Collins Cobuild English Grammar

The grammar of business English

Introduction

There are certain areas of life and activity where particular features of language are found more frequently than in other areas. For example, doctors and engineers commonly use very specific vocabulary in their work-related communication.

Apart from specialized vocabulary, there are also grammatical patterns that occur more frequently in particular contexts. This section looks at forms that are common in the field of business and commerce. Examples of how language is used are organized into four areas:

Networking

Negotiating

Presenting

Meetings

In many cases, of course, the language that is described can be used in more than one of these topic areas.

Networking

Making social and business arrangements

The dialogue below is an example of the type of conversation that might take place between two people who want to make an arrangement to meet at a later time.

A Do you want to meet up for lunch sometime next week?

B Yes. That would be nice. We can talk about the FCL deal. I’m not in on Monday. I’m going to work from home. How about next Tuesday?

A Let’s see. No, I can’t. I’m taking some clients to the riverside development. What about Wednesday?

B I’m going to Germany on Wednesday. My flight leaves around five so I don’t need to get away until after lunch. Is that okay?

A Fine. Let’s meet at one.

use of verb forms with future meaning

You can use the present progressive (see 4.60) to talk about future arrangements that you would put in a diary. Normally these arrangements involve other people.

We’re having a meeting to discuss the proposal next Tuesday.

The people from ILC are coming for lunch at two.

When future arrangements are not firm plans, but it is your intention that they will happen, you use be going to followed by an infinitive (see 4.58).

I’m going to have an early night because I’m tired.

We’ll have some time after the meeting so we’re going to explore the old part of the city.

You use the present simple to talk about events in schedules such as transport timetables or conference programmes (see 4.60).

Our flight leaves at six and gets in at eight.

The morning plenary session starts at nine thirty.

expressions for making suggestions

There are several ways in which you can make suggestions about what you and someone else should do.

You can use Let followed by us shortened to Let’s (see 5.39).

Let’s have a break and go for a coffee.

Let’s stay in contact.

You can use a question beginning with Shall we (see 5.186).

Shall we meet outside the restaurant?

Shall we reward ourselves with a little lunch?

You can use a question beginning with Why don’t we (see 5.46).

Why don’t we have a working breakfast in the hotel?

Why don’t we stay an extra day?

You can use a question beginning with What about or How about in front of a noun phrase (see 5.46).

How about a drink after the meeting?

How about next Sunday?

What about the twentieth of March?

Asking for and confirming information

To form the different type of commonly used questions in English you can use a variety of structures, where the word order and the use of auxiliaries can be confusing. The dialogue below is a phone call which might take place between two people where details of an order are discussed.

A Hello. I’m phoning about an order. The ID number is 28443AB.

B When did you place the order please?

A Last week.

B Sorry. What was the order number again?

A 28443AB.

B Oh yes, it was for some switcher units, wasn’t it?

A That’s right. Can you tell me if it’s been processed yet?

B Yes. They were out of stock but we got some in yesterday. Didn’t you get an email?

A Er, no. Haven’t they been sent off yet?

B They went off this morning.

A So do you have any idea when we can expect delivery?

B They should be with you tomorrow.

A Okay. Thanks.

yes/no questions

When you are using the present simple or past simple form of be you simply put the verb at the beginning of the clause, followed by the subject (see 5.14).

Are you with me so far?

Is Simon up to the job?

Were they at the meeting?

When the verb is not be you need to use an auxiliary verb (or do, does, or did), followed by the subject and then the main verb (see 5.12 and 5.13).

Is he staying here tonight?

Do you work in a team?

Did they want to talk to me?

Will they accept that?

Have you got the figures with you?

If there is more than one auxiliary verb, the first auxiliary comes at beginning of the clause, followed by the subject and then other auxiliaries and the main verb.

Has the problem been reported?

Have they been waiting long?

wh-questions

If you are using the present simple or past simple form of be, the verb goes after the wh-word and in front of the subject (see 5.24).

How was your meeting?

Where is the customer?

So where were your auditors during all of this?

If you are using the present simple or the past simple of any verb except be, you put do, does, or did in front of the subject (see 5.24).

Which department did you want?

Who do you work for?

How did she make the decision?

What does he really think about the deal?

When a wh-word is the subject of a verb, or when it forms part of the subject, the word order is the same as in an affirmative clause (see 5.23).

Who invited you?

What happened earlier on?

Which bid won?

other types of question

You can use indirect questions like Can you tell me, Could you tell me, Do you know and Have you any idea in order to be more polite.

For yes/no questions, you use if or whether followed by a clause with affirmative word order.

Can you tell me if he got my message?

Do you know whether the units have arrived?

For wh-questions, you use a wh-word followed by a clause with affirmative word order.

Could you tell me what you’ve got on today?

Have you any idea what it would cost?

You can ask for confirmation that something is true by making a statement, and then adding a question tag such as isn’t it? or doesn’t she? (see 5.15 to 5.20).

They work on Saturdays, don’t they?

You can park there, can’t you?

You can use a negative question to express surprise at a situation.

Didn’t you arrange to meet them at the airport?

Wasn’t the meeting at nine?

Haven’t you finished yet?

Talking about experience

talking about the present

You use the present simple to talk about permanent facts and routines (see 4.9 to 4.11).

We offer a wide range of services for the bio industry.

Every week, Susan drives to Edmonton for a meeting with the factory manager.

The first thing we do is a site survey.

You use the present progressive to talk about current situations when you want to emphasize that they are temporary or in progress at the time of speaking (see 4.17 to 4.19).

We are updating our flight rules to adapt to the new scenario.

Users are looking at other ways of financing IT projects.

He’s staying there as the guest of our Taiwan-based supplier.

talking about finished past situations

If you want to talk about a situation or an event that happened at a particular time in the past which is finished, you use the past simple. Time expressions like last week and a year ago, which refer to finished time periods in the past, can be used to make the time reference clear (see 4.27 to 4.29).

Ballmer flew to California last week and proposed the merger.

After Harvard, he studied at Oxford University.

Ms. Caridi previously worked in the legal department at Lehman Brothers.

You use the past progressive to emphasize an action in progress or to give the background context for events (see 4.31 and 4.32).

The company was losing money, so he decided to sell.

The plant was making a profit of $250,000 a year and the market was growing steadily.

talking about past situations in relation to the present

The present perfect simple can be used to talk about:

experiences, without stating a specific time

events and situations that started in the past and continue up to the present

events and situations that have an immediate effect on the present.

You cannot use time expressions like yesterday, last year, or at Christmas with the present perfect simple (see 4.33 to 4.35).

Yes, I’ve bumped into him a number of times.

We’ve met with all the major shareholders.

Spending has risen steadily since the beginning of the year.

Have you brought the report with you?

You use the present perfect progressive:

when you want to talk about situations that started in the past, that may or may not be completed, but that you see as temporary

when you want to emphasize duration (see 4.36).

We have been looking for a European partner for some time.

The company has been working hard to reduce its overhead.

talking about a particular time in the past

If you want to show that one event happened before another in the past you can use the past perfect (see 4.37).

When people left the meeting, they were more enthusiastic than when they had arrived.

Before the negotiations started, they had decided to give employees a 4% pay rise.

Negotiating

Making and modifying proposals

softening the message

You can use comparatives to show that you are prepared to negotiate on a particular point (see 2.103 to 2.111).

We need a more flexible arrangement.

I’m looking for figure closer to three dollars sixty a unit.

Would you be happier with a fixed rate?

You can use the modals would, could, may and might to make your message less direct.

We might be able drop the price.

Could we look at that side of your proposal later?

Would you consider reducing discounts?

thinking about possible future events and exploring possibilities

The modals could, may and might are also used to say that a particular result or situation is possible (see 5.124).

There may be a slight delay.

Yes, that might be possible.

Yes, I can see that this could have great potential.

You can use conditional sentences to discuss options and explore possibilities in a hypothetical way (see 8.25 to 8.42).

If you could give us exclusivity, we can settle this now.

The discount could be bigger if you increased the quantity.

If I drop the price, have we got a deal?

Unless you can show a bit of flexibility, we might as well call it a day.

Rejecting ideas and proposals

distancing yourself from a situation

To distance yourself from an opinion, and therefore sound less direct, you can use the passive form of a reporting verb with it as the impersonal subject (see 7.69).

It was understood that if we were successful in securing the takeover, Sarong would become a part of International Latex.

It is assumed that share prices will rise as a result of the operation.

It was agreed that the details would remain confidential.

being diplomatic

You can use a qualifier such as a little, a bit, or rather to make a negative message seem less strong (see 2.162).

That sounds a little expensive.

They may be a bit late, I’m afraid.

Unfortunately, we were rather disappointed with the quality of the last delivery.

Expressions like not very, not totally, not completely, and not entirely followed by a positive adjective sound more diplomatic than using a negative adjective.

We aren’t totally convinced by the idea of using road transport.

I wouldn’t be very happy with that arrangement.

You don’t seem absolutely certain about that.

The past progressive can be used to make a statement more indirect in order to be polite (see 4.31 and 4.32).

We were expecting to hear a new proposal today.

I was aiming to establish a framework for further discussion.

We were hoping to reach agreement about this before we go.

Presenting

Describing change

the past compared to the present

You can use the present perfect simple to talk about events or situations that are still important in the present (see 4.33).

The FTSE Index has strengthened further since this morning.

We have made changes based on your concerns and feedback.

the present moment

To talk about change that is still in progress at the present moment, you can use the present progressive (see 4.19).

The economy is growing, but if we look closer there are some worrying trends.

In the country’s major cities, the quality of life is improving.

Making predictions

opinions about the future

You can use will when you are certain about a situation in the future (see 4.53).

The cuts will certainly have a negative effect on the economy.

I believe this attitude will soon become the norm.

You can also use be going to instead of will to make predictions (see 4.58).

She predicts that earnings are going to come down sharply.

We are trying to decide whether the economy is going to go into recession.

expressing a negative opinion about the future

If you want to make a negative prediction, it sounds more polite to introduce an affirmative clause with a phrase like I don’t think than to use a negative clause.

I don’t think this will go down well with the union.

I don’t think it’s going to be a great success.

degrees of certainty about the future

You can use could, may, or might to say that it is possible that something will happen (see 5.124).

These economic problems could cause huge problems for the rest of Europe.

New technology might be able to halve the amount of water we use.

The market may eventually accomplish what environmentalists want.

You use be likely followed by a to-infinitive to say something will probably happen.

Emerging economies are likely to face continuing problems.

You use be bound followed by a to-infinitive to say strongly that something is certain to happen in the future (see 5.232).

The pressure on margins is bound to make success difficult.

Contrasts and comparisons

concessive clauses

You use conjunctions like while, although, in spite of, and despite to contrast one idea with another (see 8.66).

Until now, only 8,000 people have registered with the site, although the company said the number is still increasing.

In spite of the crisis, sales are actually up on last year.

Retail sales are plummeting, while consumer prices are rising.

Whilst and whereas are more formal.

In France there was a small improvement, whereas there was no change in Germany.

Micro’s online store is almost empty, whilst Azar’s has nearly 50,000 products.

making comparisons

You can use an adjective with either -er added to the end (cheaper, older) or more placed in front of the adjective (more expensive,more interesting), followed by than (see 2.103 to 2.111).

The chip is more economical than a dedicated system.

Kondex is bigger than Gartex in terms of sales.

You can also use not as … as or not so … as to compare things (see 2.128).

Our factories are still not as efficient as the car plants in Japan.

Traditional forms of advertising are not as effective as they used to be.

emphasizing degrees of difference

You can use much, a lot or far in front of comparative adjective forms to emphasize a big difference.

Manufacturers are much more cautious than before about investment plans.

The job provides her with a far greater challenge than ordinary office work would.

You can use slightly, a bit or a little to emphasize small differences.

The first-quarter increase was slightly higher at 1.2 %.

If anything, European and Pacific Rim executives are a little more aggressive than the Japanese.

To emphasize small differences with the not as … as structure you can add quite.

But by other measures, oil is not quite as expensive as it seems.

Linking ideas

You can show what sort of connection there is between one sentence and another by using sentence connectors. In a presentation, these connectors prepare the listener for what is coming next.

adding strength to your argument

Connectors such as on top of that and at the same time can be used to add strength to your argument. In writing, or in more formal situations, you can use moreover or furthermore (see 10.49).

The financial crisis continues. On top of that, exceptional weather has devastated crops.

Unemployment has grown rapidly. At the same time, there is low demand for existing skills.

Experts predict that the downturn will be less severe than expected. Furthermore, banks plan to lend more freely in the next three months.

contrast

You use connectors like however, on the other hand, or nevertheless when you want to give another point of view (see 10.51).

If you want job security, this is not the post for you. On the other hand, the salary is good.

There was a fall in sales last month. However, revenue from digital products rose by nearly 20% in the first half.

It is necessary for foreign currency traders to think quickly and accurately. Nevertheless, mistakes do occasionally occur.

cause and effect

When you want to show that the fact or situation you are mentioning is a result of what you have just referred to, you can begin your statement using a connector like so or as a result. If you want to sound more formal you can use consequently or therefore (see 10.52).

Another 3,100 jobs were lost last year. So people no longer trust the company.

We lost sight of what our customers wanted. As a result, sales slumped.

Confidence is still low. Consequently, firms are not willing to make new investments.

Distancing yourself

the passive

You use the passive when you want to focus on actions, views and decisions, rather than on the people responsible for them (see 9.8 to 9.24). It is frequently used in reports, and it is more common in written English.

In 2006, 18.3 % of the world’s electricity was produced using renewable sources.

When materials were coated in the substance, the plating remained stable at room temperature.

The passive is often used to describe processes with adjuncts like first, second, then, and finally to indicate order (see 10.54).

First, the raw data is collated in tables, It is then prepared for processing. Finally, the data model is produced.

Meetings

Interrupting

can, could

When you are participating in a meeting you can use can I and could I to interrupt politely. Could is more polite than can.

Can I ask a question here?

Could I just interrupt here for a minute?

Making suggestions

Can and could are also used for making suggestions.

Could we maybe develop a new payment system?

Can we ask Network Solutions to help?

To sound more persuasive you can use a negative question.

Couldn’t we ask them to come in for a demonstration?

Can’t we do this later?

Let’s …, Why don’t we …

You can also use Let’s … and Why don’t we … to make suggestions.

Let’s call it a day.

Why don’t we move on to the next point on the agenda.

Making requests

Can you …?, Could you …?

You can use Can you … or Could you … to ask someone to do something. Could is more polite than can.

Can you summarize the main points, please?

Could you explain that again?

Would you mind …

The phrase Would you mind following by the -ing form is also used to make polite requests.

Would you mind going back to the previous graphic?

Would you mind just waiting a minute while I answer that?

conditional sentences

Various conditional sentences can also be used in questions to direct a meeting in a polite way.

Would it be all right if we go over that again?

Is it okay if we leave this till later?

Do you mind if we start with a few introductions, please?

Would you mind if I investigate this a little further?

Disagreeing politely

Yes, but …

If you want to disagree with someone without offending them, you can use an expression of agreement followed by but.

Well, I agree but I see it slightly differently.

I see what you mean but I still don’t think it’s possible.

I take your point about the costs but we could still do it.

think, believe

If you want to contradict somebody, or say something that other people may disagree with, you can avoid sounding rude by using a reporting verb such as I think… (or I don’t think …) or I believe … (or I don’t believe …).

I think it’s time we stopped.

I don’t think that’s actually the case.

I don’t believe we committed ourselves to maintaining the price.

seem, appear

You can avoid sounding absolutely certain of your information by using the verbs seem or appear.

This seems to be the only possible solution to the problem.

It appears that the cost of the new system would be minimal.