Business vocabulary in English
The English words of the company: its departments, its people, its money, life at work, and the false friends that trap French speakers (training, internship, deadline, profit, to attend).
- 30 cards
- 3 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
- Sort and link
A few cards from the deck
Turnover: what is it?
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The total sales of a company over a period (also called revenue).
Beware of the second meaning: "staff turnover" is the rate at which employees leave and are replaced. The context decides.
Your manager writes: "The deadline for the report is Friday." What does this mean?
- The report must be handed in by Friday at the latest
- The report will be late and will only be handed in on Friday
- The management will proofread the report on Friday
- A meeting about the report is planned for Friday morning
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The report must be handed in by Friday at the latest
A deadline is the last moment to finish. Lateness is a "delay", a false friend of the French "délai".
A work placement for a student is called an …; a course given by the employer is called …, not "formation".
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A work placement for a student is called an internship; a course given by the employer is called training, not "formation".
"Stage" exists in English but means a theatre stage or a phase; "formation" means an arrangement (a flight formation). They are false friends.
Headquarters: what is it?
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The place from which a company is run (shortened to HQ).
The word keeps its final s even for one building: "The headquarters is in Dublin". A local office is a "branch", and a company owned by another is a "subsidiary".
A colleague says: "I work in procurement." What does she do?
- She recruits and supports the new employees
- She buys from suppliers
- She sells the products to customers
- She keeps the accounts and prepares the invoices
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She buys from suppliers
Procurement is the purchasing department. Selling is "sales", people management is "HR", and the books are "accounting".