English at work: essential vocabulary

Using English at work doesn't necessarily mean speaking it perfectly. It means being able to do things with it: introduce yourself, understand an instruction, write an email, take part in a meeting, ask when you haven't understood something, or handle an everyday situation.

That's why learning English for the workplace makes much more sense when vocabulary and expressions appear within real communication situations. Here are some that can be especially useful.

One of the first situations we may face is having to explain who we are and what we do: Hi, I'm..., I work at..., I work as a..., I'm responsible for..., I work in the ... department, Nice to meet you.

You don't need to prepare a complicated introduction. Start with three or four sentences you can use confidently and expand them little by little.

Easy tip: practise a short introduction about yourself. Having a few sentences ready can help you feel more confident when you need to use them in a real situation.

To open: Hi / Hello..., Dear Mr / Ms... To explain the reason: I'm writing about..., I'm writing to confirm..., I'm writing to ask about...

To attach information: Please find attached..., I've attached... To close: Please let me know if you have any questions, I look forward to hearing from you, Best regards.

We don't need to memorise dozens of formulas. We can start by building our own small repertoire of frequent expressions.

In a meeting you don't always need to make a long contribution. You also take part when you share an opinion, agree, ask a question or ask for clarification: I agree, I think..., In my opinion..., What do you think?

And above all: Could you explain that again, please?, Could you speak a little more slowly, please?, Sorry, I didn't understand that.

Asking someone to repeat something is also communicating. Not understanding a sentence doesn't mean we can't take part in the conversation.

Dates, priorities and tasks are part of many professional settings. These words will come up constantly: deadline, task, schedule, meeting, project, priority, available, on time.

And we can use them in simple sentences: What's the deadline?, When is the meeting?, I'll finish it today, I'm working on it, Can we change the date?

Calls can be especially difficult because we lose part of the visual information that helps us follow a conversation. Having a few expressions ready can help: Hello, this is..., May I speak to...?, One moment, please, Could you repeat that, please?

And for video calls: The connection isn't very good, I can't hear you, You're on mute. And one expression that can save more than one video call: Can you see my screen?

We sometimes think having a good level of English means understanding everything the first time. But knowing how to handle what we don't understand is also a communication skill: Could you help me, please?, What does this mean?, Could you show me an example?, Let me check if I understood correctly.

Not all workplace English happens in a formal meeting. Many professional relationships are also built in small conversations: How are you?, How was your weekend?, How's your day going?, Would you like some coffee?, See you tomorrow, Have a good weekend!

These interactions might seem simple, but they're also part of feeling comfortable using another language in a professional setting.

If your job involves dealing with customers, a few expressions can help you handle common situations: How can I help you?, Let me check, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Thank you for your patience, Is there anything else I can help you with?

Here, alongside vocabulary, tone, clarity and the ability to adapt your message to the situation all matter too.

You might know plenty of words and still find it hard to use them when the moment comes, or you might have a beginner level but a few well-learned expressions that let you get by in certain situations. That's why learning English for work shouldn't only be about piling up vocabulary: we can ask ourselves what we actually need English for at work, and that goal will tell us which English to start working on first.

Make a short list of the situations where you use, or would like to use, English during your working day. Start with one, learn a few expressions, practise them and adapt them to your reality. Every time you find a word or expression you can really use, write it down alongside an example sentence related to your job: instead of learning "deadline = a fixed date by which something must be done", try "The deadline is Friday." Context will make it much easier to remember when and how to use it.