple.
The past perfect continuous describes an event
which was in progress for a period of time before
another event in the past. We use it when we do
not want to say the events in the order they
happened.
Example
A sentence with the events in the order they
happened:
John was having trouble sleeping, so he went to the
doctor late.
A sentence in which the events are NOT in order:
John went to the doctor because he had been
having trouble sleeping.
The continuous event which happened before the
other verb is in the past perfect tense.
b) Write any adverbs between had and been
They had already been waiting for half an hour.
He’d only been working there a week before he got
fired.

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Form
I
you had / ‘d been + verb-ing
he / she / it hadn’t
we
they

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UNIT 2

Phrasal Verbs
Relative Clauses
Reported Speech

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 PHRASAL VERBS
SEPARABLE PHRASAL VERBS
Use
Separable phrasal verbs consist of two parts. They
always require an object.
They are often used, especially in informal spoken
English. The meaning of phrasal verbs is often
completely different from the meaning of the verb
alone.
Form
1) The object of a phrasal verb can go either
between the verb and the preposition or after the
preposition.
I handed in my homework.
I handed my homework in.
2) If the object of the sentence is a pronoun, it must
go between the two parts of the phrasal verb.
I handed it in NOT I handed in it.
Example
Some common separable phrasal verbs:
pick someone/something up = collect
Please can you pick me up from the station?
drop someone/something off = take and leave/
deposit
I dropped John off outside his school.
throw away = discard

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I threw all my old school papers away.
write down = note
I wrote Sally’s phone number down on a piece of
paper.
make up = invent
Henry likes to make stories up about dinosaurs.
take back = return
This shirt is too small. I’m going to take it back to the
shop.
let down = disappoint
James studied hard because he didn’t want to let his
parents down.
turn down = reject
The company offered me a job, but I turned it down.
wash up = wash (dishes)
Can you wash your plates up please?
take off = remove (clothes)
Please take off your shoes before you come inside.
put on = dress in (clothes)
You’ll need to put a coat on. It’s cold.
turn up / down = increase / decrease, volume/
temperature
Can you turn the music down please? It’s very loud.
try on = wear and test (clothes)
Please can I try on these trousers?
give up = stop doing something.
She smokes a lot, but she wants to give it up.

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take up = start doing something (a new hobby)
I’ve decided to take up running.

INSEPARABLE PHRASAL VERBS

Use
Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and one or more
prepositions. They are often used, especially in
informal spoken English. The meaning of phrasal
verbs is often completely different from the
meaning of the verb alone.
Form
1) Some phrasal verbs never use an object.
get up = get out of bed
I get up at seven o’clock every morning.
take off = leave the ground
The plane took off on time.
look out = beware! be careful!
Look out! That car is going to hit you!
get on = be good friends
My dad and my brother don’t get on.
break down = stop working (for vehicles)
Our car broke down on the way home from Scotland.
make up = become friends again after an argument
The kids often fight but they always make up
afterwards.
2) Some phrasal verbs need an object.
get on / off something = exit transport
Get off the bus at the next stop.
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look after someone / something = take care of
someone / something
Please can you look after our cats while we’re on
holiday?
see to something = do, arrange, prepare, organize
Don’t worry about dinner. I’ll see to it.
look into something = investigate
There has been a burglary at the school. Police are
looking into it.
get to = arrive at
When you get to the end of the street, turn right.
3) Some phrasal verbs contain three words and an
object.
look up to someone = respect someone
I look up to my teachers.
look forward to something = be excited about (a
future event)
I’m looking forward to the party.
get on with someone = be good friends with
someone
I don’t get on with Karen.
get on with something = continue doing
something
Please be quiet and get on with your work.
put up with something = tolerate
I can’t put up with that noise any longer!

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 DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
Use
Use defining relative clauses to give information
about a noun in a sentence. The listener or reader
NEEDS this information to understand the sentence.
A doctor is a person who cures sick people.
The girl who sits next to me at work has a bag just
like yours.
Form
Use who to give more information about a person.
An architect is a person who designs buildings.
Use which or that to give more information about a
thing.
A corkscrew is a thing which you use to open bottles.
The book that you gave me for my birthday is really
interesting.
Use where to give more information about a place.
That’s the place where we got married.
The town where my uncle lives is a few miles from
here.
Because non-defining relative clauses give essential
information, no commas (,) are needed.
If the noun which the relative clause describes
(usually at the beginning of the sentence) is the
OBJECT of the sentence, you can delete which,
that or who.

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The man who is wearing the blue suit is my brother.
The man is the subject of the sentence.
You cannot delete who.
The man (who) George is talking to is my
brother.
George is the subject of the sentence.
The man is the object of the sentence.
(The sentence can be rewritten: George is talking
to a man. The man is my brother). So
you can delete who.
The book you lent me is really good.
You is the subject of the sentence.
The book is the object of the sentence.
(The sentence can be rewritten: You lent me a book.
The book is really good. Which /
that is not necessary.)
The book which is on the table is really good.
The book is the subject of the sentence. (The
sentence can be rewritten: The book is on the table.
It’s really good. Which / that is necessary.)

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 REPORTED SPEECH
Use
Use reported speech to talk about what another
person said in the past.
Eve: ‘I went to the party on Friday night’.
James: ‘Eve said that she had gone to the
party on Friday night’.
Form
1) When reporting speech, the verb in the sentence
may shift to a past tense.
am / is / are changes to was / were
She said that she was
“I am fine.”
fine.
present simple changes to past simple
“I like it.” He said he liked it.
present
changes to past continuous
continuous
He said that she was
“She’s sleeping.”
sleeping.
will changes to would
You said that you’d be
“I’ll be there.”
there.
can changes to could
“I can come to the You said that you could
meeting.” come to the meeting.
past simple changes to past perfect

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“I did the Tom said that he had
shopping.” done the shopping.
present perfect changes to past perfect
“I’ve read that I told him that I’d read
book.” the book.
past perfect
past continuous changes to
continuous
He said that she had
“She was walking
been walking home
home alone.”
alone.
present perfect past perfect
changes to
continuous continuous
“I’ve been I told him that I’d been
working,” working.
2) To report speech, use He / She / I said (that) ...
You can also use He / She told me (that)...; I told
him / her (that)...
3) Don’t use quotation marks (“) when reporting
speech.
4) References to times in the past also may need to
change when using reported speech, if that time is
no longer the same.
this morning / week / that morning / week /
→
month month
yesterday →the previous day
last week / month →the previous week / month
ago →earlier / previously
tomorrow →the following day

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 the following week /
next week / month →
month

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UNIT 3

Will / Going to
Wish / If Only
Used to / Would

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 WILL / GOING TO
Use
Both be going to and will can be used to predict
future events. In many cases they can be used
interchangeably.
Experts believe that the recession will continue.
Experts believe that the recession is going
to continue.
However, in some cases they are used differently:
Use going to when there is evidence about what is
going to happen.
Look at the time! We’re going to be late!
Use will / won’t when guessing about the future.
I bet Robin will be late again.
Will is often used with phrases such as I think…, I
expect…, I don’t think…, I bet… , I’m sure…, I doubt
if/that… when making predictions
It is more common to use I don’t think + will, not I
think + won’t
I think it won’t rain => I don’t think it will rain.
Form
be going to
Positive
I am / ‘m going verb (infinitive form)
you / we / they are / ‘re to
he / she / it is / ‘s

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Negative
I ‘m not going to verb (infinitive
you aren’t OR ‘re form)
not
he / she isn’t OR ‘s
/ it not
Questions
Am I going to verb (infinitive form) ?
Are you / we / they
Is he / she / it
Short Answers
I am. No, I’m not.
Yes, you / we / they you / we / they ‘re not /
are. aren’t
he / she / it is. he / she / it ‘s not / isn’t
will
Positive / Negative
will verb (infinitive
I / You / He / She / It / We / won’t form).
They
I / you / he / she / it / we / verb (infinitive
Will they / form)?

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 WISH / IF ONLY
Use
Wish and If only can be used:
a) To wish for an ability now or in the future.
I wish I could play the guitar!
If only I could dance like that!
I wish I could go to your wedding next week, but I
can’t.
If only I could see my grandmother more often, but I
can’t.
b) To wish that something could be true at the
moment.
I wish I had long hair! If only I were taller!
c) To wish that something was happening at the
moment.
I wish I was lying on the If only I was lying on the
beach right now! beach right now!
d) To wish that something kept happening again
and again, or to wish it could stop happening.
I wish you wouldn’t If only he wouldn’t
shout so loudly. shout so loudly.
e) To wish that something in the past had happened
in a different way.
I wish I had studied for If only I hadn’t argued
my exam! with him!
Form
To wish for an ability now or in the future.
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I wish (that) / If only + subject + could
+ infinitive verb
I wish that I could sing.
If only I could come to Australia too!
To wish that something could be true at the
moment.
I wish (that) / If only + subject + past simple
I wish I had a pony.
I wish I was rich.
When using the verb ‘be’, you can use ‘were’ for all
persons.
I wish I were rich If only I were rich.
To wish that something was happening at the
moment.
I wish (that) / If only + subject + past continuous
I wish that this traffic was moving.
If only this traffic was/were moving!
To wish that something kept happening again and
again, or to wish it could stop happening.
I wish (that) / If only + subject + would +
infinitive
I wish you would tidy up more often.
Often: I wish (that) / If only + subject + would
stop + verb-ing
I wish he would stop shouting.
I wish (that) / If only + subject + wouldn’t keep
+ verb-ing
I wish you wouldn’t keep hitting me.

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To wish that something in the past had happened in
a different way.
I wish (that) / If only + past perfect
I wish I had studied for my exam!
If only I hadn’t argued with him!

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 USED TO / WOULD
Use
We say Used to to talk about something that was
true in the past, but is not true now.
There used to be a park here, but now there’s a
shopping center.
My grandmother used to have beautiful blonde hair,
but now her hair is grey.
You can say used to to talk about states (things that
were true for a long period of time) or repeated
actions (things that happened several times).
I used to live in Denver. (True for a long period of
time)
I used to go to the park every Friday. (A repeated
action)
Write adverbs before used to.
I always used to cycle to school.
I never used to eat vegetables.
You can use Would in a similar way to used to. It
describes things that were true in the past but are
not true now.
When I was a child, my dad would read to me every
night.
Would CANNOT be used to talk about states. It can
only be used to talk about repeated actions.
There would be a park => There used to be a
here park here.

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Write adverbs after would.
I would always talk to my grandma when I had a
problem.
Form
used to
I / You / He didn’t use to / never used to verb
/ She / It / would (infinitive)
They / We wouldn’t
Questions
Did you / he / she use to + verb (infinitive)
Would / it / they verb (infinitive)
Common Mistakes
Many students confuse used to do and be used to
doing. This is another phrase. It means ‘be familiar
with doing something’.
I am used to live near => I used to live near
here. here.

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REFERENCES

Eastwood, J. (2002). Oxford Guide to English

Grammar. [PDF]. Walton Street, Oxford 0X2
6DP.
English Ltd. (2019). Exam English ✓.
https://www.examenglish.com/CEFR/cefr_gra
mmar.htm.
Lester, M. (2001). Grammar and usage in the
classroom. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Tracktest.eu. (n.d.). English levels CEFR description-
A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2.
https://tracktest.eu/english-levels-cefr/.

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