B1 vs B2 vs C1 English Grammar - What is YOUR level? (+ FREE ebook!)

Hello lovely students and welcome back to English with Lucy.

Today we are going to compare three different levels in English.

B1, B2 and C1.

B1 is intermediate level, B2 is upper intermediate level and C1 is that

almighty advanced level of English.

More specifically we're going to be looking at the grammar at these levels.

But what do those levels even mean?

Well, there are six language levels as

defined by the CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference.

And they start at A1, beginner and go all the way up to C2, which is proficiency.

Today we're looking at B1, B2 and C1 and a really common struggle for learners of

any language is knowing which level you're at and which level you should be

working towards.

If you don't know your level, it's nearly

impossible to choose the right course or learning materials or YouTube videos to

help you improve.

If you're already at B2, a B1 course

wouldn't be very helpful.

If you're at B1, a C1 course would be a

pretty bad idea and would likely put you off learning for life.

In this video, I'm going to give you some examples of the different grammatical

structures you will learn to produce at each level.

I'm going to train you to really get to know the levels to properly understand

them so you know exactly where to place yourself and you can make a smart

decision about the next steps that you take on your language learning journey.

I'm going to go into as much detail as I can in a short YouTube video, but for

super motivated students who want to take this really seriously, I have created an

ebook and for now you can download it for free.

I'm really proud of this ebook.

I think you are going to be mind-blown when you see the sheer amount of value

that's inside of it.

It's my B1 to C1 ebook.

It's a really in-depth guide.

It shows you all of the grammar that you

need to know at B1, B2 and C1 levels.

We take a deep look at the vocabulary for

each level too with loads of examples.

We also give you advice on pronunciation

to aim for each level.

A feature I really love and I think

you'll love too is that we've created checklists for each level so you can

monitor your progress and immediately see what you need to work on.

We sent out this ebook to a small test audience and the feedback was amazing.

They just couldn't believe it was free.

So for now this ebook is free.

When it stops being free I will simply remove this section of the video.

You won't see it anymore.

If you would like to download the B1 to

C1 ebook for free, just click on the link in the description box, you enter your

name and your email address and you sign up to my mailing list.

Then the ebook will arrive directly in your inbox.

You can download it and start using it immediately.

After that I'll keep you entertained with

my future free PDFs, news, course updates and offers.

It's a free service and you can unsubscribe at any time.

I really hope you like it.

A lot of love and work went into it.

Right, let's get started with the grammar.

First I want to talk about making deductions.

So we often use modal verbs like must and might to make deductions, but there are

other structures that we can use too.

Look at these examples and see if you can tell how they're getting more advanced.

B1, I haven't seen Lucy for weeks.

She must be ill.

B2, actually I think she might have gone

away for the winter.

And C1, the odds are she's hightailed it

to Spain for a few months.

She's always banging on about doing that.

It's true, I am.

It's my dream to be in Spain.

In the B1 example, you saw a present modal of deduction, must be.

In the B2 sentence, you saw a past modal of deduction, might have gone.

And at C1, you didn't see a modal verb at all.

I used the structure, the odds are, to

say that something is very likely to be true.

You can also see the vocabulary getting

much more advanced at C1 as well.

Okay, there's lots more to learn about

that, but I think that's a good start.

Next, I want to talk about conditional sentences.

Let's go through those levels again and see how using conditionals changes from

B1 to B2 to C1.

These sentences are all about fitness.

B1, if I were you, I'd work on building muscle.

B2, I know I would be in much better

shape if I'd started working out when I was younger.

And C1, but for my husband's encouragement, I would never have started

going to the gym at all.

So in the B1 sentence, I used a second

conditional to give advice.

If I were you, I would work on.

Notice the use of were instead of was with the pronoun I.

Using were as an example of the subjunctive mood, which expresses

hypothetical situations.

In the B2 sentence, I used a mixed

conditional to say how something in the past can affect the present.

I used would be in the second conditional and had started in the third conditional.

And in the C1 sentence, you can see a third conditional with the structure but

for standing in for an if phrase.

Again, there is so much more to learn

about conditionals at each level.

That's just a small glimpse.

Next, let's talk about the future.

At B1, B2 and C1 levels, you need to be

able to talk about the future in different ways.

We're going to take a look in the context of the environment.

B1, sea levels will continue to rise over the coming decades.

Nice and simple.

B2, by 2050, many scientists believe that

sea levels will have risen by around 30 centimetres in the US.

C1, some coastal communities in Louisiana and Florida are on the brink of catastrophe.

In B1, you can see the future with will to make a prediction.

Nice and simple.

Notice that it's followed by continue in

the base form and then continue is followed by to rise, the infinitive.

Verb patterns, ING verbs and infinitives are a really important element of B1 and

the levels after that.

In B2, you can see the future perfect

simple, will have risen.

We use it to talk about something that

will be completed by a certain time in the future.

In the C1 sentence, we're missing the obvious future tense words like will.

Instead, we have the phrase to be on the brink of.

At C1, you are expected to use a variety of expressions like this to talk about

future events.

The next construction I want to talk

about is the passive voice.

And I want to talk about sushi.

I love looking at the topics like the environment, fitness.

Next topic, sushi.

Here we go.

B1, the sushi was prepared by a top chef.

B2, it is widely believed that sushi

originally comes from Japan.

And C1, Jack recalled having been told

that sushi actually originated in China.

Remember, we use the passive voice to

shift the focus from the subject performing an action to the subject

receiving an action.

In the B1 sentence, you can see a

sentence in the passive voice in the past simple, was prepared.

For B2, we can see an impersonal passive construction.

It is widely believed that.

We use this construction to say that people believe this, but not necessarily

the speaker.

It's very diplomatic.

A politician might use it.

And at C1, we see a passive ING form,

recalled having been told.

The verb to recall is followed by an ING

verb and by the passive voice in this sentence.

Remember that I go into a lot more detail

on the the B1 to C1 ebook.

And the link is down below if you fancy

reading more in depth.

Finally, I want to talk about adjectives.

And you start using adjectives right from A1 level, the very first beginner level.

But as you move to higher levels in English, you are expected to move beyond

flying is scary.

So let's talk about flying at B1, B2 and

C1 levels.

So B1, flying is much less scary than I imagined.

B2, the thought of it was utterly terrifying.

And C1, for me, flying is not so much

alarming as dull.

So B1, we use words like much and

slightly in addition to basic comparative adjectives to move beyond A2 level and

show big and small differences, much less scary.

At B2 level, we use adverb, adjective

collocations to add some spice to our descriptions.

Utterly terrifying, not bitterly or

entirely terrifying.

For example, utterly terrifying is a

lovely collocation.

They just fit together.

It's what native speakers would naturally reach for.

We talk a lot about adverbs and adjective collocations in our B2 programme.

I'll leave information for my B1, B2 and C1 programmes in the description box as

well, in case you're interested.

At C1 level, we use a range of advanced

comparative structures to compare things.

Not so much alarming as dull, meaning

it's boring, not scary.

Okay.

Has that given you some idea of the grammatical structures and phrases you

typically learn at B1, B2 and C1 level?

If you're intrigued, you want to learn

more, you want to go deeper and work out the next step to take, then download the

B1 to C1 ebook.

This is where you'll get a comprehensive

overview of all of the grammar and vocabulary that you need to learn to

reach these levels of English.

The link to download the ebook is in the

description box.

It's free for now.

That's it for today's lesson.

I hope you enjoyed it.

I will see you soon for another lesson.