Intermediate English grammar exercises (with answers)
Ten short exercises for the intermediate level (A2–B2), with the answer and the why right underneath. Cover them, solve out loud, and compare. Say it out loud before you look — that's where the real exercise is.
Present simple: the ever-present -s
1. My sister ______ (work) in a hospital. Answer: works. With he / she / it, the verb takes -s in the present simple.
2. They ______ (not / eat) meat. Answer: don't eat. With they, the negative is don't + base verb.
Present perfect vs past simple
3. I ______ (see) that movie last night. Answer: saw. A finished, specific time (last night) → past simple.
4. I ______ (never / be) to Japan. Answer: have never been. Life experience, no specific time → present perfect.
With 'since' + a point in time, use the present perfect: have lived.
Articles: a / an / the / nothing
5. She is ______ engineer. Answer: an. A singular profession takes an article; engineer starts with a vowel sound → an.
6. ______ water boils at 100 degrees. Answer: (nothing). General truths with uncountable nouns take no article.
Quantifiers
7. How ______ (much / many) people were there? Answer: many. People is countable and plural → many.
8. I don't have ______ (much / many) time. Answer: much. Time is uncountable → much.
Modals
9. You ______ (not / have to) pay now; it's free. Answer: don't have to. Absence of obligation (not a prohibition).
'Mustn't' = forbidden; 'don't have to' = not necessary. They're not the same.
Polite questions
10. ______ you tell me where the station is? Answer: Could. Could you… is the standard polite way to ask for something.
Could you help me with this, please? polite question — Could you…
What actually moves the needle
Solving on paper is fine, but grammar only becomes yours when you produce it by speaking. Go through all ten again, this time saying the full sentence out loud. What you can say without thinking, you already know.
Practice this out loud. These same exercises, but spoken and corrected on the spot. Speakwell makes you produce every answer, not just read it — try it free.