Business communication vocabulary.pdf

Title: Business communication vocabulary

Skill Set : Business communication

Level : Post-intermediate

Recommended Dictionary : Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

Exercise 1: Find a word fast!

Work with a partner. See who can write these words in alphabetical order first.

minutes agenda chair motion board

1…………. 2…………. 3……………. 4…………… 5……………

All of these words have a number of meanings. Look the words up in your dictionary and

write down the part of speech and meaning number of each word when it can be used to

talk about a business meeting.

Exercise 2: Find more words

Write the words below in alphabetical order.

duty delivery deadline dimensions down payment

1…………. 2…………. 3……………. 4…………… 5……………..

Exercise 3: Words and examples

Write the words below in alphabetical order.

regarding grateful regard enclose reference

1…………. 2…………. 3……………. 4……………. 5…………….

Look the words up in your dictionary and write down an example of how each one can

be used in a formal letter.

Exercise 4: Unknown words

Look at the fax below and look up the meanings of the words in dark print, using the

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English entries below. Then complete this

summary:

Tomas Grunwald is writing because the cost of the furniture is …

____________________________________________________________________

To: Juan Martinez

From: Tomas Grunwald

Your Ref: CRO743

I am writing with regard to the order we placed with you on 2.3.01 for 60 items of office

furniture. As you will see from the attached copies of the order form and invoice , there

appears to be a discrepancy between your quotation and the amount due . I would

appreciate it if you could look into this and get back to me to confirm whether this is

actually the case.

Kind regards,

Source: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

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Title: Business communication vocabulary

Look at the dictionary entries below and decide if your answers are correct.

discrepancy n [C,U] a difference

between 2 amounts, details, reports,

etc. that ought to be the same: [+ in ]

How do you explain these

discrepancies in the accounts? [+

between ] There are big discrepancies

between what Margaret says and

what you say .

quotation n 2 [C] a written

statement of exactly how much a

piece of work will cost: Could you

give us a quotation for fixing the

roof? - compare ESTIMATE 2 (2)

invoice n [C] a list of goods that

have been supplied or work that

has been done, showing how

much you owe for them

due adj 4 MONEY [not before

noun] an amount of money that is

due is the amount that should be

paid now: The first interest

payments will be due in August.

Exercise 5: Spelling

Below are some words which are not complete. Write the full word in each example,

using the context to help you decide what the word is. Use your dictionary to check the

correct spelling.

I am writing to acknowledge rec_____t of your letter.

Let us know if you want any sta_________ y ordered, e.g. pens or notepads.

All our software is IBM-comp_______le.

Would you be able to arrange ac_________n near the airport for me?

We g_________ e next-day delivery. Otherwise you will receive an automatic

refund.

Exercise 6: Prepositions

Decide which preposition to use in each space.

a If you take _____ account _____ the sales from this quarter, there has been an

overall gain.

b We are happy to fit the equipment _____ no extra cost .

c Sales have increased _____ 13.5% this year alone.

The words in bold are in the entries below from the Longman Dictionary of

Contemporary English. Use them to check your answers.

increase v 1 [I] to become larger

in amount, number or degree: The

population of London increased

dramatically in the first half of the

century. The pain increased steadily

until I could think of nothing else.

increase in

value/price/importance etc

Investments are certain to increase

in value . [ +by ] Food prices

increased by less than 10% in less

than a year. - see RAISE (USAGE)

account n 3 take account of

sth/take sth into account to

consider or include particular facts

or details when making a decision

or judgment about something:

These figures do not take account

of changes in the rate of inflation.

cost n 1 MONEY PAID [C] the

amount of money that you have to

pay in order to buy, do, or produce

something: I’ll give you $15 to

cover the cost of the gas . at a cost

of The new building’s going up at a

cost of $82 million. high/low cost

a low cost source of electric power

full cost If no scholarships or

other aid are available, students will

have to pay the full cost of their

education . cost of living (=the

cost of buying all the food, clothes

etc that you need to live) The cost

of living rose two percent in the last

year. at no extra cost A

cassette/radio is included at no

extra cost.

Source: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

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Title: Business communication vocabulary

Teacher’s Notes/Answer key

This worksheet is aimed at helping students to develop their general dictionary skills with

the help of the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and focuses on language that

learners need for business communication.

Exercise 1: Find a word fast!

1 agenda (n #1) 2 board (n #3) 3 chair (n #2 & v - only sense) 4 minutes (n #6)

5 motion (n #3)

You might use this as an opportunity to draw to students’ attention that more common

meanings of words appear earlier in the entry, e.g. chair as a thing you sit on is more

common than the person who is in charge of a meeting.

Exercise 2: Find more words

1. deadline 2. delivery 3. dimensions 4. down payment 5. duty

They are all used in the area of trade .

Exercise 3: Words and examples

1 enclose ( #1 ‘please find enclosed’) 2 grateful (# 3 ‘I would be grateful if you could’ 3

reference (#3 ‘with reference to’) 4 regard (#3 ‘as regards’, #5 ‘in/with regard to’, #6 ‘with

kind regards’ 5 regarding (only sense - ‘Regarding your recent inquiry’)

Exercise 4: Unknown words

(suggested answer) ‘the cost of the furniture is more than the amount in the quotation.’

Exercise 5: Spelling

a) receipt

b) stationery

c) compatible

d) accommodation

e) guarantee

Exercise 6: Prepositions

Encourage students to look at example sentences and bold phrases in each entry.

a) into

b) at

c) by

Source: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

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