500 Business English Expressions www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions English Your language A Accounts Department After careful consideration A ground-breaking idea ahead of the curve ahead of the pack An alternative to consider All things considered Are you certain about this? Are you following me? Are you free on Friday? Are you one hundred percent positive? Are you sure you have the right number? a room with bath and shower a room with a child's bed a room which faces the sea ASAP (as soon as possible) as a rule of thumb As I said before As I was explaining As opposed to As you no doubt remember at stake (at risk) B back-of-the-envelope calculations back to square one/ back to the drawing board backroom deal Bait and switch tactic ballpark number Bed & Breakfast behind someone's back Before we move on be in the red belt-tightening Black market blank cheque blue chip company blue collar worker Break a leg! break the ice bricks and mortar bricks and clicks Broadly speaking burn your bridges business as usual bottom line www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions burn the candle at both ends bury your head in the sand By the way C Can I add something? Can I get back to you on that? Can I talk to you for a minute? Can we get your input? Can you illustrate that with an example? Can you take my place for an hour? cash cow Catch someone off guard Christine is not in today. climb the corporate ladder Cold call common knowledge compare apples to oranges Correct me if I'm wrong but… Could I contact you about this? Could I have your address? Could I make a point here? Could I say something? Could you add more information? Could you ask him to call me back, please? Could you clarify this? Could you explain? Could you give me directions? Could you give me some more information on this? Could you give me your fees? Could you give us further details? Could you hold on a minute? Could you please? Could you please send me ... Could you provide us with more information? Could you replace me tomorrow? Could you supply me with…? crunch time Cut-throat competition Cutting edge technology D data-driven Deal with it Don't get me wrong but Do something by the book Do we agree that…? Do you have a minute? Do you have any questions? Do you have any suggestions? www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions Do you mind if I jump in here? Do you think we should wait for her? E easy come, easy go Excuse me. F facts speak for themselves fifty-fifty Finally Find a loophole Firstly First things first For instance/ example G Gain/ lose ground get the ball rolling Get the big picture Get your foot in the door Give the thumbs down/ up glass ceiling go around in circles go down the drain Good to meet you too. go the extra mile go through the roof go viral H hand luggage hard sell Has anyone else got anything? Have a look at… Have you already met Stella? Have you considered…? Have you reserved seats for the concert yet? Having seen your advertisement, I would like to... headhunter He has a foot in the door. He has an ace up his sleeve. He holds all the aces. He is in a meeting. Help yourself. Her line of work includes… He recruits and trains new employees. Here you have… Hold on, please. Hold the line, please. How about… ? How are you? www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions How big is it? How can I reach you? How can we work it out? How come? How do I get in touch with you? How do you do? How do you feel about this? How do you normally get paid? How high is it? How kind of you. How much does it cost? How much does it weigh? How will you back that up? Human Resources Hurry up please. I I am contacting you for the following reason I am delighted to I am looking for a suitable hotel near… I am sorry to hear that I am writing to complain about … I am writing to express my dissatisfaction I appreciate it. I can put in a good word for you. I can see your point of view. I'd like to add that… I’d like to apologize I’d like to emphasize on… I'd like to express my doubts about… I’d like to file a complaint. I’d like to have a word with you. I’d like to introduce myself I’d like to make a comment. I’d like you to meet Jenny Jones. I’d like you to see this graph. I don't agree with you at all. I don't follow you. I don't mean to be rude but… I don't think so. I don't think you've actually understood me. I don't understand why… I’d rather… I guess you might… I hate to tell you I have a previous engagement I have some bad news I have some reservations. I have to agree with you. www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions I highly recommend this product. I like your idea. I'll call you if I need anything. I'll connect you. I’ll give you a call. I’ll give you free hand here. I'll have my secretary schedule an appointment. I’ll put it simply. I'll put you through. I’m afraid… I'm afraid the line's engaged. I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding. I’m delighted to meet you I’m in charge of… I’m not absolutely confident I'm not sure I get what you mean. I’m not totally convinced I'm rather worried about… I’m ready to answer any questions. I’m really pleased with… I’m responsible for… I'm sorry about the confusion. I’m sorry to bother you I missed that. In a few words in a hurry In a nutshell in case in charge of In reply to your request, ... in stock I need an air-conditioned room with bath In full swing Initially In other words In spite of the evidence I recently heard about… It all comes down to… It has just crossed my mind that It’s a key issue It’s an honor It’s been a pleasure I really enjoyed meeting you I regret Is everybody already here? Is everything clear? Is there any additional aspect? Is there anything you’d like to know? www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions Is this included in the price? I urge you to It comes with… I think I’ll manage, thank you. It’s against regulations It’s all set then. It’s a safe bet. It's our best selling product. It was a pleasure meeting you last month It was not my intention to offend you. It would be helpful if you… I’ve been delighted to I've got another point of view. I wonder if you could… I should be grateful if you would confirm my booking I would appreciate your immediate attention to this I would favour I would like to confirm the main points we discussed I would like to confirm the appointment. I would like to place an offer. I would start by… J jump through hoops Just a second, please. just in case K keep something under wraps keep your options open kick off L Last but not least leading brand learn the ropes Let me assure you that Let me end Let me illustrate Let me introduce myself Let me put this another way Let me show you Let’s call it a day. Let’s concentrate on… Let's get back on track. Let’s get down for business. Let’s get going. Let's get started Let's move on. Let's move onto point two. Let's postpone the discussion. www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions Let’s start by the beginning line of work live beyond your means Lose-lose situation Lovely to meet you M Make up your mind, please. manage expectations managing director maternity leave May I have a word? May I interrupt? May I introduce Jenny Jones? May I offer my assistance? move heaven and earth Much obliged. My aim is… My company produces… My hands are tied. My initial reaction is favourable. My objective is… My opinion is… My pleasure. N Nice to meet you Nice to see you Nine-to-five job No brainer No strings attached No time to lose Not so fast! Now she’s in the driver’s seat. Now, where were we? O Off the top of my head, I’d say… On condition that On the face of it On top of something on top of trends Our primary concern is… P paradigm shift Pardon? part time pass the buck Please accept my apologies. Please give me an indication of your rates Please go ahead www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions Pleased to meet you Please lower your voice. Please observe… Production Department pull the plug Purchasing Department Put all someone’s eggs in one basket Put the cart before the horse R Raise the bar read between the lines reality check round-the-clock S Sales Department see eye to eye Shall we continue? Shall we proceed onto the next point? Shall we start? Shall we take turns? She’s busy right now. She’s hit the nail on the head. She’s learning the ropes. She’s not available. She’s on a roll. She’s on the ball. Small talk Smooth sailing Snail mail Sorry but I'm already committed. Sorry, I didn't catch that. Sorry, that is not quite right. Sorry to interrupt Start a business from the ground up start off on the right/wrong foot state of the art T take notes take the bull by the horns take the minutes talk someone into something/ out of something Thanks for your hospitality. Thank you for your letter of November 28 Thank you for contacting us. That needs correction That's outside the scope team player The ball is in your court www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions The benefits are The enterprise went broke. the first item on the agenda is… The line is busy. The opening issue They are in the black. They are in the red. There’s another alternative There's another issue we have to deal with think outside the box This is a key issue. This is a minor issue. This is an interesting question. This is different to what we had agreed. This is highly significant. This is irrelevant. This is not significant. This is one of our top products. This isn’t quite what I meant. This is of secondary importance. This is where the rubber meets the road This leads us back to the subject. This will allow you to… throw in the towel To begin with To bring up something else To conclude To end To finish To put it briefly… touch base To start with To summarize To sum up U Unfortunately we are unable to ... up-and-coming V video conference W Wait a minute We are at your disposal. We are involved in… We are on the same page. We are pleased to announce that ... We are quite willing to ... We assure you… We can't all speak at once. www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions We can't discuss that issue today. We consider We could go with… We have rejected We intend to… We need a substitute We need more information. We need to discuss… We're digressing. We'll defer the matter. Well done! We'll do our best to settle the matter We’ll solve this affair We really need to… We regret to inform you that ... We want to notify you that We want you to see We will study We will talk about… We would be happy to ... What are you developing? What are your current projects? What are your main products? What are your payment conditions? What are your plans? What are your shortest delivery times? What are you up to? What are you working on? What brings us here? What business are you in? What can you tell me about...? What can you tell me about this product? What does it look like? What does it include? What does your company do? What do you charge? What do you expect? What do you mean? What do you know about? What do you specialize in? What do you think? What did you say? What else can you add? What evidence do you have? What features does your product have? What I mean is… What I am trying to say is… What is he good at? www.henter.co 500 Business English Expressions What is your main line of business? What is your specialty? What services do you provide? What’s more… What’s the current situation? What’s the price? What’s your e-mail? What’s your job? What’s your line of work? What's your opinion on… What’s your projection? What was that again? What were we saying? When could we receive the product? Where are you calling from? Where are you located? Where can I buy your product? Where do you work? Which company are you with? Which route do you recommend? While we are on the subject white collar With reference to our telephone conversation Who do you intend to back? Who do you represent? Who is accountable for this? Who is calling please? Who is in charge of the division? Who is running the division? Who is speaking? Why is it that? Win-win situation Would you mind? Would you mind waiting a minute? Would you take a message, please? word of mouth Y You have a good point You’ll have to wait. You ought to You're not interrupting at all. your letter regarding ... You’ve raised an interesting point. You will be pleased to learn that ... www.henter.co
