Business English Vocabulary for Everyday Office Work

Most office conversations use the same few hundred words and phrases again and again. Learn these, with the right word partners, and everyday work talk gets much easier. Below they are grouped by situation, each with a natural example sentence you can use today.

Deadlines and scheduling

• deadline: the latest time something must be done. "The deadline for the proposal is Thursday at 5."
• meet a deadline / miss a deadline: finish on time / not finish on time. "We'll meet the deadline if the design is ready by Monday."
• push back / move up: make later / make earlier. "Can we push the meeting back to 3?" "They've moved the launch up a week."
• EOD / EOW: end of day / end of week. Usually said as letters. "I'll send it over by EOD."
• turnaround time: how long a task takes from start to finish. "What's the usual turnaround time for a contract review?"
• reschedule: change the time of a meeting or event. "Something came up. Could we reschedule for tomorrow?"
• availability: when you are free. "Let me check my availability and get back to you."
• tight: with very little time. "The timeline is tight, but it's doable."
• block out time: reserve time in your calendar. "I've blocked out Friday morning to finish the report."

Updates and progress

• status / status update: where a task is now. "Could you give me a quick status update on the website?"
• on track: going as planned. "We're on track to finish by the end of the month."
• behind schedule / ahead of schedule: later than planned / earlier than planned. "We're a few days behind schedule because of the holidays."
• keep someone posted: keep giving someone news. "I'll keep you posted on the client's reply."
• follow up (on): check back about something. "I'm following up on my email from Tuesday."
• touch base: talk briefly to share news. "Let's touch base after lunch."
• milestone: an important stage in a project. "Finishing the first prototype was a big milestone."
• wrap up: finish. "We should wrap up testing by Wednesday."
• in progress: started but not finished. "The translation is still in progress."

Many of these come up in meetings too. Our list of English phrases for meetings shows how to use them when giving updates out loud.

Approvals and decisions

• sign off (on): give final approval. "The director needs to sign off on the budget."
• sign-off (noun): the final approval. "We're waiting for legal sign-off."
• approve / approval: say yes officially. "Has the design been approved yet?"
• pending: waiting for a decision. "Your request is pending approval."
• green light: permission to start. "We got the green light to hire two more people."
• go-ahead: permission to continue. "Once I get the go-ahead, I'll book the venue."
• run something by someone: ask someone's opinion before deciding. "Can I run this idea by you before the meeting?"
• escalate: pass a problem or decision to someone more senior. "If we can't agree, I'll escalate it to my manager."
• stakeholder: a person affected by or involved in a decision. "We need to check with all the stakeholders first."
• on hold: stopped for now. "The project is on hold until next quarter."

Problems and fixes

• issue: a problem (more neutral than "problem"). "There's an issue with the login page."
• flag: point out a possible problem. "I just want to flag that the client hasn't paid yet."
• bottleneck: one point that slows everything down. "Approvals are the main bottleneck right now."
• roadblock / blocker: something that stops progress. "Is there anything blocking you?"
• workaround: a temporary way around a problem. "We found a workaround until IT fixes the system."
• sort out: fix or organise. "I'll sort out the booking this afternoon."
• troubleshoot: look for the cause of a problem. "Can you help me troubleshoot the printer?"
• root cause: the main reason a problem happened. "We need to find the root cause, not just fix the symptoms."
• look into: investigate. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll look into it."

Feedback

• feedback: comments on work (uncountable, so no "feedbacks"). "Thanks for the feedback. It's really helpful."
• input: ideas or opinions you give. "I'd love your input on the new layout."
• constructive: helpful and aimed at improving. "She always gives constructive feedback."
• take on board: accept and think about. "Good point. I'll take that on board."
• a couple of suggestions: a soft way to start feedback. "It looks great. I have a couple of suggestions."
• tweak: make a small change. "Can you tweak the colours a bit?"
• revise / revision: change and improve. "I'll send a revised version tomorrow."
• performance review: a formal meeting about how well you work. "My performance review is next week."

If you need to give feedback that says no, our guide on how to disagree politely at work has phrases for every level.

A short exchange using these words

• Mia: Hi Leo, quick status update on the brochure?
• Leo: It's mostly on track. The text is done, but the photos are still pending approval.
• Mia: Who needs to sign off on them?
• Leo: The marketing director. I flagged it yesterday and I'm following up today.
• Mia: Great. If it's going to affect the deadline, let me know and I can escalate it.
• Leo: Will do. I'll keep you posted.

Common mistakes non-native speakers make

Two more tips. First, learn words in pairs (collocations), like "meet a deadline" or "raise an issue", not one by one. Second, say the example sentences out loud. Saying a word aloud helps you remember it better than reading it silently (MacLeod, 2011). For more ways to sound polished, see how to sound more professional in English.

Practise this with Katie AI

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