English is the official language in a total of 67 different countries around the world. In this article, we are going to learn how to speak more professionally by turning your basic English vocabulary or expressions into business English. By doing this, you will sound more confident and professional in the workplace.
In order to transform basic English vocabulary into business English, we first need to look at the differences between them.
Differences Between Basic English and Business English
Basic English focuses more on day-to-day conversation and involves the use of basic vocabulary and grammar. It is more informal and casual, but it can still be used in spoken conversation in a work setting with colleagues you know well.
On the other hand, business English uses specific vocabulary that is more formal and polite. It should be used in a formal context at work with customers and people from other organisations that you don’t know well. Business vocabulary should be used for most written emails at work.
Upgrade your business vocabulary
Let’s look at some really easy, common examples of turning basic English vocabulary to business English vocabulary.
1. When requesting something:
Basic English: “Please be on time.”
- Business English: To make this sentence more appropriate for a business context, you could say “Please ensure you arrive on time.”
Basic English: “Please give her your immediate travel plans”
- Business English: Instead of using the word ‘give’, you could use ‘provide’ and say: “Please provide her with your immediate itinerary.” Also, instead of using the word ‘travel plans’, you could use the word ‘itinerary’. An itinerary is usually a document that lists your travel plans, when you’re departing, arriving, where, when, how and so on.
Basic English: “Please let them know when you will be arriving.”
- Business English: For business English you could use ‘inform’ instead of ‘let them know’. It’s more professional to say “Please inform them of your arrival”.
2. When asking for help:
Basic English: “I need your help” or “I need some help.” To sound more like business English replace the verb ‘need’ with ‘require’. You could say: “I require some assistance”. You could also change more than the verb in sentence, but the verb is the key to upgrading your business English.
3. When you receive something:
Basic English: “I got your e-mail”. If you want to use business English vocabulary for this, you could say “I received your e-mail.” Now that sounds more formal and more business-like.
Another example is instead of just saying “When will I get the reports back?, you could say “When will I receive the reports?”
4. When talking and discussing:
“Let’s talk about important matters later” is a simple sentence. You could say “Let’s discuss urgent matters later.” Change ‘talk about’ and ‘important’ to ‘discuss’ and ‘urgent’. These business English vocabulary make you sound more professional.
When in a discussion and you want someone to explain something to you, a simple way to ask for that is by saying “Could you talk more about this idea?” Instead of saying ‘talk more about’, it’s better to use ‘elaborate. “Could you elaborate on this idea?” “Elaborate’ is a very useful business English vocabulary. If you go to a conference or a meeting and you want someone to speak some more about a particular topic, you could use this word.
Business English vocabulary and terms are mostly formal and its usage is mostly to increase its effectiveness and enhance your performance and professionalism at work. Basic English leans more on the simple, conversational, day to day use of words. Lastly, English language is a major business language so it is very important to turn your basic English into business English whenever there is an opportunity to do so.
