Choose the correct word to complete Jake's New Year resolution.
"This year, I'm determined to ___ my bad habit of eating junk food late at night."
The correct answer is break.
We "break a bad habit" - this is the standard collocation for stopping an unhealthy or unwanted behavior pattern.
Verb
- walk → walk / walks / walked / walked / walking (5 forms, regular)
- go → go / goes / went / gone / going (5 forms, irregular)
- be → am/is/are/was/were/be/being/been (8 forms)
- can → can / could (modal: only 2 forms, no -s, no -ing)
A verb is the one word class every English sentence requires. Carries tense (when), aspect (duration), mood (attitude), and voice (active/passive). Regular verbs add -ed; ~200 irregular verbs have unpredictable past forms.
Key insight: fix your verbs and most grammar problems disappear. Wrong tense, wrong agreement, wrong form — verb errors account for the majority of grammatical mistakes.
Collocations
- ✅ make a decision — ❌ do a decision
- ✅ strong coffee — ❌ powerful coffee
- ✅ heavy rain — ❌ strong rain
- ✅ highly unlikely — ❌ very unlikely (grammatical, but less natural)
Collocations are word pairs that English habitually puts together. Both options may be grammatically valid, but one sounds native and the other doesn't.
Pattern: there's no logic to predict them — you make decisions but do homework, you have strong coffee but heavy rain. They must be learned as chunks, not deduced from rules.
Vocabulary for B1/Intermediate
- Opinion & argument: I believe, in my opinion, it depends on, although, however
- Abstract concepts: opportunity, responsibility, environment, relationship
- Emotions refined: disappointed, frustrated, relieved, grateful (not just happy/sad)
- Wider phrasal verbs: come up with, look forward to, get along with
B1 vocabulary = ~2,500–4,000 words. Opinion language, abstract nouns, news vocabulary, refined emotions, more phrasal verbs. The level where small talk becomes real conversation.
Focus: discourse markers (however, although, therefore), opinion verbs (believe, consider, assume), and the abstract nouns that let you discuss ideas, not just things.
B1 | Intermediate
- ✅ If I had more time, I would travel more. — second conditional
- ✅ The bridge was built in 1920. — passive voice
- ✅ She said she was tired. — reported speech with backshift
- ✅ Although it rained, we enjoyed the trip. — complex sentence with concession
These are B1 patterns — the CEFR intermediate level. At B1 you link ideas, use passive voice, handle reported speech, and manage second conditional — enough for travel, work basics, and everyday independence.
Marker: if you can explain why something happened and follow a news story, you're B1.
Easy
- She is a teacher. — one verb form, one rule
- I have two cats. — basic possession, short sentence
- He doesn't like coffee. — simple negation with do-support
- Only one answer is clearly correct; distractors are obviously wrong.
Easy marks beginner-level challenges: A1–early A2, one rule at a time, everyday vocabulary, no trick questions.
Use "Easy" when you want to build confidence on a specific rule without interference from other grammar or tricky contexts.