Business English Collocations

Collocations refer to words that usually go together. For example, basic collocations are make and do:

We say, I made a mistake, not I do a mistake.

We say, I do my homework, not I make my homework.

Today we are focusing on collocations commonly used in Business English. Students on our Business English courses love to learn the phrases and vocabulary they need for an English-speaking Business environment. Here are some of the things they pick up.

After graduating university, I tried hard to get a job. Here the collocation is get a job. It means find a job.

If you said, "After graduating university, I tried hard to take a job", a native English speaker would not understand. In this situation we can not use take to mean find.

Try these Business English sentences and choose the correct verb:

• 1 - Unless sales improve, the company will ___ bankrupt.
  
  make
  go
  do
  take
  
  
• 2 - I'm sure we will ___ a profit this year.
  
  take
  make
  do
  go
  
  
• 3 - Things are going badly. We need to ___ action.
  
  go
  make
  do
  take
  
  
• 4 - I like the way they ___ business in Asia.
  
  go
  take
  do
  make
  
  
• 5 - I need to ___ changes to the presentation.
  
  do
  take
  make
  go
  
  
• 6 - I'd like to ___ an appointment to see Mrs. Hughes.
  
  take
  make
  go
  do
  
  
• 7 - We've been working hard all morning, let's ___ a break.
  
  take
  go
  do
  make
  
  
• 8 - I'll ___ some overtime to make some extra money.
  
  take
  do
  go
  make
  
  
• 9 - She was so unhappy with the service she decided to ___ a complaint.
  
  take
  make
  go
  do
  
  
• 10 - The student worked in an office during summer to ___ some experience.
  
  take
  make
  do
  get