BUSINESSS

ENGLISH
BASICS
1
Luminita Cocarta-Andrei, Simona
Mitocaru

Business Contacts
Small talk

Questions

Possible answers

So, what do you

do?
What do you do
for a living?

Im an
(engineer)
I work for CocaCola Company

Business Contacts
Language focus: adjectives

ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are words that are used to modify a noun.
Kinds
There are many kinds of adjectives and they usually
determine a noun. We have met a clever negotiator
(adjectives of quality: new, young, interesting, rich,
poor etc); Some people understand our policy
(quantitative adjectives: some, any, no, few, many,
much, one)); This office is ours (demonstrative
adjectives: this, that, these, those). There are also
distributive adjectives: each, every, either, neither,
interrogative adjectives: which, what, whose and
possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our,
your, their.

Business Contacts
Language focus

Adjectives of Quality
We will focus on adjectives of quality in this
section.

Form
These adjectives have only one form for
singular, plural, masculine and feminine nouns:
I have a very young boss (m. or f.) I have a
young sister/ I have young colleagues.
Some adjectives are derived from other parts
of speech (usually verbs or nouns) by means of
suffixation, as shown in the table below:

Business Contacts
Language focus
Form
Verb: limit, persuade, deduct, persist,
etc.
Derived adjective: limited,
persuasive, deductible, persistent.
Noun: hope, fame, care, profession etc
Derived adjective: hopeless, famous,
careful, professional

Business Contacts
Language focus

Use
The position of adjectives is usually before nouns, but also
after the verbs: be, seem, appear and look.

We have a competitive product/ The product seems

competitive.

Some adjectives are used after the nouns:

The problems discussed were very interesting for most of
the directors.
Other adjectives may be used both before and after the
noun (present, involved, responsible etc.)

The present members of our Board will decide in this

matter./ Those members present today will take a decision.

Business Contacts
Language focus

Compound adjectives
Nouns and adjectives may be
combined to modify another noun, in
which case the word can be
hyphenated (although the hyphen is
often a matter of personal preference).
He is an open-minded fellow.
He can be empty-headed sometimes.

Travelling for Business

Language focus

Adjectives - Degrees of
comparison
There are three degrees of comparison:
positive, comparative and superlative.
One-syllable adjectives form their
comparative and superlative in a synthetic
way, namely by adding -er and -est to the
positive form. Let us take the adjective
rich as an example. Here are its degrees of
comparison:

Travelling for Business

Language focus: adjectives

Degrees of comparison short

adjectives
Positive: rich
Comparative of superiority: richer than
Comparative of equality: as rich as
Comparative of inferiority: less rich than
Superlative absolute: very rich
Superlative relative: the richest of/from

Travelling for Business

Language focus

In the case of long adjectives (of two or more

syllables) the comparative of superiority and the
superlative relative are formed by the help of more
and respectively most. Let us take the adjective
interesting and form its degrees of comparison:

Positive: interesting
Comparative of superiority: more interesting than
Comparative of equality: as interesting as
Comparative of inferiority: less interesting than
Superlative absolute: very interesting
Superlative relative: the most interesting of/from

Travelling for Business

Language focus

Adjectives of two syllables can follow one

or other of the above rules: the ones
ending in ful or re usually take more
and most, whereas those ending in er, -y
or ly take er and est:
careful more careful the most careful
obscure more obscure the most obscure
clever cleverer the cleverest
pretty prettier the prettiest
holy
holier
the holiest

Travelling for Business

Language focus

Some adjective have irregular comparisons:

good
better
best
bad
worse
worst
ill
little
less
least
many
more
most
much
far
further
furthest
farther
farthest (of distance only)
old
older
oldest
elder
eldest (of people only and especially
within a family)
late
later
latest
latter (the second of two)
last (the opposite of the first)

Travelling for Business

Language focus

There are many constructions with comparisons used in

the discourse:
The bigger the investment is the more money it will
produce.
His position in the company is getting higher and higher.
Last but not least point is..
The results of our team are exceptionally good.
Note
Some adjectives are also used as nouns: good, bad, poor,
rich, young, old, living, dead, healthy, sick.
The rich(n[1]) are making the rules here. Rich (adj[2].)
people are always making the rules.

[1] n = noun
[2] adj. = adjective

Travelling for Business

Language focus

Multiple adjectives
When using more than one adjective to modify a
noun, they may be separated by a conjunction or
by commas.
Your results are good and promising.
You have good, promising results.

Past participles of verbs can also be used as

adjectives, such as native born, foreign made, soft
spoken, warmly dressed, well behaved, and so on.
I was satisfied with that foreign made device.

At the Workplace
Asking for and giving
information
Requiring information
Could you please tell me
Id like to know about
I wonder if you could give me
some information about..

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns
Nouns

Definition
A noun is any word that defines a person, animal, place, thing or
phenomenon in a sentence.

Below are examples of different categories of nouns.

Nouns give names to:
Concrete things: factory, desk, paper, money, office, computer
etc.
Abstract things: idea, scheme, moderation, sensitivity etc.
Feelings: distress, happiness, joy, envy, pleasure etc.
Activities and phenomena: thunder, electricity, earthquake,
entertaining, training etc.
People: John, Mary, Charles Dickens, Churchill, lawyer, assistant,
employee.
Animals: horse, hen, bear, crocodile, dog etc.
Places: Lancaster University, Romania, Iai, Al. I. Cuza
University, Florence etc.

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns

Count Nouns
Count nouns are nouns that can be quantified or counted with a number.
Here are a few examples:
Names of persons, animals, plants and their parts
Singular form: a worker, a cat, a rose, an arm
Plural form: five workers, nine cats, five roses, two arms
Objects
Singular form: a computer, a desk, a ring, a lamp, a house
Plural form: ten computers, six desks, two rings, three lamps, four
houses
Units of measurement and words of classification
Singular form: a meter, a pound, a gram, a yard, a piece, an item, a
state, a word, a language
Plural form: eighty meters, two pounds, fifty grams, ten yards, five
pieces, many items, fifty one states, four words, hundreds of languages
Abstract words
Singular form: an idea, a plan, a concept, a principle, a category
Plural form: many ideas, two plans, a lot of principles, five categories

Count nouns

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns
Uncountable nouns

Mass nouns are uncountable by a number. They represent names of:

materials, food, metals, and natural qualities, like: bread, cotton, wood,
lightness, adolescence
liquids, gases, and substances made of many small particles: oil, smoke,
oxygen, rice, sugar, salt, cement
languages: English, Romanian, Spanish, French, Latin, Sanskrit,
Chinese
other categories of things: baggage, information, furniture, equipment,
merchandise, insurance, advice, cash
and are quantified by a word that signifies amount: much, little, a
little, some, a great deal of, a lot of, measurement units: two
pounds of, three items of etc.
Remember that a number cannot be used to quantify a mass noun. It is
incorrect to say: four woods, one rice, three courages. We would say
instead: a foot of wood, a pound of rice, an ounce of courage, a
bar of chocolate, a piece of music, a lot of money, little sugar.

Mass nouns

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns

Collective Nouns
Some nouns can be seen both as a
number of people and as a unit: group,
family, government, team, staff, union etc.
That is why they are used with the verb in
the singular or in the plural form:
The team have decided to accept the
project;
Our firm has overtaken your firm.

Collective nouns

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns

Form
Apart from those words that we use only as nouns, like book, office,
car, oil etc, there are nouns derived from other parts of speech, by
adding a suffix:
Parts of speech
Verbs: initiate, recruit, employ, promote, train, fail, refer, perform,
assist, deliver
Derived nouns by suffixation initiative, recruitment,
employment, promotion, training, trainee, failure, reference,
performance, assistant, delivery
Adjectives: fair, active, accurate
Derived nouns: fairness, activity, accuracy
Nouns: man, partner, capital, law
Derived nouns mankind, partnership, capitalism, lawyer
Note: sometimes the pronunciation is different, even in the cases in
which the noun and the verb have the same form:

Practice

Find the nouns derived from the following

parts of speech and put them into
sentences that describe your place of work.
The first example has been done for you:
recruit(v.)
object (v.)
accurate(adj.) effective(adj.) weak(adj.)
complex(adj.)
prosperous(adj.),
social(adj.) rely(v.) refer (v.) initiate(v.)
protect(v.) real (adj.)
Example: Recruitment of new staff is made
after very clear rules in our company.

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns

Plural of Nouns

To form the plural of a noun, in English, we add -s to the

singular form:
worker workers, mind minds, office offices, project
projects etc.

When the noun ends in s, -x, -ch, -sh, -th, o (with some
exceptions) or -y (preceded by a consonant) we add es:
dress dresses, fax faxes, watch - watches, bush bushes,
bath-bathes ( but mouth-mouths); delivery deliveries, hero
heroes,
but
piano- pianos, photo-photos (in the case of foreign or
abbreviated words).

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns

Plural of Nouns

Nouns ending in y (preceded by a vowel) form the plural

by adding -s only:
toy toys, joy- joys.

Some nouns ending in f or -fe form the plural by dropping

the f or fe and adding ves:
half-halves; loaf-loaves, shelf-shelves,
but
belief-beliefs, cliff-cliffs, chief-chiefs.
There are also nouns with double forms for the plural:
dwarf-dwarfs, dwarves, hoof-hoofs, hooves.

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns

Plural of Nouns
Other nouns form their plural by changing a
vowel or a diphthong:
man-men, woman-women, foot-feet, tooth-teeth,
goose-geese, mouse-mice, louse-lice,
or by adding en, -ren to the singular form:
ox-oxen, child-children, brother-brethren.
A few names of animals and fish do not take s in
the plural:
deer-deer, sheep-sheep, fish-fish, trout-trout etc.

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns

Plural of Nouns
There are also borrowed nouns, especially from Greek and Latin
that form their plurals according to the rules of those languages:
appendix-appendices (appendixes), axis-axes, basis-bases,
crisis-crises, datum-data,
memorandum- memoranda, synthesis-syntheses, thesis- theses.
Within this context, there are cases in which the foreign nouns
either add s, or -es to form the plural:
diploma-diplomas, bonus-bonuses,
or they have two forms for the plural:
genius-geniuses, genii, syllabus-syllabuses, syllabi, formulaformuli, formulas, medium-mediums, media, sometimes with
different meanings[1].

[1] geniuses= extraordinarily intelligent persons

genii=supernatural beings

At the Workplace
Language focus: nouns

Other nouns occur only in the plural, for example some

names of tools:
scissors, tongs, binoculars, compasses, scales etc.
names of diseases:
measles, mumps, skittles etc.,
names of games:
billiards, draughts etc.,
names of clothes:
trousers, shorts, overalls etc.
but also:
outskirts, headquarters, premises, means,
crossroads etc.

Practice

Correct the mistakes in the following sentences

and then use them in sentences of your own.
All those peoples came here to apply for the same
job.
Statistics are my favorite subject.
Absenteeism is not a new phenomena in this
sector.
The company started producing foods products as
well as tobacco.
I met her while visiting their premis in Bucharest.
Both the head of the department and the
employes working there signed that document

At the Workplace
Language focus: articles

The Definite Article

Form
The definite article is the and it has the same form for
singular, plural and all genders.
The woman found the documents left by the man on
the shelf.
Use
The definite article is used with nouns that were used
before, in the discourse:
I interviewed a man and a woman yesterday; the
woman was very sure of herself.
The Danube is the most important river in our country.
The BBC is one of the most famous TV-channels. You
will be surprised to find out that Helen plays the piano.

At the Workplace
Language focus: articles

It is used with adjectives to specify a certain category of

people:
The rich will never believe the poor.
It is also used when it is clear for both communicator and
receiver what thing or place is meant:
You know where the Financial department is; on the right
side of the building;
The definite article is always used before superlatives and
some geographical names or names of institutions, but also
before names of instruments:

At the Workplace
Language focus: articles

The Indefinite Article

Form
The indefinite articles are a or an. It is the same
for all genders. A is used/encountered before a
word beginning with a consonant or a vowel
sounded like a consonant.
A boss will always appreciate a useful suggestion.
An is used before a word beginning with a vowel
or with a mute h.
An example of how to behave in business settings
was given an hour ago.

At the Workplace
Language focus: articles

Use
The indefinite article is used before singular
countable nouns:
He lives in a house, not in an apartment.
It is also used before names of professions, in
numerical and measurement expressions:
His brother is an engineer; It costs $20 a kilo. I
would like half a dozen, please.
The indefinite article is also used in certain cases
with few and little (when they express a small
amount, respectively a small number or what the
speaker considers a small amount or number), as
well as in exclamations with singular countable
nouns:

At the Workplace
Language focus: articles
were a few clients in
the shop, and the owner was
satisfied;
There is a little money left,
so, dont be so disappointed.
What a success!
There

At the Workplace
Language focus: articles

The Zero Article

Before uncountable nouns, unspecified countable nouns in

the plural and some names of people and places there is no
article or zero article:

No money, no funny.
Children usually enjoy playing with snow.
London is known as one of the most cosmopolitan capitals.
Dr. Smith is always ready to help.
Before nouns as: home, church, school, college, bed,
prison, work, sea.
From work he went directly home.
They were at sea when our company launched the new
product.

Practice

Add articles where necessary in the following texts:

A lot of (1..) things have changed today owing to (2)

development of (3) plastic industry, for (4.)
materials are now obtainable which are not only
(5)lighter in (6) weight, but which are also easily
washed.
In (7) great cotton mills (8) process of weaving
cotton thread into (9) cloth is accomplished by
hundreds of power looms run by (10) steam and
electricity. These giant world forces have taken (11)
place of frail human hands.
In (12) England, (13) Wales (14) Scotland and
(15) Northern Ireland, English is (16..) official
language spoken.

Social Issues
The language of debate
Asking for opinions

What do you think

of?

Social Issues
Language focus: numerals

Form and use

Numerals can express a number, the numeric
determination of objects (cardinal numerals), or the
counted order of things (ordinal numerals)
Cardinal numerals
0 (zero, oh, nil, nothing) may be also read /u/, especially
in expressing telephone numbers ( 2040 is read /tu: u fo:
u /
1. Zero is used in mathematics and in temperature
indications:
We will have 2 degrees below zero tomorrow.
nil and nothing are used in expressing scores in sport
matches:
Rapid Steaua won 2-0 (two nil/ two to nothing)

Social Issues
Language focus: numerals

The cardinal numbers from 1 to 12 are:

1 one
7 seven
2 two
8 eight
3 three
9 nine
4 four
10 ten
5 five
11 eleven
6 six
12 twelve
He had seven days of medical leave.

Social Issues
Language focus: numerals

Starting with 13 thirteen up to 19

nineteen we form the cardinal numbers by
adding the suffix -teen to the numbers 3-9
with some changes marked below for 13
and 15.
13 thirteen
17 seventeen
14 fourteen
18 eighteen
15 fifteen
19 nineteen
16 sixteen
We are fifteen people in our department.

Social Issues
Language focus: numerals

The suffix added to form tens is ty, starting

with number 20 twenty, again with some
spelling changes marked below:
20 twenty
60 six ty
30 thirty
70 seven ty
40 forty
80 eigh ty
50 fifty
90 nine ty
He was forty when he became Marketing
director.

Social Issues
Language focus: numerals

To form the numerals between tens we add units in the following

way:
Twenty-one; fifty-seven; eighty-nine; ninety-five etc.
Starting with 100 one/a hundred, we add and to form other
numerals:
102 one hundred and two
1,001[1] a/one thousand and one
2,301 two thousand, three hundred and one
5,000[2] five thousand
1,000,000 a/one million
2,000,001 two million and one
They announced there were five hundred people injured in the train
accident
[1] numbers exceeding 1000 are separated by commas
[2] hundred, thousand and million do not take a plural when the
number is specified, they receive the plural mark only when the
number is not precise: thousands of students, hundreds of
companies etc.

Social Issues
Language focus: numerals

We use the cardinal numeral to express;

1. abstract numbers:
One, two, one thousand are cardinal
numerals.
2. numerical determination of objects:
He owns four houses and ten cars.
3. dates:
Today is the 3-rd of March 2006 /two
thousand and six.
I first met him in 1980/ one thousand nine
hundred and eighty or nineteen eighty.

Social Issues
Language focus: numerals

4. chronological time:
It is nine oclock and the meeting is due to start in half an
hour.
It is half past five, the secretary has already left.
5. decimals/ percentages
They reported only 5.9/ two point five of the total production.
He said that 10% / ten per cent of the profit was used for
investments.
6. mathematical operations:
Ten and twenty make thirty./ Ten plus twenty equals/is thirty.
Five minus two equals/is three./ Two from five leaves/is three.
Two times three is six.
Twenty divided by two equals/ is ten/ Two into twenty goes
ten times.

Social Issues
Language focus: numerals

By ordinal numerals we express the counted order of

things (in time and space). We generally form them
starting from cardinal numerals and adding the suffix
th:
the fourth, the seventh. They are always preceded by
the definite article the As we have seen in cardinal
numerals there are some spelling changes in ordinal
numerals too:
the fifth, the twelfth, the thirtieth, the fortieth.
There are a few exceptions from the rule stated above:
the first (1-st), the second (2-nd) and the third (3-rd).
In the case of compound numerals only the last one
receives the suffix th: the 35-th/ the thirty-fifth; the
911-th/ the nine hundred and eleventh.

Social Issues
Language focus: numerals

We use ordinal numerals to express:

dates:
On the 25-th/ twenty-fifth of July[1] 2006, we delivered the
goods by plane.

repeated actions in time:

We have a board meeting every second[2] week.
Note
Fractions contain both cardinal and ordinal numerals: 1/3 one
third; three quarters; 5/30 five thirtieths etc.

[1] this order is used in Br. E; in Am. E the order is month, day,
year: July, the 25/ 2006
[2] we omit the definite article the in this case

Practice

Fill in the sentences with figures from the following box. See also the
table below to remember the forms of numerals:
8-th
1.36
2007
23%
90
5670[1]
1/3[2]
Last month one euro was worth .. US dollars.
Can you explain why a Trinitron Panasonic TV costs . euros more in
France than in Germany?
Average US car prices are .. less than comparable cars in Europe.
He allotted . of the total budget to investments, which is a good point, if
we think that last year the proportion was smaller.
The . International Congress on E-learning will be held in India next
year.
Today is the 12-th of March... .
His extension number is .

[1] 0 (zero, oh, nil, nothing) may be also read /u/, especially in expressing
telephone numbers.
[2] Fractions contain both cardinal and ordinal numerals: three
quarters; 5/30 five thirtieths etc.