Phrasal verb

• give up = quit — ≠ give + up literally
• come across = find by chance — ≠ come + across literally
• put up with = tolerate — 3-word phrasal verb
• look into = investigate — ≠ physically look inside something

Phrasal verbs = verb + particle/preposition forming a unit with non-literal meaning. There are thousands, and they dominate casual native English. They must be learned as whole units.

Key fact: the particle completely changes the verb's meaning. Look up (search), look after (care for), look into (investigate), look down on (disrespect) — all different.

Preposition

• ✅ interested in — ❌ interested on
• ✅ good at football — ❌ good in football
• ✅ depend on — ❌ depend of
• ✅ arrive at the station — ❌ arrive to the station

Prepositions link nouns to the rest of the sentence: time (at 5pm), place (in London), manner (with care), abstract (afraid of). Most are idiomatic — the "correct" preposition must be memorised with each verb/adjective combination.

Rule: there is no universal rule. English prepositions are learned by combination: interested IN, good AT, depend ON, afraid OF. Your native language's equivalent will often mislead.

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

• A1: ~500–800 words (survival: family, food, numbers)
• A2: ~1,500–2,500 (routine: work, leisure, basic phrasal verbs)
• B1: ~2,500–4,000 (opinions, news, abstract topics)
• B2: ~4,000–6,000 (register precision, hedging, idioms)
• C1: ~6,000–10,000 (academic, register sensitivity)
• C2: 10,000+ (literary, rare, full style range)

Vocabulary covers word-level practice: individual words, collocations, phrasal verbs, idioms. Organised by CEFR level. Grammar tells you HOW to build sentences; vocabulary gives you WHAT to put in them.

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.

Medium

• If I were you, I would apologise. — one rule (second conditional), but distractors like was tempt you
• Answers require active thought, not instant pattern recognition
• Vocabulary and context are realistic, not artificially simplified
• Usually tests one rule, but the wrong answers are plausible

Medium marks middle-difficulty challenges: A2–B1, one rule tested, but with realistic distractors that require genuine understanding.

Use "Medium" when Easy feels too obvious but Hard feels overwhelming. This is where most productive learning happens — the sweet spot of difficulty.