Business & Negotiation
Business & Negotiation — 20 high-frequency words, with pronunciation, collocations, false friends and four interactive exercises.
📌 Lesson contents
🎯 Lesson aim
The language of meetings and negotiations 🤝. Twenty high-level terms for proposing, conceding and closing a deal, with the softening phrases (hedging) that matter more than content in professional English: we’d be prepared to…, that may prove difficult. 🚀
🗂️ Word Bank
Tap 🔊 to hear the British pronunciation. The IPA transcription is under each word.
📖 Words in context
Day three of the negotiation · tap a highlighted word to hear it.
By Wednesday afternoon the negotiation had reached deadlock. Their bargaining power had grown considerably since a rival firm had offered to undercut our price by twelve per cent.
Our position was awkward. The profit margin was already narrow, our turnover had fallen for two consecutive quarters, and we would not break even before spring. Yet walking away would damage relations with every stakeholder involved in the merger talks.
So we made a calculated concession: a longer delivery window in exchange for a revised penalty clause that limited our liability. They came back with a counterproposal, we accepted most of it, and by six o'clock the lawyers were ready to draw up the contract. The bottom line is simple: we secured a viable compromise rather than being forced to call it off.
🔗 Collocations & chunks
Words are learned in pairs, not alone: memorise the whole chunk.
| Chunk / collocation | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| reach an agreement | to agree after talking | We reached an agreement on Friday. |
| meet someone halfway | to accept some of the other side’s wishes | We're willing to meet you halfway. |
| drive a hard bargain | to refuse to lower your price easily | She drives a hard bargain. |
| with all due respect | a polite way to disagree | With all due respect, that figure is unrealistic. |
| subject to approval | only if someone agrees | The offer is subject to board approval. |
| in the long run | over a long period of time | In the long run this benefits both sides. |
⚠️ Tricky Words and Traps
| English word | Real meaning ✅ | Common trap ❌ |
|---|---|---|
| eventually | in the end, after a delay | It doesn’t mean “possibly” → that is possibly / should the need arise |
| delusion | a false belief | It doesn’t mean “disappointment” → that is disappointment |
| confront | to face a problem or person directly | To compare data, say compare |
| attitude | a way of thinking or feeling | It doesn’t mean “talent” → that is aptitude |
🎚️ Register: when to use them
| Expression | Register | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| That's a no from us. | direct / informal | internal meetings, never with a client |
| I'm afraid that won't be possible. | polite-formal | the standard way to say no in business English |
| We would be prepared to consider… | softened formal | opens the door to a concession without promising |
| That may prove somewhat problematic. | extreme hedging | in the UK it often means “absolutely not” |
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| We must individuate a solution. | We must identify a solution. |
| I am agree with your proposal. | I agree with your proposal. |
| We have made a good deal of business. | We did a good deal. / We did good business. |
| Our society has 200 employees. | Our company has 200 employees. |
🎮 Vocabulary gym
Four ways to practise the same 20 words. Your progress is saved on this device.
Tap the card to flip it.
Tap an English word, then its meaning. Eight pairs per round.
Complete the ten sentences with the right word. The short hint is your clue.
- Every must be consulted.💡 Everyone with an interest in the project must be consulted.
- We have very little here.💡 We have very little power to push the other side here.
- Their increased overnight.💡 Their ability to negotiate strongly grew overnight.
- We made one final .💡 We gave up one last thing to help the deal.
- Both sides reached a workable .💡 Both sides found a workable deal by each giving something up.
- The talks reached complete .💡 The talks have reached a total standstill.
- They responded with a .💡 They replied with a different offer of their own.
- Please review the .💡 Please read the rules of the contract again.
- The penalty is unacceptable.💡 The section about penalties is unacceptable.
- We must limit our .💡 We must limit how much we are legally responsible for.