Your list
Read out the words about your own job you could not say. Describe them if you have to — the meeting where everybody says what they did yesterday.
Five descriptions, five words.
Words that travel together
English fixes these pairs. The wrong verb sounds like a translation even when every word is correct.
Two versions of the same update
Natural: We are behind on the project because we missed the deadline in October. I am covering for two people who are on leave, so I have taken on their clients as well. We are making progress, but slowly. I have a meeting on Thursday to go through the backlog.
Word-for-word: We are late in the project because we lost the deadline in October. I am making the work of two people who are in licence, so I received their clients also. We are doing progress, but slowly. I have a reunion on Thursday to see the backlog.
Every word in the second version exists in English. Answer from the comparison.
1. English says missed the deadline. Why not lost?
2. What is wrong with a reunion?
3. And in licence?
4. Why do these matter more than a grammar mistake?
The pairs, and the words
Fixed pairs worth knowing
| English says | Not | Means |
|---|---|---|
| meet a deadline / miss a deadline | Finish on time / not on time | |
| a meeting | People sitting down about work | |
| on leave | Away from work, officially | |
| cover for someone | Do their job while they are away | |
| take on work / clients | Accept responsibility for more | |
| make progress | Move forward | |
| go through something | Examine it item by item | |
| be behind on something | Not as far forward as you should be |
Project words
Tap each. These are the words that make a work description specific rather than generic.
Match each verb to the noun English pairs it with.
Use them where they belong
One word per gap, all from Phase 03. Read the whole update before you start.
We are on the project — we missed the in October and we have not caught up. Two people are on until January, so I am for both of them and I have taken six of their clients. We are progress, but the is still about three weeks deep. I have a on Thursday to go through it.
Six sentences. Every word exists; six are the wrong word. Rewrite each in full.
1. We lost the deadline last month.
2. I have a reunion at three.
3. She is in licence until March.
4. We are doing good progress.
5. I am making the work of two people.
6. We are late in the project.
A status update
Task card · Speaking
Your manager has been away for a month and wants to know where things stand.
Ninety seconds. At least five collocations from Phase 03, and the simple/continuous split held throughout.
- What is normally true — present simple. What is happening now — present continuous.
- One thing that is going well and one thing that is not, both specific.
- One thing you need from them.
- Your teacher stops you on any translated collocation.
Two decisions.
1. You did not finish on time. Which?
2. You are doing a colleague's job while they are away. Which?
Off your own list
Look back at the list you brought.
1. How many of the words you could not say can you say now?
2. How many times were you stopped for a translated collocation?
Before the long turn
One question.
1. You have a work meeting at three. What do you call it?
Before Lesson 5. Next lesson you talk for three minutes about your work this week. Nothing to prepare.
But notice, between now and then, what you are actually doing that is temporary. Three minutes needs two or three of those, and they are easy to miss when you are inside them.