How to change Basic English into Business English

4,272,489 views ・ 2013-06-13

Learn English with Rebecca


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hi. My name is Rebecca from www.engvid.com. Today, you're going to learn how to speak
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more professionally in business situations. Now, at times, it's all right to use informal
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language. It's acceptable in everyday situations. But there are times when you'll want to create
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a more powerful impression. And at that time, you'll want to be able to use business English.
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What's the difference between general English and business English? Well, sometimes, there's
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not very much difference. Sometimes, general English is used in business contexts. But
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sometimes, you use a higher-level word. And that's what I'm going to teach you in this
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lesson. Let's look at some really easy, common examples.
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For example, if you say -- or if you want to say, "I got your email", in regular English,
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you might just say, "I got your email." What would you say if you want to make it business
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English? You would say -- I'm giving you a clue. The word starts with R. Instead of saying,
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"I got your email"; "I received your email."
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Okay? Now, it becomes more formal and more business-like.
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Suppose you want to tell someone, "I need your help" or, "I need some help." What word
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could you use that starts with R instead of "need"?
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"Require." So instead of saying -- and
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you can also change more than the verb. The verb is the key, but you could say -- instead
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of saying, "I need some help", you could say, "I require some assistance." Now, you've changed
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two words, the verb and also a noun.
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Let's try another one. "Let's talk about it later." Which business word could you use?
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"Let's discuss -- let's discuss it later." That sounds much more professional than saying,
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"Let's talk about it later."
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Next one. "How do I get in touch with her?" What word could you use instead of that?
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"How do I contact her?" Okay? Good.
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"Please make sure you arrive on time." Which business word could you use instead of "make sure"?
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"Please ensure you arrive on time."
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"Please give her your travel plans." Instead of saying "give", you could say,
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"Please provide her with your itinerary."
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There, we've changed another word. Instead of saying "travel plan" or "travel plans",
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you could use the word "itinerary".
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An "itinerary" is usually a piece
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of paper or a document that lists your travel plans, when you're departing, when you're
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arriving, where, when, and so on.
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"Please let them know when you will be arriving." "Please let them know" -- instead of that,
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you could say, "Please inform them of your arrival." Okay? Good.
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"Please tell me why you've made this decision."
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"Please explain your decision."
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"Could you please talk some more about that subject?"
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"Could you please
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elaborate? Could you please elaborate on that."
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Now, this is actually a very useful word if you go to a
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conference or a meeting and you want someone to speak some more about a particular point
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or issue. It's a good, kind of, question to learn. "Could you please elaborate on that?"
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So "to elaborate" means to speak more or talk more, give more information.
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"How are you going to fix this problem?" Better than using the word "fix" is the word
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"solve".
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"How are you going to solve this problem?" All right? So try to do that for every simple
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word that you know and basic word that you know in general English, try to find a slightly
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more formal version, which will be your business English word. And use these words in an office
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environment.
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If you've found this helpful, please subscribe to my channel on YouTube. And if you'd like
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to do a quiz on this subject, you can also go to our website, www.engvid.com.
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Thanks very much. Good luck with your English.
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