9 Must-Know Phrasal Verbs for Business English Situations

- Hello, this is Jack from ToFluency.com

and welcome to this lesson where you are going to learn

phrasal verbs that are often used in business situations.

So these English phrasal verbs are often used

at the workplace and any type of business English situation.

Now I am also going to give you some examples

of how to use these in everyday English.

But again, the focus here is business English.

Now if you are new here, then subscribe to this channel.

And also, turn on the notification bell

so that you get notified when I make a new lesson.

And also know that I'm going to leave all the examples

in the description below so that you can learn these phrases

and really internalize them.

And I'll also leave a link to a method that you can use

in order to do this more efficiently.

Okay, let's get started with number one.

Number one is hurry up.

Now to hurry up means to do something more quickly

and this is often used by managers

who want their workers to work more quickly

and to finish something on time.

And it can be quite direct and a little bit rude,

but a lot of situations in business can be direct.

So here is an example.

Can you hurry up with that new contract?

Can you hurry up with that new contract?

I understand that your car won't start,

but hurry up and get here.

I understand that your car won't start,

but hurry up and get here.

Like I said, this can be quite direct

and if you want to be a little bit more polite

when you say it, then you can say things like,

"I need that report by Monday.

"Do you think you can get it done on time?"

It's basically saying, "Come on, hurry up.

"I need that report on Monday."

But it's asking the question in a more polite way.

Now the next one is to work something out.

Now you might know the phrasal verb work out

for things like to work out at the gym,

which means to exercise at the gym.

But in this case, to work something out

means to agree on something.

So let's say that you are negotiating with a firm

about the price of their paper.

They supply you with paper

and you are negotiating with them

and negotiations aren't really going anywhere,

so you can't really agree on something.

But you say, "I'm sure we can work something out.

"Maybe if we meet in the middle.

"I'm sure we can work something out."

So I'm sure we can do something

in order to agree on the price, to work something out.

Number three is close down.

Now in this case, it means to cease operating.

To close down, for example, do you think

we'll close down our London office?

Do you think we'll close down our London office?

So the company has an office in London,

but maybe it isn't doing very well.

So you ask one of your work colleagues,

"Do you think we're going to close down this office?"

And an example from everyday English

but related to business, have you heard

that the neighborhood bar has closed down?

Have you heard that the neighborhood bar has closed down?

Number four is call back, and this means

to return a phone call.

So if you try to call somebody

and they are busy or in a meeting,

then the receptionist might say,

"Can I have him call you back once he is done?"

Can I have him call you back once he is done?

That's more of a complex sentence structure,

but you're going to hear this a lot

in the UK and in America if you are calling businesses.

Another example is that you're on the phone to somebody

but somebody walks into your office.

So you can say, "Oh, hi Janet, can I call you back?

"David just walked in.

"Okay, I'll call you back."

(phone clatters) So that's

an example of call back.

The next one is to take on.

And this can be used in three main ways.

So for example, I can say,

"He's not taking on any new clients at the moment."

He's not taking on any new clients at the moment.

Which means he's not accepting any new clients.

So his schedule is full.

You might also hear in a business meeting the manager say,

"Who wants to take this project on?"

Who wants to take this new project on?

Which means who wants to be in charge of this new project.

Who wants to work on this new project?

And finally, it can also mean to hire.

So somebody might say, "We're not taking

"anyone on at the moment,

"but feel free to drop off your CV."

Which means we're not hiring anyone at the moment,

but give me your resume, your CV,

and we'll keep it for a later date.

Number six is fall through,

which means something has failed or it has stopped suddenly.

So for example, the merger fell through.

The merger fell through.

And a merger is when two companies come together

to form one company.

So if the merger fell through,

it means it didn't happen, it failed.

And another example, I don't want this to fall through.

We need to work something out, okay.

I don't want this to fall through.

We need to work something out.

And that's another example of work out.

The next one is take off.

Now you might know this in terms of a plane

going off the ground, taking off.

So for example, John's just taking off

for New York right now.

Can I get him to call you back?

But it can also mean to become successful or popular.

So for example, that new restaurant has really taken off.

It was so busy last night.

So it's becoming popular.

Another example is this new app just isn't taking off.

I don't know why, but this new app just isn't taking off.

The next one is to think something over.

And this means to consider something

and to really think about something

before giving an answer.

So for example, that building design looks great.

I just need to think it over before fully committing to it.

So I just need to think it over

before fully committing to it.

And during negotiations, you can say,

"You don't need to decide now.

"Think it over and get back to us tomorrow."

So consider this position and our offer

and then get back to us tomorrow, think it over.

And the last one is to run something by someone.

To run something by someone.

And it means to get somebody's opinion

or to get their decision on something.

For example, I've got everything that I need.

I just need to run it by my boss.

I just need to run it by my boss.

Which means I need to show my boss,

get his or her approval,

and maybe just get their opinion.

If you made a decision about something

and you should have got your boss's opinion first,

they might say, "Why didn't you run it by me first?"

Why didn't you run it by me first?

So those are the business English phrasal verbs.

What I want you to do now is to go to the description

and have a look at all the phrases that we used.

And again, look at the method that I recommend

so that you can internalize these phrases and phrasal verbs

and be able to use them when speaking English.

So go do that first.

And then also, I would love for you to leave a comment

giving me some more examples

of business English phrasal verbs.

So more phrasal verbs that are used

in business English settings.

And then again, if you're new here, subscribe.

Get my book, "The Five-Step Plan for English Fluency"

and then stick around to watch another one of my videos.

I'll leave them on your screen now.

Okay, thanks again for being here

and I'll speak to you soon, bye-bye.

(upbeat music)