8/2/2019 Business Vocab 1 - Work

1/3

1 Talking about your Work

A: What do you do?

To ask about someones job, you can ask one of the following questions:

What do you do?

What do you do for a living?Where do you work?

Note the prepositions in these answers.

Here are some other useful verbs and phrases for talking about your job.

I run / manage the accounts department.I deal with enquiries from customers.

Im in charge of / Im responsible for quality control.

I supervise/ oversee the workers on the factory floor.

I lead/Im in charge ofa small team.

B: Collocations with work.

The is never used before work. The following verb/preposition combinations are often used

before the noun work.

- I leave for work / go to work at seven every morning. I start work at half past seven.- I usually go /get to work by train.- Lee is out of work at the moment. Hes looking forwork.- Its difficult to find work in this town.- Hannah wants to go back to work when her baby is six months old.- I finish work at half past four.- John is off work. Hes got a really bad cold.- Please stop chatting and get on with your work.

C: Hours of work

When you start a new job, you will need to find out the hours of work. Some jobs require you to do

shift work. That means that sometimes you will have to work evenings or work nights. People

working in retail often have to work weekends. Many lawyers and businesspeople dont have fixed/

regular hours. They often have to work long hours /work late. Some of them even work around

the clock. They have to work 24 / 7 to please their bosses.

(Working 24 / 7 means working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

I work in the

pharmaceutical

industry.

I work for

Toyota.

I work with

disabled

children.

At the moment,

Im working on a

design project.

I work in/at a

bank.

8/2/2019 Business Vocab 1 - Work

2/3

Exercises

1.1 Write a preposition in each space.

a. Would you like to work _____ animals?

b. Which company do you work _____?c. Do you work _____ marketing?

d. What are your hours _____ work?

e. What are you working _____at the moment?

f. How many people are you in charge _____?

g. How do you get _____ work?

h. How long has your husband been _____ of work?

1.2 Correct the phrases in italics.

a. I work on a language school in Oxford. I responsible forkeeping the computers in operation. I

usually go workby car. I sometimes have to work lately, but I rarely have to work weekend.

b. I work with a science company. At the moment Im working in a machine to detect bird flu. I

start the workat eight oclock and finish at five. I workfix hours.

c. Im out work. Ive been looking workfor about three months, but I cant find anything. The

only work available is shift worksin factories, but I dont want to work in evenings.

d. I work on a supermarket. I leadthe customer service desk. My job is to deal ofcustomers

problems. I supervise to a small team of workers. I just work morning.

e. Im off the workat the moment, because Ive been really ill. In my last job, I worked 7 / 24,and it was really stressful. Its quite boring at home, and Id like to go back work, but my

doctor says I should stay at home for at least another month.

f. I work ona school. Im not a class teacher. I work forthe children who have learning

difficulties and find it difficult to get out with their work.

1.3 Rewrite the sentences using the word in brackets.

a. Michaela isnt working at the moment. (off)

__________________________________________________________________________________

b. David works 24 / 7. (clock)

__________________________________________________________________________________

c. I lead a large team of research scientists. (charge)

__________________________________________________________________________________

d. Many mothers return to work after having children. (back)

__________________________________________________________________________________

e. My wife goes to work at half past six in the morning. (leaves)

__________________________________________________________________________________

8/2/2019 Business Vocab 1 - Work

3/3

Answers

1.1 Write a preposition in each space.

a. with

b. forc. in

d. of

e. on

f. of

g. to

h. out

1.2 Correct the phrases in italics.

a. I work ina language school in Oxford. I m responsible forkeeping the computers in

operation. I usually go to workby car. I sometimes have to work late, but I rarely have towork weekends.

b. I work in / fora science company. At the moment Im working ona machine to detect bird

flu. I start workat eight oclock and finish at five. I workfixed hours.

c. Im out of work. Ive been looking for workfor about three months, but I cant find anything.

The only work available is shift workin factories, but I dont want to work evenings.

d. I work in / ata supermarket. I run / managethe customer service desk. My job is to deal

withcustomers problems. I supervisea small team of workers. I just work mornings.

e. Im off workat the moment, because Ive been really ill. In my last job, I worked 24 / 7, and

it was really stressful. Its quite boring at home, and Id like to go back to work, but my

doctor says I should stay at home for at least another month.

f. I work in / ata school. Im not a class teacher. I work withthe children who have learning

difficulties and find it difficult to get on with their work.

1.3 Rewrite the sentences using the word in brackets.

a. Michaela is off work at the moment.

b. David works round the clock.c. Im in charge of a large team of research scientists.

d. Many mothers go back to work after having children.

e. My wife leaves for work at half past six in the morning.