Business/Professional English: Useful Expressions: Part 1

The following information is used for educational purposes only.


Business/Professional English: Useful Expressions.

Useful Expressions - Business Language
Apologizing
Asking for Help
Business Introductions
Company Description
Describing Business Activities
Describing Jobs
Describing Products
Describing Projects
Explaining
Expressing Appreciation
Forward Looking Statements
Invitations
Job Responsibilities
Offering
Requesting
Terms of Payment
Using Tenses Appropriately
Welcoming Visitors


Useful Expressions - Business Interaction
Analyzing Problems
Asking for Information
Closing a Conversation
Customer Survey (Restaurant)
Discussing Agenda Items
Making Appointments
Meetings and Discussions
How to Plan a Meeting


Useful Expressions - Business Correspondence
Business Letters
Common Phrases for Business Letters
Helpful Hints for Business Letters
Sample Topics for Business Letters
Writer's Checklist


Useful Expressions - Business Presentation
Nervous Mannerisms
Presentation Tips
Signposting
Simple Presentations
Speech Preparation
The Language of Charts and Graphs
Thinking Positively about Presentations




Source:www.eslgold.com

Introductions


Informal

This is my boss, Mr. Stratford.

Jared, this is my secretary, Barbara.

Good to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

I'd like you to meet my co-worker, Collin Beck.

Collin, this is Susan Palmer.

Nice to meet you.

My pleasure.

Have you met, Jason?

Jason, this is Teresa.

Hi, I'm Jill Watson.

I don't believe we've met. I'm Greg.

Formal

I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend, Mrs. Pleasant.

Allow me to introduce myself/my colleague, Ms. Winters

Let me introduce you to my colleague, Dean Richards.

Mr. Richards, this is David Porter from Aerospace Inc.

How do you do?

How do you do?

It's a pleasure meeting you.

Important body language to remember: Smile, eye contact, firm handshake.



Apologizing

I'm sorry.

I made a mistake.

Please accept my apologies.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to . . .

(I'm) sorry. I didn't realize that . . . .


That's okay.


No problem.

Prefacing bad news

I'm sorry (I have) to tell you this, but . . .

I hate to tell you this, but . . .

I don't know how to tell you this, but . . .

I have some bad news.

(Formal) written apologies

We regret to inform you that . . .

Regretfully, . . .

Unfortunately, . . .


Describing Business Activities



What do you do at ABC Company?

I am in charge of marketing.


I'm responsible for sales.


I program computers.


I recruit and train employees.

What does your company do?

We design software.


We build storage units.


We produce small appliances.


We're in the insurance business.



Describing Products

Tell me about (this product)

What can you tell me about (this product)?

Can you give me some information/details about this?

What is special/unique about this?

What are the specifications?

Let me tell you about . . .

This is our (newest) product.

This is one of our latest designs.

It is made of . . .

It can be used for . . .

You can use it to . . .

You can . . . with it

This has/contains . . .

This one features . . .

This comes with . . .

This is equipped with . . .

This particular model . . .

This is priced at . . .

This costs . .


Job Responsibilities


What do you do (in your job)?

What is your main job?

What are you in charge of?

I am in charge of training employees.

I am responsible for watering the plants.

I take care of corporate accounts.

I usually answer telephones.

I mainly write reports.

I repair jet engines



Invitations



Informal:

Would you like to . . .

We're going to . . . . Would you like to come along?

There's a . . . . (tonight). Would you like to go?

How about (V+ing) . . . ?

Do you want to . . . ?

I wonder if you would like to . . .

I was wondering if you would like to . . .

Formal:




I'd like to invite you to . . .

If you have time, I'd like to invite you . . .

Would you like to join us for (event) at (time) ?

We'd be glad to have you accompany us . . .

We'd be delighted/honored to have you as our guest at . . .



Terms of Payment


I'd like to pay (in) cash.

I'll put it on my credit card.

Can I charge it?

Could you put that on my bill?

Could I put that on my account?

Could you send me an invoice?

Could you bill me (for that)?

Can I put it on lay-away?

May I . . .



pay in cash

pay by check

pay by credit card

pay with a credit card

pay in installments

pay in one lump sum



Could you deliver it to my office?

Do you charge for shipping?

Do I need to pay for postage and handling?

How long will it take?


Welcoming Visitors

Welcome to Cando Enterprises.

Welcome to London. I'm John Taylor.

Meeting someone you don't know

1. Patricia Murphy?

Yes.

Hi, I'm Kevin Chen of Myotex Industries.
Welcome to Taiwan.

2. Are you Mr. Blanks?

Yes, I am.

I'm Jane Placid. (We talked by telephone.)
Welcome to Sydney.
It's nice to meet you in person.

Nice meeting you too.

How was your flight?

Okay, but very long.

3. You must be Ms. Terius.

That's right.

It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Brad Wilson.
Welcome to Suntech.

Thank you

Did you have any problem finding this place?

No, your directions were very clear.


Meetings and Discussions




Getting started

Let's get started.

We need to discuss . . .

We need to talk about . . .

Talking about discussion items

The first thing we need to discuss is . . .

The first item on the agenda is . . .

The first thing on the list is . . .

First, we need to talk about . . .

Presenting Options

We have several alternatives:

We have two options:

We could either . . . or . . .

Moving on

Let's move on to Item 2.

Let's move on to the next topic.

We need to move on.

The next item (of business) is . . .

We need to go on to the next item.

Shall/Should we move on?

Stalling the Discussion

Before we move on, I think we should . . .

Wait a minute. We haven't discussed . . .

Don't you think we need to . . .

Not so fast. We haven't (yet) . . .

Asking for Clarification

What to you mean by . . . .

I don't quite follow you.

I didn't get what you meant by . . .

Could you clarify that?

Could you elaborate on that?

Making a Suggestion/Proposal

I think we should . . .

Maybe we should . . .

I suggest . . .

Why don't we . . .

How about . . .

We could . . .

Giving Feedback

(I think) that's a good idea.

You have a good point.

Good idea/point.

I agree.

I disagree. I think . . .

Sorry. I don't agree with you.

You have a good point, but . . .

That's not such a good idea.

I don't think that's a good idea.

Asking for Opinions

What do you think, George?

What's your opinion on that, Martha?

Any thoughts on that?

Any ideas?

Checking for Consensus

Do we all agree (on that)?

Does everyone agree?

Summarizing

In summary,

The conclusion is . . .

So, we've decided to . . .

We're going to . . . (then)

Closing the meeting

That's all for today.

That's it then.

(informal)

The meeting is adjourned.

(very formal)




Asking for Information



Information about company

What does your company do?

We produce marketing materials.

What is your specialty?

What do you specialize in?

We specialize in art and design.

What is your main line of business?

What are your major products?

We produce office machines.

What services do you provide?

We design software.

We provide technical support.


Information about products

Could you give me some (more) information on this?

This is one of our top brands.

It's our best selling refrigerator.

This one is the best in its class.

What can you tell me about this (product)?

We're really pleased with its performance.

It's an excellent computer.

I highly recommend this one.

Tell me about this one/model.

This model comes with several features.

This particular one has two components.

Information about Price

What are you asking for this?

What does this sell for?

How much is it?

How much does it run?

This (one) sells for $5900.

This one goes for $2900.

This one is priced at $9695.