Office English (Question 1)

Want to speak better office (business) English?  Then there is one thing you can’t afford to miss.  What is it?  Asking questions.  Well, if you think asking questions in English is easy, think again.  You don’t believe it.  Try this one.  Do you know the question below is not really a question?

Didn’t I tell you about it yesterday?

If it is not a question, what is it?  Well, you will get it very soon.  But for now, let’s move on to two common types of questions you ask in your office.

Type 1. Questions to ask when you are not sure…

When you are not sure if your coworker will give you the information you want (or if you want to be polite), you may say:

Do you think you could send me the information (before the end of this month)?

Here, you use ‘do you think’ not to ask for opinions, but to ask your coworker to do something for you.

Well, what about if you are not sure if the coworker has the information you want? Use ‘do you happen to know’:

Do you happen to know which banks offer a better interest rate?

Type 2. Questions that are not questions

Feeling confused?  Why are there questions that are not questions?  Read the coming one and you will get what it means:

Is that a reason for being late?

 

Well, if you are late, and your boss says this to you, don’t answer by saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’.  Why?  It is not a question.  It only shows that your boss is pretty (very) angry with you.

Okay, you are not always late.  But you want to stand out from others at a meeting, or challenge others, the following question is for you:

What difference does it make?

Type 3. Negative questions

Yes, here you are, the most difficult but funny one.  Sometimes your boss asks a question, but it is said in a negative way.  What does ‘negative’ mean?  Read the example (below):

Didn’t I tell you about it yesterday?

Once again, it doesn’t matter if you answer the question or not.  Why?  (It is) because your boss already has the answer.  Sounds weird (strange)?

So what does this question mean?  It means your boss did tell you about it but you forget about it.  The seven words (that make up the question) mean only one thing: he or she is angry with you.

Yet, sometimes you can do the same trick to you junior (remember your junior only).  If Mr. Not-So-Smart gives you a piece of ‘inside’ information, you may ‘ask’:

Who doesn’t know that?     

So what does it mean?  It means everybody does know about it.  In a word, the ‘doesn’t’ in the question doesn’t mean ‘doesn’t’.        

American English (1)

A. Summary: What (on earth) is American English?

You want to enhance your English, right?  But do you know what American English is?

 

Believe it or not!  Americans (and their English) like actions very much, so much that you can call them ‘Just-Do-it’ people.  Don’t get it? Look at the verbs below:

Grab me a sandwich.

Get me a sandwich.  

Which one do you think is more American?  Or which one comes with more action?

The verb ‘grab’

But what does this have to do with your office life? Read on.

B. Running (a business)

A common example of American Business English is the verb ‘run’.  I am sure you know what ‘run a company’ means.  But think about it.  The idea is a bit crazy, so crazy that it seems impossible for anyone to run a company on two legs.  

But as you already know, you can:

run a company

run a fast food shop

Or, when talking about a company, you can use ‘run’ too:

Company BB is well-run / professionally-run / poorly-run.  

C. Running an idea by me (again)

However, you can use ‘run’ to ask your coworker to repeat what he or she has just said:

Can you run the idea by me again?

What does that mean? Well, when you want your coworker to explain something to you again, you can choose to use ‘run’ rather than ‘explain’.  

Which verb comes with more actions?  ‘Run something by me again’ is an American way of speaking.    

D. Discussing at a Meeting

Want more examples on American English?  When they discuss things at a meeting, they do it the American way.

When you think someone’s idea is not mature enough, you can use the word ‘bake’, yes, something to do with the action of making bread.  So you may say:

Your idea is half-baked.

(If you want more about American Business English, click this to have a preview of a book written by me and Dustin Hunchak .)

Talk & Say

Verbs of Mouths (1)

How long have you been speaking English?  And how good is your spoken English?  If I tell you that there is a secret about spoken English that is not known to learners of English?  Will you be surprised?  Well don’t be.     

Well, what does the secret have to do with you?  If you get it, you can speak better English:

                                   

           at a meeting

                                        in negotiation

                                               upon presenting your proposal

The verbs of mouth talked about here are the four of the busiest verbs in spoken English.  They are:

say, talk, tell, and speak

The four verbs of mouth seem easy.  Well, think again!  There are differences, sometimes huge ones, between them.  What are they?  You’re going to do an easier pair first, namely, talk and say:

Pair One: Talk and Say

Now read the following two sentences:

The MD said that things will be all right.

The MD talked that things will be all right.

I don’t know if things will be all right, but what I know is there is something wrong with: 

The MD talked that things will be all right.

Why is it wrong?  What is the difference between ‘talk’ and ‘say’?  Before you get the answer, think about the question:

Which one will you take when you have a view to express at a meeting, talk or say?

If you look up the meaning of ‘talk’ from the Oxford online dictionary (talk), ‘talk’ is causal as it means saying something aloud, or speaking to someone, as shown in the two examples below:

Talk	Something
We talked about	the new division (at the meeting).
Talk	Somebody
The CEO talked to	his friend (about the new project).

Simply put, you don’t use ‘talk’ to express an idea, that a few words follow 'talk', and talk 'talk' does not come with other verbs:

Talk about a new project

talk  to the CEO

What about ‘say’

Yet, the verb ‘say’ is different.  It is used to express a thought, something that is longer than a few words, something that has a verb in it, for example:

The financial secretary said that the fund stood at 1 million.

↓

↓

↓

that + the fund stood at 1 million  --------> (an idea, a thought)

In a word, it is all about what follows 'talk' and 'say':

‘talk’ comes with a few words, but 

‘say’ comes with a 'sentence' 

 (The next post is about Pair Two: Tell & Speak.)

Spoken English (3)

Directory (5): Grammar for Spoken English (3)

3 posts to 'power up' your spoken English.

Give me Five

(1) Summary: This post is about how to speak better English with regard to the common phrase 'Give me five'. You will learn that 'Give five' is absolutely not English as you can group verbs into two kinds, two funny kinds to be exact: Slim Verbs and Fat Verbs. With a sense of humor, this post attempts to explain ideas that are unconscious to westerners, native speakers of English.  

Read the full post.  

Why is 'Take a seat' polite?

(2) Summary: This post is about how to speak better English with regard to politeness. You will learn the reason why 'take your time' is polite, with a little theory offered by me. I try to argue that it is polite because there is a mismatch between the verb (take) and the real action (sit).

Read the full post.

Think twice when using 'think'

(3) Summary: This post is about how to speak better English in an office setting with regard to the verb 'think'. If you use 'I think' all the time at a meeting, you will not be able to outshine others. Therefore, the post offers you a variety of verbs including 'guess', 'suppose', and 'feel'.

Read the full post.  

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Pic sources: Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3








   

Spoken English 2

Directory (4) 

Grammar for Spoken English (2)

4 posts on how to speak better English (in your daily & office life)

Discuss or Discuss About

(1) Summary: This post is about how to speak better English with regard to the verb 'discuss'.  In this post, you will learn to correct one of the mistakes in spoken English: discuss about.  In other words, you learn what Graham Lock (a guru of English grammar) means by transitivity, an important concept in English grammar, if you want to speak better English.    

Read the full post.

 

American Slang (1)

(2) Summary: This post is about how to speak better American English with regard to slang.  By funny language you will learn how to use American slang correctly.  In other words, the post makes it easy for you to integrate American slang with your own English, by using the method of NAP (taking a small rest). 

Read the full post. 

American Slang (2)

(3) Summary: This post is about how to speak better American English with regard to slang.  By funny language you will learn the meanings of one of the most common spoken words in American English: cool.  Then, you move on to another funny term: a Mickey Mouse company, a kind of company you never want to run.    

Read the full post. 

A 'Suggestion' on how to suggest

(4) Summary: This post is about how to speak (and write) better English with regard to the verb 'suggest', one of the most common words that is used incorrectly.  Instead of meeting the difficult terms finite and non-finite verbs, you will 'encounter' two 'new' and funny terms: Big Verbs and Small Verbs.  In a way, this post attempts to change the way you think about verbs, sentences, and of course, English.   

Read the full post.

(click here for photo source)