CEFR B2 · Upper Intermediate

B2 English - Upper-Intermediate

Argument, register and the whole conditional system. The level that opens English-speaking universities.

Levels
13
Grammar points
237
Active vocabulary
≈4,000 words
Certified by
Cambridge B2 First (FCE) · IELTS 5.5–6.5 · TOEFL iBT 72–94

Where B2 counts. The level most universities in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia ask for on an undergraduate application.

What you can do at B2

Story length

400–550 words · 13–15 pages

Typical study time

500–600 guided hours

English you meet here

nevertheless · undermine · had I known

Study-time figures are the guided-hour ranges commonly published by English language schools, counted cumulatively from zero. They describe a classroom average, not a promise.

Why B2 is the level it is

B2 is the level the world actually asks for. Universities want it, employers assume it, and it is where you stop translating and start thinking in the language for stretches at a time. The grammar left to learn is finite and mostly about distance: hypotheticals you do not believe, regrets about the past, reported claims you are not endorsing, and the passive used not to hide the agent but to put the important thing first.

The mixed conditional is a good marker for the level. If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now reaches back to an unreal past and forward to an unreal present inside one sentence, and getting it right means holding two counterfactual timeframes at once. That is a thinking skill as much as a grammar point, which is why B2 takes longer than the levels below it despite containing fewer new forms.

The other B2 shift is vocabulary, and its shape is peculiar to English. Because the language absorbed a Latin layer on top of a Germanic core, most concepts come in pairs - buy and purchase, ask and enquire, go up and increase. At B2 you are expected to know both halves and to choose deliberately. Speakers of Romance languages get the Latin half nearly free and tend to overshoot into stiffness; everyone else has to build it.

The B2 curriculum, unit by unit

13 levels and 237 grammar points, in the order Leo teaches them. Each unit lists its must-know forms with a real example - the supporting points are covered inside the stories.

  1. B2.1 The long before: past perfect continuous and narrative background

    past perfect continuous — narrating the long before

    He had been driving for six hours when the engine died.

    had been + verb-ing

    past perfect continuous after a time conjunction

    By the time we arrived, they had been arguing for hours.

    when / before / until / by the time + had been + -ing

    past perfect after because — explaining after the fact

    She was furious because he had forgotten her birthday again.

    because + had + past participle

    past perfect — the situation that had changed

    The village had changed completely. Nothing was where he remembered it.

    had + past participle (resulting state)

  2. B2.2 Regret and visible results: wish + past perfect, present perfect continuous

    wish / if only + past perfect — regret about the past

    I wish I had listened to her. If only we hadn't sold the house.

    wish / if only + had (+ n't) + past participle

    past perfect in reported speech — statements

    He said he had never been there before.

    said / told + that + had + past participle

    present perfect continuous — the result still visible

    You've been running, haven't you? — I've been cooking all afternoon.

    have / has been + verb-ing (activity finished, effect still present)

    would — the discontinued past habit

    Every summer we would drive down to the coast. He would sit there for hours.

    would + base form (past context already established)

  3. B2.3 Deducing the past: must have, can't have, may have, could have

    must have + past participle — deduction about the past

    The lights are off — they must have gone out. He must have forgotten.

    must have + past participle

    can't have + past participle — negative deduction

    She can't have known. He couldn't have been there — I saw him at home.

    can't have / couldn't have + past participle

    may have / might have + past participle — past possibility

    She may have missed the train. He might have changed his mind.

    may / might have + past participle

    could have + past participle — past possibility

    It could have been worse. Anyone could have made that mistake.

    could have + past participle

  4. B2.4 The voice of modals: permission, concession, exasperation, ellipsis

    ought to — moral duty

    You ought to apologize. We ought to have left earlier.

    ought (not) to + base form

    may — formal permission

    May I come in? May I ask what this is about?

    May I + base form ?

    may ... but — concession

    He may be young, but he knows what he's doing.

    may + base form + but + clause

    it + be + adjective + that — the softened assertion

    It's possible that she forgot. It's not entirely true that we knew.

    It's possible / unlikely / true + (that) + clause

  5. B2.5 Likelihood, rule and rumour: expressions with be

    be likely / unlikely to — probability

    She's likely to say no. That's much less likely to work.

    be (much / more / less) likely to + base form

    be supposed to — expectation and rule

    You're supposed to wear a helmet. We were supposed to meet at seven.

    be supposed to + base form

    be meant to — purpose and meaning

    This button is meant to open the door. We were meant to meet — it was fate.

    be meant to + base form

    be obliged to / be forced to — imposed constraint

    They were forced to sell the house. I felt obliged to say yes.

    be obliged to / be forced to + base form

  6. B2.6 Projecting forward: future perfect, imminent future, scheduled events

    future perfect — affirmative

    By next June, I will have finished the book.

    will have + past participle

    be about to — the imminent future

    I was just about to call you. The train is about to leave.

    be + about to + base form (often with just)

    be due to — what is scheduled

    The flight is due to land at six. She's due to arrive tomorrow.

    be + due to + base form

    future continuous — the polite question

    Will you be using the car tonight? Will you be joining us for dinner?

    Will you be + verb-ing ?

  7. B2.7 The passive in full: every tense, every modal

    passive in the present continuous

    The road is being repaired. The results aren't being published yet.

    is / are being + past participle (and negative)

    passive in the past perfect

    The room had been cleaned before we arrived. Nothing had been touched.

    had (not) been + past participle

    passive in the present perfect

    Three people have been arrested. No decision has been made.

    has / have (not) been + past participle

    passive with modal

    It must be done today. This can't be repaired. The door should be locked.

    modal + be + past participle

  8. B2.8 Getting things done and imagining otherwise: causatives and mixed conditionals

    have something done — the causative

    I had my hair cut. We're having the kitchen redone. He had his wallet stolen.

    have + object + past participle

    get + object + to + infinitive — getting someone to act

    I got him to admit it. How did you get her to change her mind?

    get + person + to + base form

    mixed conditional — unreal past, unreal present

    If I had taken that job, I would be in London now. If she hadn't left, we'd still be together.

    If + had + past participle, ... would + base form (maintenant)

    conditional conjunctions — as long as, provided, unless, in case

    You can stay as long as you help. Take a coat in case it rains. Provided the weather holds, we'll leave at dawn.

    as long as / provided (that) / unless / in case / except (that) + clause

  9. B2.9 Packing the sentence: complex relatives and non-finite clauses

    relative clause ending in a preposition

    The man I was talking about. The house which we lived in for years.

    noun + who / which / that ... + preposition (at the end of the clause)

    defining relative with whose

    The woman whose son plays in my team. A country whose history I know nothing about.

    noun + whose + noun

    sentential relative — the evaluative comment

    He forgot my birthday, which says everything. She refused, which surprised nobody.

    clause + , which + verb

    -ing clause at the start of the sentence

    Not knowing what to say, he left. Opening the door slowly, she looked inside.

    verb-ing + clause, + main clause

  10. B2.10 Foregrounding: coordination, emphasis, extended phrasal verbs

    neither ... nor — double negation

    Neither the food nor the service was good. He neither called nor wrote.

    neither + element + nor + element

    not only ... but (also) — foregrounding

    Not only did he lie, but he also blamed me. She's not only talented but incredibly hard-working.

    not only + ... + but (also) + ...

    do not — emphasis and formal register

    Do not touch. I do not agree with a single word of that.

    do not + base form (uncontracted)

    phrasal verb + noun + particle

    Turn the light off. She picked the letter up. Write the number down.

    verb + noun object + particle

  11. B2.11 Reporting with precision: reporting clauses, backshift, referring pronouns

    reporting clause in mid position

    "I know," he said, "but it doesn't change anything."

    start of quotation, + said / asked + subject, + rest of the quotation

    orders and requests reported in the negative

    He told me not to worry. She asked them not to call again.

    ask / tell + object + not to + base form

    full backshift of time and place references

    He said he had seen her the day before, and that she was leaving the next morning.

    yesterday -> the day before | tomorrow -> the next day | here -> there | this -> that | ago -> before

    indefinite pronoun + relative — foregrounding

    There's something I need to tell you. Everyone who knew him says the same thing.

    someone / something / anyone / everything + who / that + clause

  12. B2.12 Shading reference: pronouns, reflexives, genitives

    those / those who — the generic substitute

    Those who arrived early got seats. Those injured were taken to hospital.

    those + relative, or those + participle (-ed / -ing)

    each / either / neither / several / enough as pronouns

    Each of them refused. Neither is available. Several were damaged.

    each / either / neither / several / enough (with no noun)

    neither of / either of / none of + pronoun

    Neither of us knew. None of them replied.

    neither of / either of / none of + us / them / you

    reflexive pronoun plural

    They blamed themselves. We bought ourselves a treat. Look at yourselves.

    ourselves / yourselves / themselves (object or after preposition)

  13. B2.13 Arguing and concluding: degree, focus, discourse markers

    by far + superlative

    It's by far the best solution. She's by far the fastest.

    by far + the + superlative

    superlative + noun + to + infinitive — rank and role

    the last person to leave, the first woman to run the company, the only one to notice

    the + superlative (or first / last / only) + noun + to + base form

    The fact / point / problem is (that) — flagging the objection

    The problem is that nobody asked her. The point is, we can't afford it.

    The fact is (that) / The problem is (that) / The point is (that)

    opening and closing markers

    To begin with, nobody had been informed. In conclusion, the plan failed.

    to begin with / first of all / in conclusion / to sum up / finally

The app

Leo teaches B2 by reading

The roadmap on this page is not a chart we drew for the article - it is the syllabus the app is built on. Leo takes you from your first sentence to reading the press without a dictionary, one story at a time.

Stories, not drills

Every level is taught through illustrated stories written at that level - short at A1, full pages of natural prose by C1. You learn English the way you learned to read: by reading something you want to finish.

Tap any word

Translation, pronunciation and the grammar behind the form, on the word itself. No dictionary in another tab, no losing the thread of the sentence to look something up.

A real curriculum underneath

63 levels and 970 grammar points from A1 to C1 - 317 of them flagged must-know - in the order they build on each other. The stories are ordered by that curriculum, so a form is always introduced before it is used again.

Download on the App Store GET IT ON Google Play

Be told the day it lands

The app is in development. One e-mail, on launch day - that is the whole deal.

One e-mail, on launch day. No newsletter, no drip campaign.

How to actually get through B2

Read outside your comfort subject

By B2 you can read about what you already know, and that is a trap: your background knowledge is filling gaps your English is not. Read something you have no expertise in and see what falls apart. That is your real level.

Collect collocations, not words

You already know make and decision. The B2 item is that they go together, and that do a decision is wrong for no reason anyone can explain. Nothing separates a B2 writer from a C1 one more than which words they put next to each other.

Argue in writing, do not just describe

B2 exams and B2 jobs both want a position defended, a counter-argument acknowledged and a conclusion that follows. Practise the shape: concede, counter, conclude. It is a structure, and structures can be rehearsed.

Watch without subtitles, then with

First pass for the shape, second for what you missed. At B2 subtitles stop being a support and become a crutch: you read them instead of listening, and your ear stops improving while your eyes do fine.

B2 English - frequently asked questions

Do I need B2 English for university?
Almost always, and it is usually expressed as an IELTS band rather than a CEFR level: 6.0 to 6.5 overall is the common undergraduate and taught-postgraduate requirement in the UK and Australia, with TOEFL iBT 72–94 covering the same range. Some courses set a higher minimum per component. Check the specific programme, not the university.
How long does B2 take?
Cambridge puts B2 at roughly 500 to 600 cumulative guided hours from zero, so the B1-to-B2 step costs around 150 to 200 hours on top of what B1 cost. Most learners find it the slowest level, because the gains are in precision and range rather than in new capability - you can already say the thing; you are learning to say it well.
Which exam certifies B2?
B2 First from Cambridge is the direct qualification, and the certificate does not expire. IELTS 5.5–6.5 and TOEFL iBT 72–94 map onto the same band but are usually accepted only for two years. For a university application the institution decides which it wants, so ask before you book.
Is B2 enough to work in English?
For most jobs, yes. B2 means you can follow a meeting, argue a position and write a clear report, which covers the majority of professional work. Where it is not enough is anything where the language itself is the product - law, editing, negotiation, senior sales - and roles with a regulated bar, like nursing, which asks for IELTS 7.0.
What is a mixed conditional?
A conditional whose two halves sit in different timeframes. If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now pairs an unreal past with an unreal present; If I were more organised, I would have finished it does the reverse. They are B2 rather than B1 because you have to keep two counterfactuals straight, not because the forms themselves are new.

Previous level

B1 - Intermediate

Next level

C1 - Advanced

The whole roadmap: 63 levels, 970 grammar points

Leo teaches B2 through illustrated stories written at B2. The app is in development - we will write once, on launch day.

One e-mail, on launch day. No newsletter, no drip campaign.

See all five levels, A1 to C1