Inside Secrets to Improving Your Business English (2)

How much do you know about English grammar?  Do you know that English grammar is sometimes like a hidden face behind a mask?


What does that mean?  It means there are lots of hidden rules (or inside secrets).  By 'hidden rules' I mean you can't find them even if you read books on grammar.


(pic source)



Here are four for you.




1. Use 'which' to give comments 

Praising your coworker:

Mr Sale: I have just made the biggest sale this month.
You: Which is good news for our team.
                                   






Why:  You think 'which' is for making questions only.  Well, think again.  In English, 'which' also stands for the sentence your coworker has just said.




How to make it: After 'which' you may use 'is' or 'was'.  Well, why?  (It is) because you comment on a single sentence.  For example:




You and your coworkers are gossiping about Mr Rude:

Coworker: Mr Rude was rude to the Creative Director at the opening part.
You: Which was a stupid thing to do.






2. Use 'High / Low + Noun' to talk about your products 


When talking to your customers:

We sell high-end video equipment.
Though we a a low-cost airline, we provide good service.


Other examples include:

a high-quality image
a high-yield investment
a low-risk deal

               

(pic source)

3. Use 'what' to introduce something big

At your presentation, when you come to some big points, you may say:






What we need is more money.

 
(pic source)

You can visualize the sentence by breaking it into three parts and you use 'is' after 'What we need'.

Head	Body	Tail
What we need	is	more money.

Other examples include:

Giving advice to your coworker	What you have to do is to choose the right customers.
Introducing your project	What I will do first is to give you an outline of the project.
Asking for a holiday	What I would like is a 5-day holiday.

4. Use either a linking verb or an action verb

What is wrong with the following if you use it to start your presentation?

I am here present the proposal.  

If you think there is nothing wrong, then think again.  There is a hidden rule in English, stating that you are not allowed to put a linking verb and an action verb together in a sentence.


But first of all, what is a linking verb?  They are verbs like:

is/am/are/was/were/been

And what are action verbs?  Common examples in business English are:

run a business, 

develop a program, 

discuss an issue

But why is putting them together a problem?  Look at the picture and you'll see what problem it is:

The two kinds of verbs crash on the Road of English Sentence.











How to avoid the 'verb' crash: Make 'present' not much like a verb so that there is only a linking verb here.

I am here to present the proposal.    

Well, in English, 'present' is a verb but 'to present' is less than a verb, another not-so-hidden rule in grammar.   

Why are there inside secrets in English?


And before we are done, you may ask one ultimate question:

Why?    Why are there inside secrets in English?

Well, that is a tough one.  There is a reason suggested by Noam Chomsky, a guru of English (or if you like, Linguistics).  He tells us that there are rules in grammar that native speakers of English are not conscious of. In other words, somehow they know there is something special about English sentences, but they don't know how to say it clearly.








But again, why?  Why can't they say it clearly?  Well, in a word, it is about the structure of our brains.