Writing minutes and reports in English
Meeting minutes and the short report, reporting verbs, reported speech, the impersonal passive style, linking words and recommendations.
- 33 cards
- 4 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
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- The steps
A few cards from the deck
Minutes: what is it?
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The written record of a meeting: attendees, subjects covered, decisions and tasks.
The word is always plural in this sense and has nothing to do with minutes of an hour. Writing them is “taking the minutes”.
In the meeting, Tom said “I can finish the tests”. Which sentence reports it correctly in the minutes?
- Tom stated that he could finish the tests.
- Tom said me that he could finish the tests.
- Tom stated that he can finished the tests.
- Tom stated that I could finish the tests.
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Tom stated that he could finish the tests.
“Can” steps back to “could” after a past verb, and “I” becomes “he” since Tom was speaking. “Said me” is a word-for-word copy (use “told me” or “said to me”) and “can finished” puts a past participle after a modal.
In past reported speech, “will” becomes … and “can” becomes ….
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In past reported speech, “will” becomes would and “can” becomes could.
The reporting verb is in the past, so tenses step back: “We will ship” becomes “they would ship”. In minutes, everything has already happened.
Apologies: what is it?
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The minutes heading that lists the expected people who sent word they could not come.
It is separate from “attendees”, the people present. In minutes, “apologies” has only this meaning, not actual apologising.
The headings of meeting minutes: which step comes after "Date"?
- Apologies
- Items discussed
- Decisions
- Attendees
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Attendees
You set the frame (date, those present, those excused), then the content (subjects, decisions), then what follows (tasks and next meeting).