B2 Grammar Practice - ESL Lesson

Grammar Reference

Subject	Rules	Example
Present Perfect Continuous vs Past Perfect	Use present perfect continuous (have/has been + verb-ing) for actions that started in the past and continue to the present or have recently stopped. Use past perfect (had + past participle) for an action completed before another past action or time.	She has been studying for three hours. / She had finished her work before he arrived.
Third Conditional	Use past perfect in the if-clause and would have + past participle in the main clause to talk about imaginary situations in the past and their hypothetical results.	If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam.
Modal Verbs for Deduction	Use must have + past participle for strong certainty about the past, might have/could have + past participle for possibility, and can't have + past participle for impossibility about the past.	She must have forgotten the meeting. / He might have missed the train. / They can't have seen the movie yet.

Answer Key

1. have been waiting

2. had left

3. would have bought

4. must have forgotten

5. might have taken

6. can't have seen

7. have been living

8. had already started

9. could have won

10. must have been

1. I ___ (wait) for you for over an hour! (present perfect continuous)

2. By the time we arrived, they ___ (leave). (past perfect)

3. If she ___ (study) harder, she ___ (pass) the exam. (third conditional)

4. You ___ (forget) to call me last night. I kept waiting. (modal deduction)

5. He ___ (take) the wrong train, which explains why he's late. (modal deduction)

6. They ___ (see) the announcement; it was only posted five minutes ago. (modal deduction)

7. We ___ (live) in this city since 2010. (present perfect continuous)

8. After I ___ (finish) my homework, I went to bed. (past perfect)

9. If they ___ (practice) more, they ___ (win) the match. (third conditional)

10. She ___ (be) very tired after working all day. (modal deduction)