15-Book-S3 Fluency in Telephone English & Sectoral English - Unlocked

1
Kev Nair
Fluency in Telephone English
and Sectoral English
Prof. Kev Nair was born in Kerala, South India, in 1949.

He’s an eminent scholar of international repute. He’s a first class
LL.B. and a first class LL.M. And he was ranked first in university
in both the LL. B. and LL. M. exams.
• “Nair was the first person in the world to give shape to the
area of study now known as ‘English fluency development’
and to systematize it into a distinct teachable subject... So he
is better known as the father of fluency development.”
– General Knowledge Today.
• “He had been researching since 1971, and the results... led
him to new discoveries... ”
– THE HINDU.
• “Prof. Kev Nair is regarded the world over as the father
of fluency lexicography... Fluency lexicography came into
existence as a separate branch of dictionary writing with
the publication of Prof. Nair’s Dictionary of Active Fluency
Combinations in 1986.”
– Competition Success Review.
• “A renowned English language lexicographer”
– The New Sunday Express.
• “One of the world’s most respected English language
scholars...Perhaps more innovative in method than Roget and
more modern in approach than Fowler, Prof. Kev Nair is... one
of the foremost Indian scholars who wield great influence
on the thinking of the English-educated people around the
world.”
– General Knowledge Today.
• “A towering English language expert”
– Competition Success Review.
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• “Prof. Kev Nair... has... reached out to thousands – judicial

officers, professionals, top executives, scholars – who
need that comfort and ease in speech with his specialised
fluency techniques.”
– The New Indian Express.
Prof. Nair is a lawyer by profession. He lives with his wife and
children in Kochi, Kerala, an enchanting place on the earth.
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Fluent English Dictionaries1 by Kev Nair

• A Dictionary of Active Fluency Combinations.
• A Dictionary of Fluency Word Clusters.
• The Complete Fluency Words.
• A Dictionary of Essential Fluency Phrases.
• Core Fluency Thesaurus.
• Comprehensive Adjectival Fluency Dictionary.
• Narrative Fluency Dictionary.
• Thesaurus of Phrasal Verbs.
• Thesaurus of Descriptive English.
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Note: The Fluent English Dictionaries do not form part of Fluentzy: The
English Fluency Encyclopedia. They’re separate publications – meant for those
who want to specialize in fluency-oriented vocabulary. For details, visit www.
fluencybookz.com.
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Books by Kev Nair making up

Fluentzy: The English Fluency Encyclopedia
• B1: Idea units & Fluency.
• B2: Speech Generation & Flow Production.
• B3: Teaching your Tongue & Speech Rhythm.
• B4: Key Speech-initiators & Speech-unit Patterns.
• S1/B13 & S2/B14: Fluency in Functional English (Vols. 1 & 2).
• S3/B15: Fluency in Telephone English & Sectoral English.
• B5: How to Deal with Hesitation.
• B6: Oral Training in Fluency Vocabulary (Vol.1).
• B7: Packing of Information.
• B8: Impromptu Speech-flow Techniques.
• S4/B16: Fluency Building & Mouth Gymnastics.
• S5/B17: Fluency in speaking about people.
• B9: Fluency in Asking Questions.
• B11: Fluency & Moment-to-Moment Speech-production.
• S6/B18 & S7/B19: Fluency in Topicwise English (Vols. 1 & 2).
• S8/B20: Fluency & Pronunciation.
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S3
Fluency in
Telephone English
and Sectoral English
“Teaches you how to be fluent over the phone.”
– The New Sunday Express.
Fourh Edition
Prof. Kev Nair
TM
TM
Adult Faculties Council
6
For Uma
fluency in telephone english and sectoral english.

Copyright © Prof. K. E. V. Nair @ KevNair 1982, 1995, 2001, 2008.
First published 1982.
3rd edition 2001 (15 impressions).
4th edition 2008.
Prof. K. E. V. Nair @ KevNair has asserted his right to be identified
as the author of this book in accordance with the Copyright Act, 1957.
All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this book shall be copied or
reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
manner whatever, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission, in writing, of the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations or as expressly permitted
by law.
All quotations from this book shall credit the author, Prof. KevNair.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade
or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form
of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a
similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on any acquirer
or the subsequent purchaser.
Any violation of these terms and conditions will invite civil and criminal
proceedings and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Published in India by Mrs. Uma V. Nair, Adult Faculties Council,
DP Lane, Elamakkara PO, Kochi-682 026, Kerala.
Printed in India by Ayodhya Printers Ltd., Elamakkara PO,
Kochi-682 026, Kerala.
Adult Faculties Council’s websites:
www.fluentzy.com; www.fluencybookz.com.
Phone: (91)(0484) 2538449, 2408361.
Fax: (91)(0484) 2408361.
E-mail: info@fluentzy.com.
Price: Rs.175.00
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Contents
Chapter 1: Fluency in Telephone English, 11
Guidelines for making a call, 13

Guidelines for answering a call, 16
Telephone word groups, 16
1. Word groups for use while making a phone call, 17
2. Word groups for use while answering a phone call, 21
3. Word groups to speak about telephoning in general, 24
Chapter 2: Fluency in Business English, 27

Importance of practice, 42
Chapter 3: Fluency in Banking English, 43

Chapter 4: Fluency in Travel English, 50
Chapter 5: Speaking about Food and Drink, 57
Chapter 6: Everyday politics, 67
Chapter 7: ‘be’-clusters for general fluency, 71
Chapter 8: Word clusters useful across topics, 85
Chapter 9: Word clusters in serious conversations, 94
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Preface to the 4th edition
Here’s the latest edition of this book.

I have now added a substantial amount of new material that are
useful for building fluency across a wide range of topics.
If you have any comments and suggestions, please do write to
me care of the publishers.
KEV Nair
Kochi, 2008.
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Abbreviations
fml formal
infml informal
sb somebody
sth something
sw somewhere
11
chapter 1
Fluency in Telephone English

There’s an important point you must remember when you have
a telephone conversation. When you have a conversation with
someone on the telephone, you’re not face-to-face with them.
You and the person you’re having the conversation with are not
within each other’s presence or sight. On the other hand, when
you have a face-to-face conversation with someone, you’re near
them, and you can see them. And you can listen to them and
speak to them — by actually looking at them (and their facial
expressions and gestures) and at the surroundings.
You see, when you have a face-to-face conversation with
someone, you communicate not only through the actual words
you use, but also through a number of extra-linguistic factors —
such as facial expressions, gestures, etc. But when you have a
telephone conversation, many of the extra-linguistic factors are
absent — and you’ve got to rely mainly on the actual words you
use in order to convey your meaning. The person at the other
end can’t watch your facial expressions or gestures. And you
can’t watch his. And so, neither of you can take advantage of
extra-linguistic factors like facial expressions or gestures to add
meaning to the actual words used.
In the same way, when you have a face-to-face conversation
with somebody, you don’t need to spell out everything in words.
Many of the things you want to communicate to them would be
clear to them from the situational context. But when you have a
telephone conversation, a number of aspects of the situational
context are absent. So when you have a telephone conversation,
you’ll have to spell out all these things clearly in words. Or the
person at the other end of the line won’t be able to understand
what you mean. For example, when you have a telephone
conversation, you won’t be able to speak about something or
12 F luency in Tel ephone E ngl ish
someone by pointing them out to your addressee — because the

addressee is not near you, and the addressee can’t see them. So on
the phone, you’ll have to speak about them by mentioning their
actual names (if your addressee knows them by those names) —
or by actually describing them in such a way that the addressee
understands what you’re referring to or who you’re referring to.
Similarly, the addressee (the person at the other end of the line)
won’t be able to see the surroundings at your end or what is going
on around you at your end at the time you’re speaking. And so
the addressee’s eyes give him no help in understanding what
you’re saying, and he’ll have to depend solely on his ears.
All this means that when you speak to somebody on the
phone, you’ll have to assume less and spell out more. Yes. When
you have a phone conversation, you’ll have to explain almost
everything in the clearest or the most detailed way. What I’m
trying to tell you is this: When you speak to somebody face to
face, you can take a number of things for granted. That is, you can
assume one thing: Even if you don’t spell out many of the things
clearly in words, your addressee would be able to understand
them from your facial expressions, gestures and the situational
context. And so, when you speak to somebody face to face, you
needn’t spell out these things clearly. In other words, when you
speak to somebody face to face, you can assume a lot, and you
need only spell out the important things. But when you speak
to somebody on the telephone, you’ll have to do the opposite:
You’ll have to assume less and spell out more. And that’s not all.
When you have a telephone conversation, you must be careful
to do one other thing: You’ll have to spell out what you want
your addressee to understand in a way that’s clearer than you
would’ve done if you had been speaking to him face to face. That
is, when you have a telephone conversation, it’s not enough that
you spell out a lot. You must also spell them out far more clearly
and in a far more detailed way.
In short, when you have a telephone conversation, you’re
handicapped in several ways. And it’s not always as easy to get
F luency in Tel ephone E ngl ish 13
your meaning across over the telephone as it is when you have a

face-to-face conversation. But all this does not mean that when
you speak on the telephone, you’ll have to be as explicit as you
are when you communicate the same thing in writing. No. That’s
not so. First of all, you can never be as explicit during a telephone
conversation as when you write something — because even
during a telephone conversation, you communicate through the
spoken medium (and not through the medium of writing). So,
even during a telephone conversation, you speak under pressure
of time, and you can only express yourself by composing and
speaking at the same time, just as you do when you have a
face-to-face conversation. Secondly, when you have a telephone
conversation, you keep getting feedback and reactions to what
you say from your addressee — in words, exclamations and other
sounds that he produces over the phone as he listens to what you
say. And so, depending on the addressee’s reaction, you can keep
modifying, improving and adding to what you say from moment-
to-moment, and thus make your meaning clear to him. And his
moment-to-moment reactions would let you know the points on
which he shares knowledge with you and the points that he has
understood without your having specifically mentioned them.
This saves you from having to spell out those points in words,
and you can safely speak on by taking those points for granted.
Because of all these reasons, if you want your telephone
conversation to be effective, you must never forget to do the
following things:
Guidelines for making a call

1). Whenever you dial a number and someone picks up the
phone at the other end, you should do these things:
i) Ask the person who picks up the phone at the other
end if the number of the phone he has picked up is really
the number you dialled.
E.g. • Are you 3467983? • Is that 3467983?
ii) If he says it is the right number, it’d be a good idea

to go ahead and ask him if it’s really the place (office,
house, etc.) that you want.
E.g. • Is that the XYZ Co.? • Is that the Fire Station?
iii) Then you should announce your identity. (You should
do this — if the person who picked up the phone at the
other end has not already recognized your voice). Tell
him who you are and where you’re calling from — that
is, the place, office etc. you’re calling from.
iv) After announcing your identity, you can straightaway
ask him if you could speak to such and such a person —
without asking him who he is. Of course, if you recognize
his voice, and if he’s the person you want to speak to, you
can straight away launch into a conversation.
v) If the person who picks up the phone at the other end
voluntarily announces his identity, and if he’s not the
person you want to speak to, tell him you’d like to speak
to such and such a person — or ask him if you could
speak to that person.
vi) Suppose that the person who picks up the telephone
at the other end tells you that the person you want is not
available or that, for some reason, you can’t speak to him
at that point of time. Then if you want, you can ask the
person who has picked up the phone who he is — before
you start telling him anything else.
E.g. • Who’s this speaking? • May I know who this is
speaking, please?
But remember one thing: In general, nobody likes to tell
you who they are if you don’t tell them who you are first.
So the best policy is to announce your identity first, before
asking for the identity of the person at the other end.
vii) Suppose that the person who picks up the phone at
the other end is not the person you want, and suppose
that he puts you through to the right person. Then,
announce your identity once again, and ask this second

person if he is really the person you want to talk to.
E.g. Is that Mr. Sridhar?
2). Once you get the person you want on the phone, and
once you’re sure that he’s the person you want, you can state
the purpose of your call. But don’t just rush into explaining the
purpose all of a sudden. Instead, start by preparing the ground
— by telling him that you’re now going to state the purpose.
For example, if you’re calling him to tell him something about a
meeting, you can begin by saying something like this:
• I’m calling you about tomorrow’s meeting. Or,
• It’s about tomorrow’s meeting.
Tell him what you want to tell him about the meeting only
after you get him ready to listen to it by preparing the ground
in this way. On the one hand, this step gives a sense of direction
to what you want to say. And on the other hand, it directs your
addressee’s attention to what you’re going to say.
3). In the same way, before you speak to him about anything
important, start by telling him that you’re going to speak to him
about such and such a thing or such and such a person or such and
such a topic. In this way, you must always build an expectation
in him about what you’re going to say — before you actually say
it. This step is very important if your telephone communication
is to be really effective.
4). Before you actually ring off, say something appropriate
that’d indicate to the person at the other end that you’re going
to ring off. Depending on the context, word groups like the
following would help you do this:
• Bye, then. • I’ll get back to you soon. • Well, that’s
settled, then. • Thanks a lot. Goodbye. • Until tomorrow,
then. Goodbye.
Guidelines for answering a call

So far, I’ve been telling you about making a phone call. Let me
now tell you a few things about answering a call.
When you answer a call, points 3 and 4 given above are as
important as when you make a call. But the preliminary things
that you must do (when you answer a call) are not the same.
And here are the preliminary things you must do when you
answer a call:
1). As soon as you pick up the phone to answer a call, let the
caller know that you’ve picked up the phone and that he has your
attention. You can do this by saying “Hello”.
2). If you want to be more helpful, you can voluntarily
announce the number of your phone or announce your identity
while saying “Hello” (or instead of saying “Hello”).
E.g. • Hello, 3468953. • Hello, Ashok Kumar here. • XYZ
company. Good morning.
3). If the caller starts stating the purpose of his call without
announcing his identity, you can ask him who he is before telling
him anything or helping him — if you find it necessary to do so.
Telephone word groups

The extent to which you’re fluent over the telephone depends not
only on your general fluency, but also on whether you have practice
in saying certain word groups that have set patterns. These are
word groups that’ll help you put the guidelines mentioned above
into practice. So let’s take up these word groups immediately.
You’re going to get three categories of word groups.
The first category covers word groups that a person who
makes a call must have mastery over. And the second category
covers word groups that a person who answers a call must have
mastery over. The third category covers word groups of a different
sort. These are word groups that have to do with telephoning in

general.
Read each word group ALOUD — several times. Continue
saying the word groups aloud until your organs of speech get
used to them, and until you can say them smoothly and without
hesitation.
Here we go:
1. Word groups for use while making a phone

call
• Hello, is that the XYZ company? • Hello, Kumar. Sekhar
here. • Hello, is Ajith there? • Mr. Ravi Sekhar? • Is that
you, Bindu? • It’s Priya. • I’d like to speak to Ashok. • This
is Raju Varma of the XYX company. Mr. Kumar, did you
receive my letter? • Anil here. • This is Rao — Anil Rao.
And I’m speaking from the XYZ Bank. • Could you connect
me with the sales department, please? • Good morning.
This is Mr. Menon. • Can you give me Mr. Ajith Varma,
please? • Could I speak to Mr. Ashok Bhat, please? • I’d
like to speak to the person in charge. • This is James John
speaking. • My name is Jain — Suresh Jain. • Oh, it’s you,
Anil, is it?
• Is Sharon there, by any chance? • Ahmed speaking. •
Put me on to your accounts department, please. • Could
you put me through to Mr. Dixit, please? • You don’t know
me, but our mutual friend, Bret, told me to call you. •
I’m ringing from the XYZ company. • Good morning. Mr.
Murthy here.
• I’m phoning you to find out when your Managing
Director will be back from England. • Could I have
extension 532, please? • Mr. Kumar, we haven’t met, but
Mr. Shankar asked me to contact you. • I had met him
yesterday, and he suggested I should call him today. • I
want to get some information about a flight. • What time

could I reach him? • I’m phoning to ask you whether you
could spare us some time tomorrow afternoon. • I rang you
earlier, but I couldn’t get through. • I know you don’t want
to speak to me, but don’t hang up yet. • Thank you for your
help. Bye bye. • I want a few details of your computers. •
Can you connect me with your Managing Director? • Can
you tell me when the trains to Bombay leave? • You wanted
to know about the arrangements, didn’t you? • Here’s the
position. • Have you a moment to speak on the phone? •
When can I reach you? • Will you please tell Mr. Sekhar
that Ravi Kumar is on the line for him?
• Would tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon be
more convenient for you to see me? • Could I come at 10
o’clock instead of 11? • Can I contact him tomorrow? •
Can I speak to someone in your sales department, please? •
Hello, this is Ajai — Ajai Menon. • It’s a business matter. •
This is Suresh again. Sorry, we were cut off. • I’m phoning
back about your order for a computer. • Can you confirm
that you’ll be able to attend? • I’m phoning you about an
overdue payment. • Those books you sent me — they’re
not the ones I had ordered. • I’ll phone again tomorrow. •
Would you confirm the delivery date, please? • Would you
confirm the price, please? • I just wanted to tell you about
tomorrow’s meeting. • Could you tell me how long he’ll be
away? • My reason for calling you is this ... • Okay. I’ll drop
in tomorrow evening, then.
• You rang us up a few days ago about a computer. •
The reason that I’m phoning you is to ask a favour. • I’m
phoning you, because we’re having some problems with our
computer. • It’s about a letter he wrote to me. • Will he be
at the office tomorrow? • I’ve got a bit of a problem here.
• Listen. Tomorrow’s meeting — it’s been put off. • I need
some information from you. • I’m afraid I have to make a
serious complaint. • Thanks a lot — goodbye. • I bought
a TV from you last week, and I’m having some problems

with it. • I need the price of your washing machine. • Good
morning, Mr. Arora, I’m sorry to disturb you. • I’d like to
speak to someone about an order. • I’m looking for some
information on your new motor bike. • I’d like to speak to
somebody about an ad I saw today. • I’d like to know the
price for a double-room for one night. • As you know, our
company is doing some work for you. • Will you be able
to see me tomorrow or day after tomorrow? • Is that the
XYZ hotel? ... I’d like to make a reservation for tomorrow,
please.
• I’ve got good news for you. • I’d like to ask your advice
about something. • Let me give you my phone number.
• Listen. The book you wanted — I’ve got it here. • You
remember the computer we bought from you. I’m phoning
you about it. • He asked me to call him when I got back to
Bombay. • I have a price query. • You wanted to know our
prices, didn’t you? Here they are. • Would you ask him to
ring me back when he comes in? • I must have dialled the
wrong number. • Can I get in touch with you again after I
get a reply from the XYZ company? • Okay then. You’ll be
hearing from me. Goodbye.
• Have you got a note pad handy? • You asked me to call
back today. • I’m going to be in your area next week. • I’ll
telephone you again when it’s delivered. • You asked me to
ring when I was in town again. • I’m ringing from the post
office. • Would you check if he’s in John’s office, please?
• Will morning or afternoon suit you best? • This is the
number I was asked to ring. • That’s what I wanted to talk
to you about. • Isn’t that the XYZ company? So sorry. • Do
you know when he’ll be back. • I’d like to talk to someone
about a bill I received from you today. • I’ll ring him at
about 10 tomorrow, then. • You’ll remember I spoke to
you last week about a washing machine. • It’s about the
computer I bought from you. • I’ll be in touch with you. •
Okay, bye bye. • I’m phoning for some prices for computers.
• You know we were talking about the car you wanted to
sell.
• I’m phoning about the order we had placed last month.
• I got your letter today, and I’m phoning to save time. •
Can you help me find out something about your prices?
... • That’s why I’m phoning. • What I really wanted to
tell you is this: ... • Please ask him to call me back. He has
my number... • That’s what I’m ringing about. • Just one
more question. • I tried to get hold of him at his hotel,
but there was no reply. • Madhu, can I ask you to do me
a favour? • I can’t get any satisfaction from your deputy,
that’s why I’m phoning you. • Please tell him I called. •
You know that book you wanted me to buy. I can’t find it
in any of the book shops here. • You asked me to confirm
the arrangements. • What time will he be there? • Sorry
to have troubled you. • I can’t get a dialling tone on my
phone. • I’ll hold on, if it won’t take too long. • Can you
send someone to look for him? • I can ring up later if it’s
convenient. • You’ll be hearing from me again on next
Monday. • One other thing. I’ll be at a conference all day
tomorrow. • Could you ring me back tomorrow?
• I’d like some information on your new washing machine.
• He asked me to confirm as soon as possible. • You
wanted some details, didn’t you? Here they are. • He asked
me to call this evening. • There’s a serious problem, I’m
afraid, and I’m phoning you about it. • I’ll ring again then.
• Once again, many thanks. Bye bye. • I’m phoning you to
find out the price of your washing machine. • You know
the quote you gave us for 50 ceiling fans last week. I’d like
to order 40. • I’d like to know the price for a double-room.
• Think about it, and then perhaps you’ll call me back. • If
I’m not in, please leave a message with my secretary. • Are
you sure he isn’t there? • I’ll call you back in the evening,
would 4 o’clock suit you? • Mr. Arora, it’s about the invoice
you sent us yesterday. • Would Friday 4 o’clock be suitable

or Saturday 11 o’clock? • Can I leave a message? • Okay.
Bye now. • I wanted to let you know where you can contact
me. • Let’s settle the matter while we’re on the telephone.
• I’m phoning you, because it looks as though I won’t be
able to keep the appointment we made. • Are you there,
Mr. Joshi? • I’d like to book a room for two nights. • If I’m
not there, please leave a message for me. • When you’ve
checked things at your end, would you let me know? •
I’ll call him back well before 5. • Could you tell him I’m
arriving on the evening flight? • Bye then. • Bye for now.
• I’m phoning you about a serious matter. • So long. Bye
now. • Let him know I’ve received his packet. • I’ve seen
your ad in today’s Indian Express. I’d like to know your
prices. • Goodbye for now. • Could you ask him about the
order we had placed?
2. Word groups for use while answering a phone

call
• 3311614. • 3311614 — Raju Sharma. • XYZ company.
Good morning. • XYZ company here. Can I help you? •
Who’s calling? • Ashok here. • Hold the line, please. •
Who’s that calling? • Ajith, good to hear from you. How are
you keeping? • Who’s speaking? • Who’s this speaking? •
Who am I speaking to? • Who would you like to speak to?
• Just a moment please. • How can I help you? • May I ask
what it’s about? • Accounts department — can I help you?
• What can I do for you? • May I ask who you’re looking
for? • He won’t be in all morning. Can I help you? • Can
somebody else help you?
• What number are you calling? • I’m afraid you’ve got
the wrong number. • He isn’t in at the moment. Can I help
you? • Could you hold on a minute? • I’m afraid this is
rather a bad line. Could you repeat that, please? • I’ll see if
he’s here. • I’m afraid he’s not in yet. • He is in a meeting

at the moment. • Is it to do with accounts? • Could you
give me your name, please? • Hang on for a moment. Let
me just check. • Please hold on. He’s on the other line. •
Hold on, I’ll tell him you’re calling. • He’s in a meeting with
the General Manager at the moment. • Hold on, please
— I’m just trying to connect you. • Is it to do with a sales
query? • Where are you ringing from? • I’ll just have a
look. Ah, here he is.
• Nobody by that name works here. • Hang on just a
minute. • I’m sorry, there’s no such person here. • Shall I
ask him to call you when he’s free? • I’ll phone you back as
soon as possible. • Who did you say you wanted to speak
to? • Would you like to ring back later? • Could I have
your number again, please? • I’ll call you back tonight. •
Is it about an order? • What seems to be the problem, Mr.
Alfredo? • He’ll only be in till 5 o’clock. • He’s gone home.
Can I take a message? • If you give me your phone number,
I’ll call you back. • I’m afraid his phone’s engaged. Will you
hold the line? • He isn’t in at the moment. Can I give him
a message? • Okay then. I’ll give you a call at your hotel. •
Would you repeat your name, please? • This is a very bad
line, I’m afraid. Sounds as if you’re miles away.
• The extension is engaged. Would you like to hold the
line or call back later? • Would you hold on, please? •
Sorry, there’s no Mr. Panicker at this number. • He’s at
a conference in Bangalore. • Is it to do with a delivery
query? • You can reach him any afternoon after two. • I
can give you his home number if it’s urgent. • Thanks a
lot. Goodbye. • His phone is ringing, but there’s no reply.
I’m the switchboard operator. • I’m very sorry to hear this,
Mr. Sekhar. • Sorry, he’s out of town. May I help you?
• The line’s engaged. Would you like to hang on or call
back later? • I’m afraid he isn’t in. What would you like
to know? • Could you tell me who you want to speak to,
please? • It isn’t convenient to talk at the moment. I’m in

the middle of a meeting. I’ll call you back later. • Sorry, the
number is changed. • Hello, Shankar. Good to hear from
you. • He’ll be back at about 4. • But please confirm your
booking in writing. • The line isn’t very good. Can I ring
you back? • Thanks for calling. • Ring me again if you need
any further information. • I’ll look into it right away, and
I’ll ring you back. • What do you want to see me about? •
He’s out of the office at the moment. • He had to leave for
Bombay suddenly yesterday. • Sorry, he’s just gone out. •
He’s with the Managing Director in a meeting. Mr. Gupta is
here. Would you like to speak to him? • I didn’t recognize
your voice. • Look, I’m rather busy at the moment. Can
I call you back? • I’ll be in all evening today. • I was just
planning to phone you in fact.
• You can reach him at home. • No, this isn’t the number
you want. • That’s our number all right, but this is not
the XYZ company. • I’ll see if he’s in at the office. • You
can telephone me personally if ever you require service. •
I’ll ring you back, if you like. • Hold on — I’ll get you the
information you need. • He’s away for a few days. • I had
better ring off now. Dad’s waiting for me outside. Okay —
bye-bye. • It’d take too long to give you all the prices and
terms on the phone. Why don’t you come down here? •
I’ll be in a meeting all evening. • Could you possibly speak
more slowly? • What is it all about? • Could you give me
your telephone number, please? • I’ll just note that down.
• There’s no person of that name here. • Let me ring you
back in about half an hour. • I can’t tell you right now. I’ll
call you back. • He’s away on a business trip. • Sorry, I
didn’t catch that. Could you repeat it, please? • Okay. I’ll
see to that. • If I haven’t confirmed by this weekend, get in
touch again. • Sorry to keep you waiting. He is on the other
phone. • That’s a difficult question to answer. • I’ll put you
through to our accounts department. • Thanks for letting
us know the mistake. • Sorry, this is the wrong extension. •

Who did you say you were?
• Hold on. I’ll try to connect you. • I can hardly recognize
your voice. It’s as though you’re miles away. • Can I let you
know the situation tomorrow? • There’s no one by that
name here. • You can ring him at his hotel. • You know
that order for three computers we placed with you last
week? I’m calling you about it. • Sorry, I didn’t catch the
name of the company. Could you repeat it? • Could you
give me your phone number? • I’ll connect you with our
accountant. • Hello, I can connect you now. • Thanks very
much for ringing. • Thank you for calling, Mr. Peter. • Well,
I’m glad to hear that. • I haven’t any time to talk just now.
Can I ring you back in an hour? • I think that’s okay by me.
I’ll ring you back, shall I? • Speak a bit louder, will you?
• You must have the wrong Sharma from the phone book.
• You asked me to call back about the partnership deed. •
Could you give me a fuller description? • All right, I’ll see
to it and you’ll get a call today. • Sorry, I couldn’t hear what
you said. • I’ll let you know as soon as I can. He’s busy all
weekend. • I’ll tell you what I can do. I’ll... Give me a call
tomorrow. • I’m sure to have some news for you. • Can you
call me back in a few minutes? • I’m glad you rang back so
soon. • I’d be glad to see you if you’re in this area. • How
do you spell your name? • Is there anything else I can do
for you? • I need to know the reference number, please. • I
don’t know his number off hand, but I can easily look it up
for you. • Could I have your name and address?
3. Word groups to speak about telephoning in

general
• I have to make a telephone call. • He spoke to me by (or
on) the telephone last night. • She telephones every week.
• The phone’s ringing, pick it up, will you? • Can I use your
phone? • I picked up the receiver to make a call, but there
was no dialling tone. • I had/received a call from him last

night. • You’re wanted on the telephone. • I’ve tried several
times to ring his office, but there’s no reply. • He dialled
his secretary and said something in to the phone. • The
telephone’s out of order. • Your wife was on the telephone
earlier. She wanted you to call her back. • You can phone
me tonight. • He lifted the receiver and dialled the number.
• Phone the hospital. • He can always be reached on the
office telephone. • I phoned you, but the line was engaged
and I couldn’t get through (to you). • What’s the dialling
code for Bombay? • As soon as the telephone rang, he
picked up the receiver. • Somebody wants you on the
telephone. • He rang me last night about the meeting. •
Can I contact you by phone?
• It’s his dad on the phone. • I dialled the number, but
there was no answer. • I’ll be back in a minute. If the
telephone rings, answer it, will you? • Put in the money
before dialling. • The telephone’s on the blink again. •
There’s Mr. Sekhar on the phone for you. • I want to make
a call to my father. • I couldn’t pass on the message to them
last night. They’re not on the telephone yet, you know. •
Is there a public call-box around here? • What’s the code/
dialling code for London? • What’s the area code for New
York? • I can’t tell you all this over the phone. • Is there a
phone number where I can contact him? • I’ll have to ring
off now — I’ll call you back later. • Get on to the airline
at once and see if the flight is delayed. • I was in the
bathroom and I couldn’t take the call. • Get them on the
phone, will you? • Can I make a quick telephone call? • If
he isn’t there, dial his home number. • Ring the police at
once. • I have been telephoning all day, but I haven’t been
able to speak to him. • I think he has left his phone off the
hook. • I think he has switched off the handset. • He didn’t
want any calls to disturb him, so he took the phone off the
hook. • He was talking on the telephone. • She passed on
the message and put down the phone. • There’s no reply

from this number. • There’s no reply from his extension. •
How do I call the operator? • There’s a phone call for you.
• The telephone’s ringing. Can you pick it up? • Put the
receiver down and call again. • He was very angry and he
slammed down the telephone. • I had a bad (or poor) line
and I couldn’t hear clearly what he was saying. • Her voice
was very clear on the telephone. • He picked up the phone
and passed it over. • He spoke for a few minutes and then
replaced the receiver. • He hung up before I could explain.
• They telephoned the good news immediately. • You can
always reach me by telephone. • If you don’t want to be
disturbed, leave the phone off the hook. • He telephoned
from his hotel room. • The telephone went dead in the
middle of our conversation. • I picked up the telephone,
but the line was dead. • He hurled insults at me on the
telephone and I had to hang up (on him). • Who answered
the phone? • You can’t telephone Kodaikanal directly from
here. • He telephoned a warning immediately. • Is that
the phone ringing? • How do I dial London from here? •
Go and telephone the traffic police. • Were there any calls
for me while I was out? • He asked if you’d ring him back
when you got in.
***
F luency in B usiness E ngl ish 27
Chapter 2
Fluency in Business English

Let’s now do some practice to develop your fluency in business-
related situations.
Your fluency in business-related situations depends not
only on your level of general fluency, but also on another thing
— whether you have practice in saying word groups that are
frequently used in those situations. So what I’m going to do is
this:
I’m going to give you a collection of word groups that are
frequently used in business-related situations. You’ll find these
word groups put into 6 groups. Now remember this: These are
not word groups that only businessmen use. No. These are word
groups that businessmen as well as non-businessmen use in
everyday situations. Only, these are word groups that have to do
with business. That’s all.
You’ll often find it necessary to use these word groups in
everyday situations. And you can expect to hear these word
groups frequently used by other people, too.
So this is what you must do now: Go through all the word
groups once quickly. That’ll give you a general picture of what the
word groups are like. Then pick up each word group and utter
it ALOUD —several times. Keep up with the practice until your
organs of speech get used to saying these word groups — and
until you’re able to utter them smoothly and without hesitation.
Here we go:
Group 1
• We must invest if we want our business to grow. • You
wanted to know the final price, didn’t you? • He’s a businessman
— he buys things cheap, and sells them dear. • Half the order
28 F luency in B usiness E ngl ish
will arrive on Wednesday. The rest will arrive after a week. •

We no longer stock that product — there’s no demand for it. • If
your order is over Rs. 1,00,000 in value, we can go along with
the special discount terms. • They sold that old building, and it
fetched Rs. 2,00,000 or so. • We’ll have to analyze the situation
before deciding what to do. • How much stock did we have at the
start of the year? • You’ll have to make an estimate of the cost.
• I’m sorry we’ve really let you down, and there’s no excuse. • Is
this price list still valid?
• He has a business of his own. • They’re going to open a
new department store there. • We’ll be invoicing you separately
for these items. • I think we’re passing up an opportunity for
making good profit. • Shares have dropped. • He bought that
car new. • We haven’t got enough space to stock them. • If we
want to compete with overseas companies, we’ll have to improve
the quality of our goods. • Certain things may go wrong in any
business. • We need the goods sooner than we thought. • That
cement factory is up for sale. • They charge high prices. • Let’s
work out the firm’s profit for the current year. • We’ve dealt with
them for nearly five years now. • We need fast turnover and good
profit. • We employ 500 workers. • We’d like to order some office
equipment. • Who looks after the accounts of the firm? • We
can’t afford to buy it at that price. • Our lowest price is Rs. 200 a
dozen. • He bought that house cheap. • These are high-demand,
high turnover brands, why don’t you carry them in your store? •
The bill they sent to us was far too high due to a computer error.
• I’ll have to confirm that with our General Manager. • Are you
sure this invoice is correct? • The company has decided to put
up their prices. • I can only give you an approximate idea of the
cost. • We have a lot of business expenses to meet. • Mr. Mohan
to see you, Mr. Murthy. • Have you invoiced them for the last
order? • This new product will be on the market next month. • A
note was attached to the document with a paper-clip. • Can you
give me a quotation? • Somehow or other, we’ll have to meet our
delivery date. • You’ll only know our difficulties if you’ve ever
kept a shop. • The cost of electricity has gone up.

• The company was not able to get any further credit and
went bankrupt. • Mr. Prakash here on the phone for you. •
Shares have fallen. • I expect to go on buying from our existing
suppliers in the future, too. • They haven’t paid the last invoice
yet. • Money buys less than it used to. • A better discount? We
can’t go over 10%. • There’s no demand for that brand. • I think
we should bring down our prices. • They’ve asked for payment
before delivery. • Don’t forget to budget for possible increased
costs. • Our income doesn’t even cover our living expenses. •
They were able to increase overall production by 30% last year.
• He’ll be attached to the accounts department for the next
three months. • You get a 5% discount for prompt payment.
• The goods were delayed during transport. • Our goods are
attractively packaged, and they sell more quickly. • They do their
bookkeeping by computer. • We keep books by hand. • There’s
a Mr. Arun to see you. • At that price that dress is an absolute
bargain. • How long has this product been on the market? •
What are our finances like at the moment? • The best goods
usually cost most.
• I like the looks of this washing-machine. • We’ve got all the
information you need on file. • We can give you a 15% discount
if your order reaches us before the end of this month. • They
want us to make immediate delivery. • How are you going to
raise money for the project? • What you’ve told me about your
product is all very interesting, but the cold hard fact is, your
service is unsatisfactory. • Write out a cheque, will you? • I have
a Mr. Keshav to see you, Mr. Thomas. • Who’s in charge of the
office when Mr. Mohan is away? • The court awarded Rs. 20,000
each to the workers injured in the accident. • We’ll have to speed
up production in the factory. • They want a higher discount. •
You’ll send it tomorrow? Can I really count on it? • The manager
has to get through a lot of paperwork everyday. • Give me time to
think it over. • I hope they keep their side of the bargain. • When
did we promise delivery? Next Friday? • Shares are sliding. •
Supposing they’re not able to deliver on time. • The arrangement

can’t be changed. • It’s worth more than you paid for it. • This
is our second order for office equipment. • I think there’ll be
a two-week delay. • These items bring in far less profit than
other goods. • We’ve contracted to supply all the raw materials
they need. • This shop sells a wide range of goods. • We have
a service contract with them on our computers. • Your cheque
is in the post. • I need some background information. • Please
allow 30 days for delivery. • The consignment has got stuck at
the customs. • Computer prices are falling all the time. • If you
order now, you can be certain of prompt delivery. • Have you
invoiced them for the goods they bought today morning? • Who
wouldn’t like to increase their profit margin! • He’s very slow at
paying his bills. • That salesman couldn’t answer my question to
my satisfaction. • He has been frequently absent, and is behind
with his work. • Prices are likely to go up soon. • He’s been doing
a roaring trade and he’s in the money. • I don’t want to carry your
line in this store. • Our electricity bills are always heavier in the
summer. • The loss in the first half of the year was balanced by
the profit in the second half. • First, let’s get an estimate. Then
we can decide whether to proceed with the work or not. • We’re
thinking of buying your computers.
Group 2
• He’s bought a computer for his business. • Spending on
advertising has increased in absolute terms. • Have you made
out an invoice for the goods? • We can’t risk our business coming
to a stop just because the suppliers couldn’t deliver on time.
• Shares are rising. • The new brand of coffee soon became a
market leader. • What price did you give? • You’ve done business
with us before, haven’t you? • We rely on advertising to sell our
products. • Phone him up and ask him to settle the account.
• I’m already overstocked. • They do quite a good trade in
sports equipment. • The sales figures bear out what he says. •
Business is bad. I haven’t made a sale all day. • Three months
is my deadline. • These records will have to be brought up to

date every day. • This is an excellent profit-making line. • This
month’s production figures are looking good. • Shares have been
soaring for sometime now. • Do I have to pay in cash, or will
you accept a cheque? • We’re hoping for a large sale of our new
product. • The factory lay idle during the strike. • Prices start at
Rs. 150.
• I’d like to know your prices and terms. • That firm is not in
business any more. • They’re business partners. • Your prices are
too high. • The board of directors are (or is) meeting to discuss
this problem. • The maintenance contract is due for renewal next
month. • I think our plan is beginning to bear fruit — the sales
figures have started going up. • Can you offer the large size at the
same price? • The staff are not always careful over the clerical
work. • I think the material was faulty. • We’ve decided to cut
costs by 5% right away. • Everything they sell are priced high. •
The question you’re raising is pretty important. • This idea could
save us a lot of bookkeeping work. • Is your April price list still
valid? • We couldn’t get enough in all the sizes needed. • Prices
for raw materials are getting lower. • Carry our products and you
just can’t lose. • He’s the real brains in the organization. • Mr.
Prakash of the XYZ company on the line, Mr. Varma. • I’ve made
up my mind not to deal with that company again.
• That company manufactures sports equipment at a price
that we can’t match. • I’m busy with an important customer. •
He’s thinking of expanding his business. • We can buy cheaper
elsewhere. • Shares are looking up. • He runs a petrol station. •
The salary will be fixed according to age and experience. • The
new product will be fixed on sale next month. • We’d like earlier
delivery if possible. • The shop has a new look to appeal to
young customers. • Can you give me an idea about your product
requirements? • Add Rs. 25 to the total to cover postage and
packing. • If your terms are reasonable we’ll be able to place
another order soon. • Well, the point is, what can you do to help
us? • Prices for computers are dropping. • That’s a well-known
brand of tea. • I don’t think these figures are accurate. • Who’s

the other applicant? • Has he had any experience? • The firm’s
profits have multiplied over the last two years. • We bought a
computer from them, and we’ve had a lot of service problems. •
I think our new product should fill a gap in the market. • This
price is very competitive. • We made several mistakes, and they
cost money. • We don’t only buy on price. There are other factors
too — quality, service, delivery... • Their Managing Director has
a reputation of being difficult to work with. • I’ll make sure it’s
delivered on time. • I can offer it to you at a bargain price. • We
shall do our best to see that it’ll never happen again.
• We give a better discount on a repeat order. • If I ordered
the pumps today, how long would it be before I got delivery in
Kochi? • Shares have fallen very low. • I don’t have any demand
for your line. • The new government has decided to help people
start small business. • Somehow, they always manage to keep
ahead of competitors. • They’re going to launch a new product
next month. • Write out a cheque for that amount, then. • You
can count on the delivery by this weekend. • They always buy
goods for cash. • Our firm buys goods on credit from them. •
This line can make money for us. • Shares have touched bottom.
Now’s the time to buy them. • Are those products selling well? •
There’s just not enough profit in these small items. • Oranges are
selling at a high price. • Could you bring the delivery forward by
a week? • Can I interest you in our new washing powder? • We
can certainly meet your needs if there’s an emergency. The actual
damage to the factory was not as great as we had feared. • Could
you let us have a firm offer? • Our prices compare favourably
with anything on the market today. • Shares have been staying
very low for a long time now. • Your price is way out of line. • He
has set up in business as a photographer. • This is a problem that
faces every company now and again. • Order well in advance, so
you can be certain of supplies. • Ours is a small manufacturing
firm. • He has the right kind of experience for this job. • These
prices are our lowest.
• Can you give us 45 day’s extra credit? • How much money

do they owe us? • Can you give me a rough estimate of how much
this work will cost? • The firm got itself into financial difficulties.
• Look, your product doesn’t meet with our specification. • What’s
the price of this TV? • A lot of customers would buy this stuff if
you carried it. • The figures have been adjusted to take account
of inflation. • Look, we just can’t accept these faulty goods. •
You’ll have to share the extra cost of sending the goods by road.
• I don’t know why, but orders have slumped. • The company’s
future doesn’t look very hopeful. • The owners couldn’t make it
pay, and the factory closed down. • What are your credit terms? •
Business is looking up. • The suppliers had difficulties in meeting
our delivery schedules. • I think there’s a need for more spending
on research. • The discount would be 3% higher for a repeat
order. • Business was quiet today, and I didn’t have much work
to do. • We’re due to deliver their order this Friday. • He has a
lot of money tied up in shares. • Customers often don’t ask for
something they don’t see in the store. • The output has increased
in the past year.
Group 3
• Can you deliver quickly? • 10% will be added on to your
bill as service charge. • We’ll repair it for you free of charge. • We
bargained with them about the price. • What discount would you
offer on an order for 1000? • They’re very easy to do business
with. • I don’t know why, but share prices have slumped. • I
don’t have any demand for your product in my shop. • He runs
a restaurant in Bangalore. • I’ve got a report I must dictate. •
They’ve sent us faulty goods. • We don’t want to try out new
ideas just now. That’d only disrupt production. • The business
is finished — there’s no more money. • I wish you’d keep the
deadlines we fixed. • We have a wide range of prices. • His
business has been running at a profit. • Their business runs at a
loss. • They’ve decided to stock up our product. • It’s difficult to
calculate how long the project will take. • How much time can
you give us to complete this work? • Ask them for a receipt when
you pay the bill. • Our products sell very quickly. • Does she have
any secretarial experience? • We haven’t any more available. •
The goods left the factory in perfect condition. • It’s not easy to
build up a good business. • People just don’t ask for your products.
Business has been good for the time of year. • Well, I’ll have to
check with the factory. • You’ll receive supplies within three days
of ordering. • We didn’t make much profit in the first year. • We
sell automobile spare parts, and we need regular supplies. • Ours
is a small business. • Theirs is a large firm.
• Is that product still in demand? • These items will sell
well and make profits for you. • Use this method and you can
multiply your profits in a very short time. • When did you place
the order? • This trip was financed by the company. • The
transport strike has put us further behind with our delivery. •
If you want us to send it by post, we must charge postage. • It’s
very expensive to advertise on television. • I can’t tell you what
the discount is, until I know how many you’d like to order. •
There’s a 5% discount. • This seems a sensible solution. • He’s
not a government servant — he’s in business. • The production
figures will bear him out. • There’s been an increase of 25%
on last year’s figures. • They make the best umbrellas on the
market. • Our products are always in demand. • We do regular
checks on our products and make sure they’re of high quality.•
You can take advantage of our introductory offer. • They haven’t
been able to work out the terms of the contract satisfactorily. •
They only sell goods for cash. • There’s too little profit in this
item for the handling effort and expense involved.
• At last, his business is picking up. It has been making a loss
so far, you know. • Will I have any problem in getting spares? •
We’re sold out — we have no more. • He has the reputation of
being a keen buyer. • The bill should add up to about Rs. 9,750.
• Those are the best terms we can offer, I’m afraid. • Do you
have our price list? • What’s all this going to cost? • He’s decided
to start a small retail business. • There are clear advantages
to the first plan. • We haven’t worked out all those details yet.
• Many small firms are facing financial ruin. • Why are they
withholding payment this time? • We’ve placed an order with
them for some electrical goods. • The discount will be bigger if
you order over 100 units. • You’ll have to pay for it when you
order it. • Why has there been this hold up on delivery? • He’s
in business on his own. • I once had a bad experience with your
company. • We hope to expand our business this year. • What’s
the order number? • The goods are now ready for collection.
• We have a production problem. • We’re out of stock — all
sold out. • What we need are products that turn over rapidly. •
You see, the discount depends on the quantity. • We’ll have to
order some more. • How much does that computer cost? • We
need to maintain the quality of our products. • Could you give
me some idea of your requirements? • I’ll speak to my partner
about it. • Business is good at present. • Are they satisfied with
the discount? • He has put a lot of money into that business. •
They’re one of our most valued customers. • We can have the
items ready by the weekend. • The deal looked impossible, but
he pulled it off. • Do you buy only on price? • We can’t afford to
lose this contract. The future of our firm depends on it. • Have
you checked with our competitors?
• Can’t you reduce the price for our first order? • We need
to get a clear understanding of the situation. • They’ve sent us
damaged goods. • We meet urgent orders quickly from stock. •
That’s the reason why you should buy from us. • Can you give
me a rough estimate of what the work would cost? • What about
a good discount? It’s a repeat order, you know. • Is this situation
likely to continue or not? • The company’s finances are in good
shape. • I think your product is overpriced. • He’s after a job in
advertising. • He’s a close business associate of my brother’s. •
Better stock up on sugar there’ll be a shortage soon. • We buy on
value and not on price alone. • I’m tied up right now — I don’t
have time. • These are our lowest prices. • We’ll enclose the bill
with the goods. • The boxes were all checked off as they were
unloaded. • He runs a small antique business. • Can you supply

me from stock? • He takes care of the business and she keeps
the accounts. • We’re overstocked. • The factory has had to close
down because of the strike.
• Why haven’t you delivered our order yet? • They’ve sent us
goods we haven’t ordered. • Please tell us what the problem is, so
we can immediately put matters right. • They keep a small hotel.
• We’re very disappointed in your firm. • I invested Rs. 15,000,
and I got a good return on it. • Is that product selling well? •
Are you for or against the plan? • He started the business with
a comparatively small capital. • This is a special introductory
offer. • If you like, I can send it by air freight. • This TV is made
of the best components that money can buy. • These things cost
a lot to produce. • Mr. Kumar, would you take a seat, please. •
Your delivery is too slow for me. • How’s business? • Business is
booming. • OK then. I’ll order on those terms.
Group 4
• The firm’s finances are in bad shape. • He’s temporarily
short of cash. • We want Rs. 15,000 for this TV. We can’t settle for
less. • Can you find out the price of their computers? • A delivery
van would bring the grocery order. • They tried out this idea, and
there was an immediate increase in productivity. • We’re now
living in the computer age. • Couldn’t you manage to allow me a
better discount? • We’ve got it in stock, so I can send it at once.
• The chairman brought the meeting to a close. • He started an
advertising business on his own. • Don’t promise a date unless
you know you can honour it. • But you do like our products,
don’t you? • They’re business rivals. • It’s cheaper. • I’ve made a
mistake — the accounts don’t balance.
• These are damaged goods. they’ll have to reduce the bills.
• The suppliers say they would be a bit late with delivery. •
I’d talk things over first with my partner. • It’s a real bargain
at that price. • We’ve decided to cut down on our advertising
expenditure. • What’ll happen to the business when the Managing
Director retires? • If you don’t deliver immediately, we’ll be short

of stock. • Our company agent there will meet you at the airport.
• I thought prices would be coming down now. • This accident
would cost the company a lot of money. • That car’s a good buy.
• I’m up to my nose in problems. • He’s an aggressive salesman.
• Yes, I think we can go along with these arrangements. • You
always get value for money at that shop. • He would buy if it
were cheaper. • These changes will save your firm a lot of money.
• That’s not much more than the price you paid last year. • The
quotation you sent us was fine. We’re ready to place an order
now. • The company is planning to build a new factory there. •
She can’t do shorthand. • We’ll have to stock them again when
our stock levels are lower. • It’s more expensive. • What’ll the
discount be? • Their ledgers are badly kept. • We have a large
number of credit customers. • They have a fine reputation for
paying promptly. • Read the credit terms carefully before signing.
• Would you like it specially gift-wrapped? • The firm needs to
build up a good name for itself. • My partner is out of town. •
We agreed (on) a price of Rs. 15,500. • Is that your best quote? •
Can you send them immediately from stock? • We’ll have to offer
a better product than the competition — or we won’t be able to
succeed. • I don’t want the expense of a market survey just now.
• This is the very reason why you should stock our products. •
10% is the most I can give you as a quantity discount.
• During these three months, the demand is likely to be
quite heavy. • That house was a bad buy. • Our profits have been
going down for some time now. • I’ve been calculating the costs
involved and it’s too expensive. • He’s a successful businessman.
• This washing machine comes with a year’s guarantee. • It’s
out of their price range. • These shoes cost more, but they last
much longer than cheap ones. • Please sign the agreement and
return it to us. • He has a baker’s shop in town, and he’s doing a
roaring trade. • There’s a very heavy demand for our computers
this year. • The consignment should reach you by this weekend.
• Another strike will throw the firm into bankruptcy. • I didn’t
get satisfactory service and I wrote a letter of complaint to their

Managing Director. • They’re now doing twice as much business
as they were doing last year. • He has set up a small advertising
business. • Here’s today’s post, Mr. Sekhar. • The final decision
lies with the Managing Director. • Let’s look ahead together and
plan for future deliveries. • How will you raise the finance to
start the business? • Are those your most favourable prices?
• These prices are rather high, aren’t they? • Can you deliver
them sooner than we agreed? • Their firm is in serious financial
trouble. • Their product is no longer top grade. • They reached
an agreement after three days of talks. • It’s a real bargain at
that price. • These goods are urgent. We’ll have to send them off
today. • Her father has a greengrocer’s business. • Our service
would be very personal to you and to your requirements. • We
don’t have much ready cash with us. • How many would you
like?
• How would you like delivery to be made? By rail or by
road transport ? • There were huge price reductions during the
sale. • There’s going to be a complete reorganization of the sales
department. • He has a fruit shop. • They’ve been trying to work
up a big demand for these goods here. • The factory has 400
employees. • What have we spent on buying raw materials this
year? Half a million, perhaps? • There’ll be interest payable at
20% per year. • He’s a doctor, but he wants to go into business.
• I think their firm will go out of business in the near future. •
We can buy better elsewhere. • They buy these things in bulk. •
Our expenses are going up. • Prices jumped by more than 30%
in the summer. • I’ve checked up on the prices you asked about.
• He runs a thriving grocery business in town. • We must think
ahead and make a plan. • The parcel left our place perfectly
packed. • They only sell goods of the highest quality. • Business
has been good for the time of year. • We’ll compare the costs
and buy the cheapest. • The prices have only gone up a little.
• The quality just isn’t good enough. • He has a chemist’s shop.
• The closure of the factory came as a shock to the workers. •
The company made a loss of 75 lakhs of rupees. • I can give

you a quantity discount for 100 units or over. • The company’s
sales have reached the 100 million mark. • You’re interested in
saving money, aren’t you? • Large amounts of money are spent
on advertising. • No, we can’t reduce the prices. • Business is
always brisk in the evening.
Group 5
• He’ll be at a conference all day tomorrow. • The firm’s head
office is in Bombay. • The job was advertised in local newspapers.
• Our Bombay agent is on the line. Will you take the call? • The
suppliers have got some trouble or other. • You have to be hard
to succeed in business. • I want to consult my partner. • That
company is way ahead of us in their research. • The supplier has
stopped our discount. • We’ll be able to send your consignment
before the end of the week. • She got that dress on the cheap. •
We’re not satisfied with the service we get from your company.
• They have a sweet-shop. • That shop sells high-quality goods.
• It’s all very well to say we should advertise more, but is the
expense worth it? • What have we received for the goods we’ve
sold this year? One million? • Business has been good for our
firm for some time now. • Haven’t they despatched our order
yet? • What’s the retail price of these bags, then? • Her father
keeps a shop in our village. • I have some ideas for cutting down
overheads. • How much stock is left? • When he had enough
capital, he bought a shop. • Our company has won a contract for
20 buses. • Now we can confirm the arrangements we made. •
This bag looks cheap. It’s poor value for money. • They’ve been
pressing us for payment for sometime now. • We’re planning to
open offices in Bombay and Delhi this year.
• We can offer you a special discount if you order before
March 31st. • There’s a two week delivery time. • Our firm has
won a contract to build a bridge. • Let me check with the accounts
department. • The firm has just won an important contract. •
Stamp those letters with today’s date. You received them today,
didn’t you? • I can pay you Rs. 10,000 in ready cash. • That shop
doesn’t sell goods retail. • You’re right about quality, but price also
matters. • He has made a lot of money in business. • The shops
in town close at 7.30. • I’ll make a bargain with you. • Sorry, we
don’t allow credit. • He runs a shoe shop. • Well, if you can do
that, that’ll help. • Can you find out how much stock we actually
have? • Can we agree on a price? • Where’s your company’s
headquarters? • He owns his own business. • He works for the
XYZ company. • The watch is still under guarantee. • Last time,
they had difficulty in meeting our delivery schedules. • We’re
aiming at a 20% increase in profits. • These goods are in poor
supply. You can’t get them easily. • They may claim compensation
from us for failure to deliver on time. • This is a repeat order,
and you’ll have to allow us a longer credit period. • That’s a very
valuable contract. • They’re expected to work an eight-hour day.
• The firm is in severe financial difficulty. • Shirts like that don’t
come cheap. • Those goods were sent off days ago. • This is the
best business deal I’ve ever done. • The company has a lead of
several years in the development of this technology. • Let’s not
haggle over the price. • I think the price is reasonable. • They
use high-quality raw materials.
• Don’t buy anything from them. They only buy shoddy
goods. • Get the Accountant on the phone for me, will you? •
He’s been doing a roaring trade and has been making a lot of
money. • I can’t sign these papers without my partner’s approval.
• Their credit is good — we can trust them. • Can you confirm the
dates now? • The firm operates from its central office in Madras.
• Your quality isn’t good enough. • This advertising campaign is
aimed at housewives. • Their firm has gone broke. • What would
they cost if I took a thousand? • We’ll despatch them immediately
from stock. • That was a very difficult deal, but he managed to
bring it off. • The advertising budget for the new product is Rs.
50,00,000. • Can you work out how much profit the firm has
made? • That contract ruined him. • I think Bombay might be
a good market for our products. • The company is hoping to
expand into the American market. • I want to get a good rebate.

• It was part of the deal they’d deliver in three months. • He
deals in antiques. • We usually get a better discount on a repeat
order. • She always haggles with shopkeepers.
• The company has been trying to raise extra capital. • You’ll
have to pay the full amount within seven days. • The guarantee
has expired. • He has stopped trading in tea. • You’ve got to be
tough if you want to stay in business. • We’ve done a deal with
a cement company. • From what you’ve told me, there must be
a fault in the product. • The air is polluted by smoke from the
factory. • She’s a successful businesswoman. • Please get on to
the customer and find out. • We’ll have to check your offer before
we order. • He rushed headlong into buying the business. • The
company collapsed, and hundreds of people lost their jobs. • He
runs a travel agency. • You want to see the General Manager?
Have you an appointment? • We can make the same profit with
half the effort. • We have to find the right product for the market.
• I’m not quite ready to place an order yet. • You’ll confirm that to
me in writing, won’t you? • He has a wholesale business in town.
• We can assume profits of around 10%. • The firm buys goods
at one price and sells them at a higher price. • Eggs are cheap in
that shop. • 50,000 rupees? That’s a lot more than we paid last
year. • They shook hands on the deal. • I think we’re crazy not to
look for more business. • He bargained with us about the price. •
He’s doing a roaring trade in electrical goods. • We need at least
100 in the first delivery.
• We need the goods urgently. You’ll have to despatch them
at once. • His old car went for 50,000 rupees. • Things have
changed and we can now be of better service to you. • We deliver
free of charge. • Don’t use material of such poor (or low) quality.
• We’ll have to do something and clear the matter up as soon as
possible. Or it’d become a serious problem. • These are shoddy
clothes — don’t buy them. • Profits have gone down by 10%. •
Can I buy cement retail here? • This material is very poor quality.
• You’ll find our prices can’t be beaten. • The cost of the repairs
came to Rs.10,000. • The company went bust and was forced to

close down. • The company has ambitious plans for expansion. •
In many ways, it was a bad bargain. • Last year, we had to spend
a lot of money on rail fares. • We buy the materials wholesale.
• Why has the consignment been delayed? • I think we ought to
drop our prices. • I don’t like their design for the new theatre.
Others have better designs. • You’re very lucky to get it so cheap.
• They’ve raised their prices a lot since last year.
Importance of doing practice

That’s it. We’ve come to the end of the Business English word
group collections.
Now let me tell you one thing: Business English is an area
where even people who are normally fluent in other areas
falter. This is mainly because they haven’t got sufficient practice
in handling the vocabulary and grammatical patterns that are
common in this area. The only way to get over this difficulty
is to try and get this practice. And mind you, Business English
is an area that nobody can afford to ignore if they want to
communicate fluently in the modern world — whether they’re
business people or not.
So give great importance to the Business English word
groups I’ve given you. Even if you’re someone who doesn’t work
in business, don’t ignore them. Practice uttering them several
times — ALOUD.
***
F luency in Banking Engl ish 43
Chapter 3
Fluency in Banking English

What you’re going to get now is a collection of word groups that
have to do with banking.
These are word groups that you’ll find very useful. You’ll find
it necessary to use these word groups either while dealing with
banks or while speaking about banking. And you can expect to
hear many of these word groups addressed to you by others in
those situations.
If you want to speak English fluently in everyday situations
that have to do with banking, you must have a good knowledge
of the vocabulary and patterns that make up these word groups.
And your organs of speech must have good practice in saying
these word groups.
Of course, there’s nothing complicated about these word
groups. They’re simple enough. But when you’re trying to speak
English fluently, the question is not whether certain word groups
are simple enough. The question is rather whether they’re
familiar enough to your organs of speech and ears. And so long
as they’re not familiar enough to your organs of speech and ears,
your organs of speech won’t yield to them readily, and you’ll find
it difficult to produce them fluently during conversations.
So this is what you must do now: Go through the word
groups thoroughly. Pick up each word group and utter it ALOUD
— several times. Keep uttering the word groups ALOUD, until you
can say them smoothly, and until they come out of your mouth
easily and readily.
Here we go for the word groups:
Group 1
• She withdrew Rs. 1,000 from her bank account. • He paid
44 F luency in B anking E ngl ish
the cheque into his account. • I’d like to make a deposit, please.
We’ve been trying to arrange a loan from the bank. • He’s gone
to put some money in his bank. • Interest is not allowed on a
current account. • I get a statement from my bank every month.
• I want to cash a traveller’s cheque. • I think he drew some
money out of the bank yesterday. • How much do I have to my
credit? • I took Rs. 500 out of my bank account. • When was the
draft issued? • He had no money in his account, and so the bank
stopped the cheque. • The bank has allowed him to overdraw
his account up to Rs. 50,000. • How much money have I got left
in my account? • He’s the cashier. He receives payment from
customers and cashes cheques for them. • I drew a lot of money
out last month.
• I need a new cheque-book. • Was the cheque paid over the
counter or through the clearing? • I’m thinking of taking out a
bank loan. • He made an application to open an account without
an introduction. • This is a crossed cheque and it must be put
into a bank account. • How much interest will my savings earn in
the bank? • His account looks healthy at the moment. • I need to
borrow 10,000 rupees. • Who do I make the cheque payable to?
• We had to pay 20% interest on the loan. • The bank manager
has agreed to let me have an overdraft. • Can you let me have
20 or 30 cheques? • I’m thinking of closing my account with
that bank. • They’re gradually reducing their overdraft. • Your
account is in credit. • Has the bank credited the cheques to your
account? • Don’t try to cash that cheque today. It’ll bounce if I
don’t put some money into my account. • I’d like to withdraw Rs.
10,000 from my account, please. • You’ve forgotten to sign the
cheque. • Where do they bank? • I’m afraid your account is Rs.
4,750 in the red. • Fortunately, our account is now in the black.
• We’ve asked the bank for a large loan. • The bank only
deals with honest and responsible people. • You have a credit
balance of Rs. 5,500. • Before you deposit the money, you’ll have
to enter the amount on a paying-in slip. • That’s a draft drawn
on the Kochi branch of your bank. • I’d like to make a transfer
from my current account to my savings account. • The banks are

lending to small scale industries at much lower rates. • He kept
a satisfactory credit account for some time and then suddenly
asked for temporary accommodation. • Can you make a draft on
the Bombay branch of the bank? • I haven’t put any money into
my account last month. • He has asked the bank to increase his
overdraft from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000. • He deposits Rs. 50 a
week into his savings account. • I’ve invested all my money in
the bank. • He gets 12% interest on his money at the State Bank.
• He keeps an excellent account and is a man of high standing. •
The bank has agreed to back us, and we’re planning to go ahead
with the scheme. • You must sign on the back of the cheque. •
Did you have to deposit any security to get the loan? • We bank
with the State Bank of India.
• He has plenty of money in the bank. • If you want to
borrow, you can’t object to giving proper security. • The bank has
credited you with Rs. 150. • He has a healthy bank balance. •
They’ve kept a good account with the bank for years. • We had
to borrow heavily from the bank to start this business. • Most of
the bank’s customers are of good financial standing and sound
reputation. • I paid both the cheques into my bank account. •
What’s the rate of exchange for pounds? • I’d like to exchange
my dollars for rupees. • You’re overdrawn by Rs. 5,000. • Have
you reduced the overdraft? • He keeps a lot of money in banks at
interest. • Last week, you drew three cheques on your account.
• The overdraft is secured by a guarantee. • You make out a
cheque to him for Rs. 5,000. • Has he cleared his overdraft yet? •
I’m in the red and the bank manager is after me. • The bank only
lends money on security. • This is a bearer cheque. Anybody can
cash it at the bank. • The bank wants the personal guarantee of
the directors. • He deposited quite a lot of money recently.
• Be sure to bank the money before 2 o’clock. • The bank
manager asked him about his income and assets — and his nature
of business. • My bank account shows two debits — one of Rs.
150, and another of Rs. 200. • Your account shows credits of Rs.
10,000 and Rs. 15,000 during this month. • I’ve paid the cheque
into my account for collection. • The bank lends at 18% interest.
• He filled up a pay-in slip and deposited the money with the
bank. • He went to the bank and drew out all his savings. • How
many days will the bank need to collect the cheque? • What’s the
exchange rate of the dollar today? • I have a large overdraft. •
Was the cheque made payable to the bearer or was any person
named in it? • Banks don’t give you interest on current accounts.
• His account is overdrawn, but his wife’s account is in credit.
• You write him a cheque, and cross it, so payment can only
be made through a bank. • How about the financial position of
the guarantors? • Are they customers of the bank? • The bank
may ask for security if you want an overdraft. • Is this cheque
in order? • You don’t have to pay back the whole loan at once.
You can pay it back in ten instalments. • She has a good sum of
money put away in the bank for her old age. • Where can I get
this cheque cashed? • You can’t blame the bank for asking for
security for their money. • The money has been credited to your
account. • Pay this cheque into your account. • Your bank will
then collect the amount of the cheque from the bank it’s drawn
on and credit it to your account. Your bank will, of course, deduct
a small collection fee from your account. • How much interest
do they charge on loans? • The bank only discounts bills for a
customer who keeps a current account. • It was a dud cheque,
and it bounced. • His monthly salary is paid into the bank by
the company. • He got a Rs. 10,000 loan from the bank. • Your
bank account is overdrawn. • The loan was allowed for business
purposes. • Our bank allows us to run up an overdraft on our
current account. • When did you lodge the deeds with the bank?
• The bank stopped payment of his cheque. • How many cheques
did we draw last month? • How much do you need to take out
of the bank? • When did you present the cheque to the bank? • I
paid the cheque into his account. • Our account will be nicely in
the black next month.
Group 2
• Last week, we overdrew by Rs. 50,000. • Normally the
bank doesn’t like to make unsecured advances. • I’ll have to check
the entries in the pass book. • I’d like to open a savings account.
• Is there a fixed minimum deposit? • We’re going to take out
a loan to expand our business. • Is that a cheque drawn on the
State Bank of India? • Can you tell me the amount of my current
balance? • The cheque was paid into his current account. • The
bank has agreed to finance the new business. • They gave me a
bank draft for Rs. 5,000. • The bank charges me 20% interest
on the loan. • Are you planning to leave money in the bank for
a long time? • The bank has allowed a loan of Rs. 10,000 on a
joint account in their names. • The bank dishonoured his cheque.
He didn’t have enough money in his account to cover it. • This
cheque has been drawn payable to Mr. Menon. So he’ll have to
endorse it by signing his name on its back. • He borrowed the
money on the security of his house. • It’ll take three days for your
cheque to clear. • I paid the money in yesterday. • What a relief!
At last, our account is out of the red!
• Cash me this cheque please. • The bank manager wants
us to clear the loan immediately. • The bank has debited Rs. 500
against my account. • The bank can’t grant you a loan if you can’t
offer a guarantee or other security. • Bank interest rates are going
to rise this month. • Banks usually exercise caution in taking new
accounts. • I’ve got some money in the bank. • I don’t think this
cheque is in order. The amount in words doesn’t correspond with
the figures. • The bank has given us an overdraft of Rs. 1,00,000.
• I have an account with that bank. • What did he borrow the
money for? • I’m trying to reconcile the bank statement with our
records. • I don’t think the balance on your account is large. •
I went to the bank to draw out my deposit. • He has a current
account with the bank, but the advance was made on a separate
loan account. • He keeps his savings in the bank. • The loan
is being paid back by monthly instalments. • Has the cheque
cleared yet? • Their account has been working very satisfactorily.

• He’s thinking of investing his money in (or with) the bank.
• I don’t know how much money he has taken out of his
account. • He’s always overdrawn with the bank to the full extent
of his limit. • The bank advanced him Rs. 25,000 to start his
business. • Put the cheque in a safe place. It mustn’t fall into the
wrong hands. • His salary is paid directly into his bank account.
• Is that a cheque for a large sum? • Why don’t you ask your
bank for a loan? • The cash was paid into his savings account. •
The bank sends us an account every month. • I want to open an
account with that bank. • This cheque is payable to the bearer.
• The bank can’t give you any more credit until you repay the
previous loan. • The bank statement balance would often differ
from the depositor’s book balance. • He deposited the money in
the bank. • He says the cheque is valid for six months from the
date of issue. • The bank refused to honour his cheque. • Who
do you bank with? State Bank? • Did the bank have trouble in
getting repayment? • Your cheque will take three days to clear. •
The bank will insist on collateral security for a loan of that size. •
She drew some money from her account. • He defaulted on that
loan, and the bank took him to court.
• She drew a cheque on her Madras bank. • Whose account
was the cheque paid into? • The bank gave (or made) me an
advance of Rs. 25,000 to start my business. • They have two
accounts and both are always kept in credit. • My wife and I
have a joint account with that bank. • The bank refused payment
of the cheque for some reason. • He didn’t have enough money
in his account to cover the cheque, and so it bounced. • That’s
an open cheque and not a crossed one. You can cash it over the
counter. • It’s better to bank your money than to keep it at home.
• Can you cash a cheque for me? • You’ll have to find somebody
to guarantee the overdraft. • When was this cheque credited to
my account? • I handed the money to the cashier. • He drew a
cheque on his current account and paid it into the credit of his
savings account. • The bank was closed, and so I couldn’t cash

the cheque. • How much has the bank deducted from the account
for service charges? • You may need to use the house as security
for the loan. • His money is drawing interest in the bank.
***
50 F luency in Travel E ngl ish
Chapter 4
Fluency in Travel English

I’m now going to give you a collection of word groups that have
to do with travelling or with making a journey — that is, with
going from one place to another or from place to place.
There are a large number of vocabulary items and a few
grammatical patterns that frequently occur when fluent people
speak about travel-related topics. The word groups given below
would help you master them. Go through the word groups and
utter each word group ALOUD — several times. Keep up with this
practice until you can utter all the word groups smoothly and
with no hesitation. Here we go:
Group 1
• Our plan was to leave early in the morning. • I’m planning
to fly to Singapore next month. • Last month we did (or made)
a sight-seeing tour. • The tourist season is at its height in August
and September. • It’ll cost you Rs. 3,000 or so to fly to Delhi.
• You needn’t add any tips. • Can I have a room for the night,
please? • Please book me on the evening flight, will you? •
You’ll have to book well in advance. • If we don’t book now, we
probably won’t get a flight. • Last year we made a coach tour of
Madhya Pradesh. • The Air India flight was cancelled, and we
had to book on another airline. • I think I’ll have to make a trip
to Delhi this weekend. • The flight leaves at 4, so check-in is at
about 3.45 or so. • Holiday prices are lower out of season.
• Let’s not take much luggage — let’s travel light. • Are you
travelling first class or second? • We went on a guided tour of
the museum. • Where are you going for your holidays? • What’s
the price of a flight to London at the moment? • Let’s go on an
outing this weekend. • They stopped over in London for a day on
the way to New York. • The price of the holiday includes flights
F luenc y in Travel E ngl ish 51
and accommodation. • They travelled the length and breadth of

Africa. • They put us up for the night. • I want to be sure of flying
tomorrow. • Can you book a ticket for me? • This is where we get
on the bus. • What flight is it? BA438? • There, we did a tour of
the ruins. • The hotel is convenient for the beach. • He’s going to
Bombay tomorrow on business. • When does the Air India flight
take off? • I didn’t bring that big bag. I wanted to travel light,
you know.
• That’s an overnight train. • I did a one-month tour in
France. • Did you have a good journey? • When did you get
back from holiday? • Do you want to fly first or economy
class? • We had an outing to the seaside last week. • There’s
a small additional charge for the use of the swimming pool. •
We missed the 4 o’clock bus. • We checked in at the hotel last
night. • We haven’t any single rooms left. • He always travels
first class. • All the arrangements have been made. • Do you
have room reservations? • We got a guide to take us round the
sights. • What would you do if the flight was cancelled? • In
the afternoon, we made a tour of the palace. • It was a good
hotel, but it was rather noisy. • He was carrying a rucksack on
his back. • Transport facilities are good in that area. • We often
have last-minute cancellations. • It’s a long train journey from
here to there. • I’m thinking of going on holiday next month. •
When will you be going? Next month? • They’ve gone on a trip
to the seaside. • He left home to travel, and he was hoping for
excitement and adventure. • I don’t like bus journeys much. I’d
rather travel in a car. • You’ll be served breakfast in your room.
• Let’s go first class this time. Don’t book second class. • He’s
due to arrive on the morning flight. • There are no vacancies on
the flight. • The price of the holiday includes accommodation
and breakfast. • We must go on a tour of the museum tomorrow.
• I’ll need some extra money for the holidays. • We joined the
passengers waiting to get on the bus. • I helped him carry his
luggage to the train. • What are your hotel rates?
• This is a long flight. • We broke our journey at Nagpur.

• They had nothing to declare, and they went straight through
customs. • We’re going to Kashmir for our holidays. • I’m
planning a short holiday, maybe a week or so. • The beach was
packed with people. • We spent two days in Delhi, and after
that, we went to Agra. • I had to run fast to catch the bus. • You
needn’t trouble to meet me. I’ll hire a car and come. • This time
he’s going by air. • Would you like a single room or double? •
There are no vacancies in the hotel. • We stayed at a hotel by
the sea. • You’ll have to book in advance if you’re travelling by
train. • He’s touring (in) Singapore. • Which way is north? • Is
it cheaper by train? • The Bombay flight arrives at noon. • While
we are in Delhi, we should visit Agra.
• We did the trip in two stages. • We stayed two nights at
that hotel. • How long would you like to stay? • Did you have a
good journey? • The journey should take about five hours. • The
journey is quicker by land than by sea. • All our rooms have been
reserved. • I’d like a room with a view over the city. • I’d like to
go. But it’s such an expensive journey. • Are there any places left
on that flight? • There was a rail strike, so we had no choice but
to stay on in Bombay. • He saw us off at the station. • He isn’t
old enough to travel alone. • Kodaikanal is full of tourists in the
summer. • Sorry, we’re fully booked for the night. Why don’t
you try the XYZ hotel? • When we were in Delhi, last month, we
visited the Red Fort.
Group 2
• This ticket is valid for any flight on that route. • Last year
they went on pilgrimage to Haridwar. • It’s quicker to travel by
train. • I’ll have to catch the evening flight to Bombay. • When
is it you’d like to leave? • I went on a long train journey last
month. • That’s an expensive country to visit. • Train is much
quicker. • Let’s not travel by air — let’s travel over land. • Sorry,
we’re fully booked up. • I can try to find another hotel for you,
if you like. • I have an open ticket for that route. • We made
the booking a month in advance. • Did you manage to make a

booking? • We’re planning to book into the XYZ hotel on Friday
evening. • We saw some amazing sights at the zoo. • The train
was delayed for hours and the wait seemed endless. • Be sure to
call and confirm your flight at least 48 hours before departure.
• I’ll look you up when I come to Delhi. • (At a hotel:) You have
a reservation for me for today. • Ahmed is thinking of making
a pilgrimage to Mecca. • This time let’s travel in comfort. • We
spent a lot of our holiday sight-seeing in Delhi.
• There’s one thing with the British Airways flight. The time
might be more convenient for us. • It’s a day’s journey by bus.
• I did some cross-words to amuse myself on the journey. • It’ll
cost you to go by train, so why not go by bus? • We didn’t break
the journey — we travelled non-stop. • Is there a dining car on
the train? • Is there a direct flight from Bombay to Rome? • Can
you hold the rooms for us till tomorrow? • Don’t hurry; we’re
not late. • We got off the bus at the last stop. • We left town last
night on a bus. • That hotel offers a range of leisure activities. • I
went with them to see the sights of Delhi. • Cost is an important
element when we’re thinking of holidays. • What’s the departure
time of the flight? • Is there a connecting flight to Rome? • I
went and saw him when I was in Bombay last week. • The flight
is fully booked. • Every year thousands of pilgrims visit Mecca.
• Everyone except Smitha is going on the trip. • We’re thinking
of going on a conducted tour. • The Air India flight leaves much
earlier, at 5.45 a.m. • Can you drive me to the station? • 10% will
be added on to your bill as a service charge. • We didn’t break the
journey anywhere — we travelled through. • The journey won’t
cost you a penny if you go with them. • Could you arrange for
Mr. Desai to be met at the airport? • Can you call a taxi for me?
• He had already booked us in at the XYZ hotel. • I enjoyed the
holiday enormously. • My baggage is missing. • Our car broke
down on the way, and we had to hitch a ride to Madras on a lorry.
• The most direct route is through the city centre. • I got on the
train at Pune. • I got on at Pune. • What kind of transportation is
available from airport into town? • I came across an old friend in

Goa. • I’d like to take an earlier flight back if possible. • We went
for a sail in the evening.
• You needn’t concern yourself with the hotel booking. The
travel agent will take care of it. • He took us to see the sights of
Bombay. • And the other flight — when’s that? • We’re going on
a guided tour tomorrow. • The train had just left when we got to
the station. • We made an overnight stop at Pune. • The plane
was an hour late. • You had better take a taxi from the airport.
• They were put up at the Holiday Inn. • They put up at the
Dwaraka Hotel. • That hotel may not be too luxurious, but quite
comfortable. • Can I hitch a lift with you as far as the station?
• The hotel wasn’t very good. We had expected better. • I got
off the train at Dadar. • I’m catching a plane to London at 4.00
p.m. • He makes several business visits to Bombay every month.
• My name’s on the waiting list. • Visitors are not allowed to
take photographs there. • What time is the plane due? • He has
gone off on his travels again. • I spent my holidays touring. • I
spent my holidays touring Kerala. • That flight leaves rather late
in the evening. • We can’t afford a holiday abroad. • There was
a wonderful view from the top of the hill. • We stayed the night
at Lucknow. • I’d like to change a flight-booking, please. • I’m
planning to leave in about two week’s time. But I haven’t made a
booking yet. • They offered to put us up for the night. • The next
day we continued our journey. • Have you packed your stuff?
• Should I hire a car? • I love to go travelling. • Is she well
enough to travel? • If we average 50 kilometers per hour, we
should arrive at about 2 o’clock. • Hasn’t the train come in yet? •
I want to go to the airport. • She’s too ill to travel. • We found a
guide, and he knew the city well. • Did you enjoy your stay at the
hotel? • I want to travel and see something of life. • We’re going
to go touring this weekend. • That’s a ticket on the Air India and
not on the British Airways. • He’s due to land at 4 o’clock. • If
you want to go in June, you had better book your tickets now. •
I want to go on a world tour. • Would you like to go on the trip
this evening? • I’ll check with the airline. • We made camp for
the night by a river. • It’s cheaper by bus than by train. • Can I
pay by credit card? • He loves travelling. • I’m going on holiday
next month. • I’ve booked a double room at XYZ hotel. • I’d like
a taxi in about half an hour’s time. • We travelled 500 kilometres
or so yesterday. • I flew here from Bombay last night. • You need
a guide to show you the castle. • Car hire is very expensive there.
• We stayed overnight at a friend’s house. • What would it cost if
I flew Air India? Rs. 8,000? • We loaded our baggage into the car.
• When I went to Delhi, I went on a few trips to places nearby.
• I’m booked on an Air India flight to London this Thursday. It
looks as though I’ll have to change my booking. • Could you
book that flight for me, then? • Let’s go camping. • There’s a
frequent bus service from the city centre to the airport. • What’s
the public transport like? • Do trains and buses run frequently?
• He has travelled the whole country. • I’ll do my packing in the
morning. • The train got in very late. • He’s expected to arrive in
Bombay by 11.00 a.m. • Let’s go and wander about the hills.
• Can you find us a good hotel? • When you leave the plane
you’ll have to go through customs and immigration. • We were
given a tour of the place. • The British Airways flight would be
slightly more — Rs. 9,500 or so. • From Madras, we went to
excursions to a few places nearby. • Is there a bank near here
where I can change some traveller’s cheques? • You’ll have
to show your passport at the check-in desk. • They made an
overnight stop in London. • Buses don’t run frequently in that
area. • The time of the other flight is rather more convenient. •
We broke camp in the morning and left for home. • We missed
our connection to Singapore. • He’s planning to write an account
of his travels. • Do you have a single room free for Friday night?
• What time did you start out? • What’s the changed departure
time? • We’re touring round Goa during our holidays this year.
• Several airlines fly the same route. • We spent the night
at a hotel. • What time does the train get in, do you know? •
What about the return flight? • Let’s make an excursion to the
mountains. • It’s a long way to drive. Why don’t we take a train?

• We put up our tents by a river. • I think this time-table is out-of-
date. • And when’ll you be returning? • That night, we camped
in the hills. • When the bus stopped, we all got off. • This holiday
has been excellent value for money. • Have you booked your
flight yet? • We travelled over by car. • I’m looking for a cheap
hotel for the night. • I’ll leave buying the tickets to you. • Can
you give me a lift into town? • You can fly on the morning flight.
• Where are you bound for? Bombay? • The arrival time of the
flight is 4.30. • I left the key at reception. • I left the key at the
desk. • He likes travelling on his own. • The plane got in at 5
o’clock. • The other flight lands in the evening. • Last month I
made a journey to Bombay. • Baggage should be checked in at
least an hour before the flight. • Let’s pitch camp here. • Are
there any seats left? • That’s an expensive hotel. • We went to
Goa for a holiday. • I’d like to go on holiday, but I can’t find the
money. • He took us on a tour of the city. • We’ll visit Goa on our
way home. • He blew all his savings on a trip to Goa. • I’ll leave
it you to buy the tickets. • He’s arriving on the evening flight.
***
Speaking about Food and Drink 57
Chapter 5
Speaking about Food and Drink

You’re now going to get a collection of word groups that have to
do with food and drink. These are high-frequency word groups
and will be of great use to you in everyday situations — at home
and outside.
Remember this: If you want to speak fluently about a
particular topic in a particular language, it’s not enough if you’re
fluent in a general way in that language. You must also have
good command of the vocabulary and grammatical patterns that
are habitually used in that language to speak about that topic.
And if you want to speak fluently in English about topics that
have to do with food and drink, you need to get practice in saying
the word groups that you’re now going to get.
So this is what you must do now: Go through all the word
groups once or twice thoroughly. Then pick up each word group
and utter it ALOUD — several times.
Here we go for the word groups:
Group 1
• They’re having lunch. • She sat there licking the ice cream.
• She prepared a dish of spinach and tomatoes. • The pudding
won’t keep — you’d better finish it off. • He ate the cutlet in one
bite. • That was a heavy meal — I shouldn’t have eaten so much.
• Can you fry an egg for me? • Can you make a salad? • I had a
big breakfast. • Is the food ready yet? • She sliced the cucumber.
• She likes her eggs hard-boiled. • She cooked us a nice hot
dinner. • Some kinds of food soon spoil. • The kettle’s boiling.
• She was munching her breakfast noisily. • Curries take a long
time to prepare. • He didn’t have time to go to the canteen, and
he missed his meal. • Add some more salt and pepper. That’ll
58 S peaking about Food and Drink
improve the taste. • When the phone rang the first time, I was
at lunch, and I didn’t feel like picking it up. • There’s too much
salt in this stew. • He gave a dinner for his friends last week. •
Peel me an orange, will you? • These lemons make good pickles.
• He took a bite out of his sandwich. • The meat was beautifully
cooked. • For dessert there are oranges. • Sweep the biscuit
crumbs off the table. • I don’t think he was hungry. He just sat
there pecking at his food. • Don’t forget to check the seasoning
in the curry before you serve it.
• He picked up a piece of meat and chewed at it. • He ate
up all the food and left none for me. • He took a few gulps of
coffee and hurried out. • He doesn’t eat meat. • How can I eat
dry bread? Don’t we have any butter or jam left? • Let’s pickle
the lemons. • I want my tea black. • I wonder how he manages
to tuck away so much food. • He drinks his tea without sugar.
• The tea was very hot and I sipped it slowly. • This fish has
a lot of bones in it. • I ate a big meal today. • She put all the
ingredients in a bowl and mixed them. • Boil an egg for me, will
you? • I’m hungry — my stomach is rumbling. • This milk tastes
sour. • The dessert was apple. • They had no food of any kind in
the house. • Have you chopped the onions yet? • This is hungry
work. • Digging up the garden is thirsty work. • Potatoes have
been cooked. Can you mash them for me? • The water’s boiling.
• He looks well, and he has a healthy appetite. • She hasn’t much
of an appetite. • He’s a glutton — he won’t leave any of the food
for the rest of us. • There’s a sour taste in my mouth. • The soup
needs more flavouring. • And then, they sat down to eat. • That’s
a buffet lunch; you’ll have to serve yourself. • No, no. No more.
I’m full up. • The milk is (or has gone) off. Don’t use it. • This
bread is a bit stale. • He added a little chilli powder to the dish
to give a hot taste to it. • He’s ill and he’s off his food. • There
was no sugar, and we had to manage without. • Hurry — eat up.
We’re late. • The pudding was really filling — I felt really full. •
I’m not fond of salad.
• Slice the apple and chop it. • A mouthful of food went

down the wrong way and he started coughing. • She only ate
the tender pieces of meat. • The meat was very tough and
difficult to chew. • We ate in the hotel restaurant. • The food
was cold and tasteless. • I’ll eat at my hotel. • The dinner has
already been cooked. It just needs heating up. • They fed him
up after his illness. • When you go to the market, get some crisp
tomatoes and apples, will you? • She only had a light breakfast.
• I think we must teach the children how to behave at table. •
Please boil my egg hard. • She can make all kinds of snacks —
samosas, cutlets, idlis, dosas... • The stew tastes of garlic. • She
gave him a second helping of pudding. • Don’t eat so quickly. •
What’s for pudding? • He sat there and finished off the cake. •
He swallowed a piece of meat without chewing it. • The milk’s
coming to the boil. • The cream has gone off — it has a sharp
taste. • I had toast and tea for breakfast. • The fillings in the cake
and the sandwich tasted nice. • Go on, have a little taste. • This
curry smells of garlic. • The cutlets smelt delicious. • We had fish
for lunch. • The cutlets had a mouth-watering smell. • I never
eat a big lunch. • The stew tastes strongly of ginger. • This bread
is mouldy. Don’t eat it. • Ask her to shell the peas. • He’s ill and
he has no appetite. • Do you take sugar? • The vegetable curry
had a very hot, spicy taste. • She only had a piece of the cake. •
The soup was strongly flavoured with pepper.
• She suffers badly from indigestion. • Chop a few cloves
of garlic. • This meat is very tough. • Don’t eat that soggy
sandwich. • This chicken curry is too hot for my taste. It’s full
of pepper. • Break two eggs, beat them and make an omelette. •
Season the soup with plenty of salt and pepper. • He swallowed
a mouthful of curd. • Don’t have the ice cream now, it’ll spoil
your appetite for dinner. • That was a heavy cake — it must have
caused the indigestion. • That restaurant specializes in Chinese
dishes. • She served him a generous portion of roast chicken. •
Let’s bake a cake, shall we? • Is there a pudding today? • Have a
taste of this cake. • Is there enough for four servings? There are
four guests. • Drink your tea while it’s still hot. • Here’s a crisp
cucumber. Let’s make a salad. • Can I have some mango chutney
with my pancake? • They finished off all the food before I could
get any. • First you must bring the water to the boil. • That was
a really lavish meal. • That smells appetizing. • He doesn’t need
any medicine now. What he needs is healthy, wholesome food. •
I haven’t tasted such a beautiful chicken curry for ages. • It tastes
sour. • The smell was tempting. • You must serve this sweet cold,
and not hot. • You’ve got egg on your face. Go and wash. • There
was a delicious smell from the kitchen, and it made our mouths
water. • They’ve asked me to dinner.
• Shell these peanuts, will you? • I like eating raw vegetables.
• Your hands smell of fish. • We have to buy some breakfast food.
• Don’t eat too much sugar. • There was no milk, and I had to
drink my coffee without. • He drank the whole bottle of water. •
The butter has gone off — it has a sharp smell. • Then she started
kneading the dough. • He stirred his coffee with a spoon. • He
picked up the cake and bit into it. • This meat is very tender and
easy to chew. • We broke for lunch for an hour at 1 o’clock and
then reassembled at 2. • We’re eating out tonight. • The cake
was rather soggy — I didn’t like it. • I didn’t like the soup. There
wasn’t enough seasoning in it. • That banana had a boring taste.
• I’m full — I can’t eat another mouthful. • I have a terrific thirst.
• The butter has gone bad. It smells stale. • She served the fish
with a few slices of lemon. • I had a meal of rice and chicken
curry. • She spread a slice of bread with butter. • She spread
butter on a slice of bread. • Can you shell this egg, please? It’s a
hard-boiled one. • She threw the leftovers to the dog.
Group 2
• Put some pepper in it — that’ll give it more taste. • Ask
everybody to come. Dinner is served. • Can I have a drink of
water? • I was at breakfast, and then the door opened and they
came in. • I’m starving! Is the grub ready yet? • She served the
snacks hot. • The kettle’s on the boil. • I’ll have my coffee a bit
weaker. • Don’t make my tea too strong. • They ate at the first
serving (or sitting) and we at the second serving (or sitting). •
I’d like a small taste. • It tastes bitter. • Is there egg in this ice
cream? • She bakes mouth-watering cakes. • He didn’t eat much
dinner. • Cut the bread and make some toast. • She served out
the soup to the children. • Give me my eggs raw and not boiled.
• The pudding looked very tempting. • They sell all kinds of baby
foods and health foods. • He always eats with a knife and fork. •
He took a bite out of the apple. • She served the portions with a
lavish hand. • The food was awful.
• Have you stirred the cake mixture thoroughly? • She’s in
the kitchen, peeling the potatoes. • First let’s have a bite to eat. •
I like to eat a lot of salads. • I didn’t like the meat. It was smelly.
• He took a drink of water. • He swallowed the curd in a (or one)
mouthful. • Add some pepper, salt and other seasonings to the
soup — that’ll improve its flavour. • The kitchen smelt strongly
of fish. • He was hungry after his long walk. • The butter has
gone (or turned) rancid. • She cooked the vegetables with some
hot-tasting spices. • Cut the pie into four portions, will you? •
He only had a snack at lunch time. • Have you served coffee to
all the guests? • I had a black coffee with sugar. • She’s on a
diet — she wants to reduce her weight. • Let’s make a stew out
of the leftovers. • Let’s heat (or heat up) the soup. It’s cold now.
• I’ve forgotten when I last had a good meal. • The tarts you
made last time had coverings of pastry. • The eggs won’t take
long to fry. • Cut these apples into halves and those apples into
quarters. • Can I have a second helping? • It tastes sweet. • We
usually feed our kitchen scraps to our dog. • The meat tasted like
mutton. • That’s a tasty dish. • Have a smell of this milk. Does
it smell all right? • That’s a nice chicken curry. • He ate a few
mouthfuls of food and rushed out of the house. • She prepared a
dish of fish and vegetables. • The factory canteen serves plain but
wholesome meals. • What delicious food! • Most of the mangoes
were mellow, but some of them were still green and hard. • This
recipe will be enough for three servings. • Is this coffee sugared?
• There’s a smell of cooking. • He didn’t like the food, but he got

it down somehow. • It was an atrocious meal.
• She gave him a handful of peanuts. • I’m absolutely
famished. I haven’t had a bite to eat all day. • Would you like some
peanuts — salted peanuts? • She made some chicken sandwiches.
• He picked up a piece of cake and chewed on it. • He only had a
drink of water. • He didn’t eat the pastry coverings of the pies. •
She put ginger, cinnamon, cumin and other spices into the curry
to give it flavour. • The doctor has asked him to avoid butter and
other fatty foods. • After all that work, I was very hungry. • We
had crispy fried chicken for lunch. • I only had time for a snack
lunch. • He ate too much pastry. • This fish is very bony. • Do
you prefer savoury snacks or sweet snacks? • Have you peeled
the onions yet? • He had a bowl of porridge for breakfast. •
Today I had a large meal at lunch time. • After that, they served
us lunch. • Look at those crows waiting for food scraps. • It’s a
long journey, and we must have enough provisions. • The soup
is warming up on the stove. • The biscuits and cake tasted stale.
• We only have time for a quick snack. • The coffee is too strong
I can hardly drink it. • This chicken needs some more spice. •
Can you taste the garlic in this curry? • Look at these cutlets.
Don’t they make your mouth water? • This dish doesn’t taste
good without vinegar. • I think this rice is over-cooked. That’s
why he hasn’t eaten it. • That’s a nice rice pudding. • I liked the
cream filling in the chocolate. • I don’t like meat if it’s not very
well done. • Cut me a piece of cake, will you?
• I had a strong black coffee, and it has left a bitter taste
in the mouth. • What’s that delicious smell? • You can flavour
the curry with pepper. • He eats the plainest of foods. • I had
a savoury pancake, and she had a sweet one. • Where do you
usually lunch? • These apples are not ripe enough to eat. They’re
still green. • Have you taken food yet? • Have you started your
baby on solids yet? • I feel like a coffee. • He picked up the
apple and took a large bite out of it. • Ask her to lay the table for
lunch. • We had ice cream for dessert. • The cake has jam filling.
• What kind of eats did you have at the party? • She boned the
chicken and started cooking it. • Don’t have too many sweets
— you won’t want your dinner! • I like bread, but I don’t like to
eat the crusts. • What’s for dinner? • She’s a rotten cook. • She
flavoured the curry with chillies. • He started chewing a piece of
toast. • She’s ill and she has completely lost her appetite. • Let’s
chop up the onions. • Ginger makes digestion easier. • These
cakes are tasty. • Would you like black coffee or white coffee? •
She put a chocolate in her mouth and started sucking it. • The
food was awful. • Milk is certainly a good food. • I didn’t eat the
cake. It was mouldy and dry. • He told me about it over coffee.
• We ate a buffet lunch. • The meal was nothing fancy, but the
portions were generous. • That smells delicious. • I added a little
salt to it to improve the flavour. • The helpings are generous in
that restaurant.
Group 3
• I feel like having something — something small and light,
like crisps. • He wasn’t hungry and he sat nibbling at his food.
• Look at these vegetables. Aren’t they fresh and crisp? • She
served us tea and cakes. • These snacks have sweet fillings inside.
• I don’t like to eat vegetables when they’re over-cooked. I like
my vegetables lightly cooked. • That was a tasty meal. • They’re
young and they have healthy appetites. • I like good, plain food
— nothing fancy. • He doesn’t eat much breakfast. • How much
chilli did you put in the curry? • Drink up — hurry! • What was
the main dish? • We had a snack of coffee and biscuits. • She bit
off a piece of the chocolate. • This is good chutney. It has got a
bit of bite to it. • Two ice creams, please — one vanilla ice cream
and one chocolate ice cream. • I have a very poor digestion. •
We have a guest. Lay a place at table for him. • They served us
soup, a main meal and a sweet. • That’s a tasty dish. How did
you make it? • I’m very thirsty — I need a long cool drink. • They
served us crisp toasted sandwiches for tea. • Let’s make some
toast for breakfast. • I didn’t like the food. It had almost no taste
or flavour. • I like spiced food. • The dinner smells good. • He

had salt porridge for breakfast. • Add salt and pepper to taste.
• He doesn’t like dishes that are mild in flavour. • He sat there
sucking on an orange. • You can eat it either raw or cooked. •
Have you fed the baby yet? • I think it’s a rotten egg. Don’t use
it. • She was cooking dinner (or the dinner). • The pancake had
a savoury filling inside. • Taste this and tell me if it’s too sweet.
• She hadn’t cut the crusts off when she made the sandwiches. •
She gave me a large helping of pudding.
• Did you sugar my coffee? • This stew doesn’t taste very
nice. • I had toast and eggs for breakfast. • The snacks were not
sweet — they had a spicy taste. • Have some more toast. • Warm
the plates before you serve the food. • Don’t let your dinner get
cold. • He peeled the banana and ate it. • I didn’t like the soup.
It was tasteless. • She sliced a cucumber. • He was tired and
hungry. • She’s fond of cooking. • You must only eat bland food
until you get well again. • He’s gone to (or for) lunch. • She
saved some food for later. • Drink up your milk! • One tomato
soup and one chicken soup, please. • Put these vegetables in the
fridge, so they’ll stay fresh. • Come and eat your lunch — or it’ll
spoil. • Either eat your carrots or you go without ice cream. •
She squeezed an orange or two and made me a glass of juice. •
I had breakfast on the train. • What was the main course? • She
sat there munching chocolates. • He sat there munching at (or
on) an apple. • She sat there munching an apple. • She served
us an interesting dish containing spinach and tomatoes. • Come
on, stop talking so much, and eat nicely. • There’ll be a stop for
refreshments on the way.
• That’s a rich cake. Don’t eat too much of it — it may cause
indigestion. • She flavoured the chicken curry with lemon juice.
• We had fruit and custard for dessert. • He’s a big eater. • He
gulped down his tea and hurried out. • The food is good at this
restaurant. • Don’t let the food go to waste — finish it off. •
Would you like some more cabbage? • She squeezed a little
lemon juice in to the tea. • I had a late lunch today. • He’s a fussy
eater. • Can you make me a glass of lime juice? • Would you like
a glass of lime juice? • Would you like a glass of lemon? • The
meeting started at 9, and there was a break for refreshments at
11. • Have some more spinach. • The food will spoil if you don’t
keep it in the fridge. • Pass me the toast, will you? • She eats the
most nourishing food, but she still looks thin. • Rich restaurant
meals are not good for your health. • I didn’t like that soup — it
was very bland. • Stop talking and get on with your breakfast.
Or you’ll be late for school. • He licked the last of the ice cream
off his plate. • Put the meat in the fridge — or it won’t keep till
tomorrow. • They usually eat off china plates. • Put the rest of
that food in the fridge — we can eat it later. • We’ll have to find a
way of getting some food. We can’t let the children go hungry. •
I had a lick at the ice cream. • She cut up the fish and salted the
pieces lightly. • This kind of rice cooks more quickly. • You must
mix flour, fat and water into a dough and roll it flat. • Can’t we
have lunch now? • I’m starving. • My mouth watered when I saw
that cake. • We get a good meal in our canteen. • I’ll meet you
during the lunch break. • Shall I make tea (or the tea)? • She
makes wonderful puddings.
• I don’t like my vegetables very well-done. • Shall I warm
up the dinner? • The coffee had a bitter taste. • These salted
mangoes will keep for months. • She threw away the rotten
fruit and vegetables. • This tea has a wonderful flavour. • The
meal began only when everybody had been served. • Look at the
way the price of the foodstuffs is going up. • She served some
snacks with coffee — they had a salty flavour. • My stomach was
rumbling for lunch. • What are we having for dinner? • Brush
the cake crumbs off the table. • Taste and see if this soup needs
more salt. • We’ve run out of butter and jam — you’ll have to
eat dry toast. • They serve excellent lunches in this restaurant. •
They serve excellent dinners there. • I can’t eat this orange — it’s
bitter. • These bananas are not yet ripe. They’re too green to eat.
• She shaped the dough into rolls. • She had some tea and buns.
• Leave the potatoes to boil for about 20 minutes. • We’ll discuss
it over lunch. • These oranges are completely rotten. Don’t eat

them. • There’s no food left — you’ll just have to go hungry. •
The biscuits were crisp and delicious. • What kind of filling do
you want in the sandwiches? • You can’t have the whole cake —
don’t be so greedy. • That was a marvellous meal. • You can cook
it by frying or grilling. • He can’t take solids — he’s too ill. • I’ll
have rice and chicken curry, and ice cream to follow, please. • To
follow, I’ll have fruit salad, please.
***
Everyday po l itics 67
Chapter 6
Everyday politics
Even if you’re a person who has no interest in politics, you’ll
often find yourself in situations where you have to say something
or other touching politics. For example, from time to time, almost
everyone would find themselves having to express their opinion
and say what they feel about the way a country is governed or
about certain politicians and political parties.
Here’s a collection of word groups that are typically found
used in these situations. These word groups would help you get
a good command of the vocabulary items and patterns that are
common in politics-related speech.
Do oral practice with these word groups exactly in the same
way as you’ve been doing oral practice with the word groups
given under other topics. Here we go:
• A less centralized government would be a weak government,
I think. • All this is against communist teachings and practices. •
An alliance between the opposition parties can certainly change
the government. • Are you planning to stand for Parliament?
• Did you vote in/at this election? • Do the ideas of socialists
and communists differ very much? • Do you expect a heavy poll
this time? • Do you think the electorate are fools? • Don’t ask
me who I voted for. • Don’t fail to vote. • Don’t you think party
politics is actually a divisive evil? • Have they announced the
winning candidate? • He argued against socialism. • He came
here yesterday to canvass votes. • He dealt with the crisis with
real statesmanship. • He doesn’t want to involve himself in local
politics. • He follows Marxist ideology. • He has left his party and
has joined another. • He has never been defeated at the polls. •
He has never taken part in politics. • He has strong socialist ties.
• He voted left. • He was a great statesman of the time. • He was
our Home Minister, and he used to support moderate views. • He
68 E veryday po l itics
won by a majority of 15, 000. • He’s a conservative politician. •

He’s a former Secretary of State, and he’s running for President.
• He’s a hardliner, and his political opinions are extreme. • He’s a
liberal politician. • He’s a member of our party. • He’s a politician
with centrist views. • He’s a well-known politician.
• He’s against the capitalist system and way of life. • He’s
anti-fascist. • He’s been a communist since childhood. • He’s
been struggling all his life for workers’ rights. • He’s campaigning
for the privatization of those industries. • He’s going to be our
party’s candidate. • He’s planning to retire from politics. • He’s
pro-left in his views. • He’s pro-revolution. • He’s the leader of
the opposition. • He’s very active in student politics. • He’s very
left-wing in these matters. • He’s well to the left on most subjects.
• He’s well to the right on most of these issues. • He’s with the
left wing of the party. • Her son is aiming for a political career.
• Her son is thinking of going into politics.• Here’s a party that
stands only for keeping things as they are. • His only interest is
international politics. • His party is likely to win this election. •
His politics are well to the left of centre. • His popularity seems
to have declined. • How many votes did these candidates poll?
• I think the new party wants to avoid extremism. • I voted
against him. • I wonder how long this government could survive.
• If only these political parties showed moderation and a sense
of responsibility! • If you want them to vote you in at the next
election, you must do something for them now. • In a way,
nationalism is the major cause of most wars. • Is he a strong
candidate? • It was not a statesmanlike decision. • Local politics
doesn’t interest him. • Look at those people. They’re going to the
polls. • Many of them are politically moderate. • Most MPs seem
to be in favour of the new law.
• Most of them are not going to cast their votes. • Most of
them are on the left-wing of the party. • Most people are cynical
about politics. • None of those parties favour social democracy.
• One candidate has polled 40% of the votes. • Only national
politics interest him. • Our MP has resigned, and there will soon
Everyday po l itics 69
be a by-election. • Our party demands social equality. • Our

party favours less state control. • She voted for them. • She’s
standing against him in this election. • She’s very right-wing/
left-wing in these matters. • Social care of the people by the
state — that’s what our party stands mainly for. • Some of these
are communist ideas. • That’s a party divided by faction and
intrigue. • That’s an effective way of preventing dictatorship. •
The alliance of socialists and communists may field more than
200 candidates. • The election campaign has already begun.
• The election results will be known in an hour or so. • The
government is going to be defeated in the next election. • The
government is going to be voted out this election. • The main
opposition parties are against this move. • The new government
is planning to bring in several reforms. • The new party favours
middle-of-the-road political views. • The party is divided on how
to deal with the situation. • The party is going to split down
the middle. • The party is split on the issue. • The party tries to
stick to radical views and opinions. • The people are going to
elect us/our party. • The people have started rising against the
new government. • The people will soon start revolting against
the government. • The Prime Minister can’t ignore the protests
from the opposition. • The right-wing of the party is against all
changes. • Their economic policies have not been a success.
• Their party favours greater personal freedom. • Their party
favours state ownership of most of the important industries. •
Their party has been losing support in the polls recently. • Their
party has broken into two factions. • Their party is planning to
resist the reforms. • Their party is in opposition now. • Their
party is neither left nor right. • Their party is neither part of the
government nor in parliament. • Their party lost the last election.
• Their party seems to have given up its centrist policies.• Their
political views are fairly middle-of-the-road. • Theirs is a minor
political party with extremist views. • There have been several
demonstrations against the government recently. • There will be
only a light poll this time. • These are political matters. • These
70 E veryday po l itics
are some of the principles our party favours. • They counted the
ballots/ballot papers once again by hand. • They have radical
views on this issue, and they’re asking for complete and thorough
political change. • They represent socialists. • They want most
of the industries under state ownership. • They’re conservatives,
and they want things to stay pretty much as they are.
• They’re fascists, and they don’t favour any political change.
• They’re middle-of-the road politicians, and their views are
not extreme. • They’re moderates, and they have no extreme
views. • They’re our voting public. • They’re planning to reform
the electoral system. • They’re reactionaries, and they’ve been
preventing changes. • They’re trying to defend the political
position of their party. • They’ve been trying to prevent a split
in the party. • They’ve begun to count the votes. • They’ve won
a convincing victory in the elections. • This election is certainly
going to be a test of the public’s confidence in the government.
• This idea has been a powerful force in Indian politics. • This
is a clear mandate to the government to continue the reforms.
• This is a national movement, and it’s gaining strength day by
day. • This is nothing but the old colonial system developing in
a slightly different form. • This situation is nothing but political
anarchy — nobody is paying attention to rules or laws. • Use your
vote wisely. • We want to keep the society as free as possible. •
We’re against extremism in politics. • What a lot of changes have
been introduced by this government in a short time! • What a lot
of political changes have happened in a short time! • What are
the principles of your party? • When are they going to gain real
political freedom? • When is the general election going to be?
• Why are most public affairs mishandled like this? • Why does
the party want the banking sector nationalized? • You have the
power to vote. Use it wisely. • You’ve been elected by us, and you
must act according to our wishes. • I feel your party has become
too radical.
***
be-clusters for genera l fluenc y 71
Chapter 7
be-clusters
for general fluency
In this chapter, you’re going to get an exhaustive collection of a
particular type of word clusters that we’ll call “be-clusters”. I’ve
called them be-clusters, because they all begin with a word that
is a form of be. And roughly speaking, you can take the word be
to stand for am, is, are, was, were, been and being.
Thus, for example, the be-cluster be in the army can be used
in clauses like “(He) is in the army”, “(They) are in the army”,
etc. In the first of these two clauses, the word be appears as is;
and in the second clause, be appears as are.
Many of the be-clusters beginning with be itself (rather than
with any other of its forms am, is, are, was, were, been and being)
also occur quite frequently followed by the words to, can, could,
may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought, used to, need
and had better. Many be-clusters also occur quite frequently
followed by the negatives of can, could, may, might, shall, should,
will, would, must, ought, used to, need and had better – that is,
after cannot, could not etc.
Thus, for example, the be-cluster “be the truth” can occur
after to, cannot and must in clauses like “That is said to be the
truth”, “That can’t be the truth”, “That must be the truth” etc.
Group 1
be in a lot of pain; • be perched (high) on a cliff; • be consumed
with guilt; • be 50,00,000 rupees in the red; • be faced with a
choice; • be a good shot; • be troubled with stomach ulcer; • be
associated with a particular point of view; • be worried to death;
• be back; • be having a baby; • be haunted by guilt; • be good
fun; • be imprinted on your mind; • be all set (for sth); • be in
72 be -c lusters for genera l fluenc y
a job; • be worth the trouble; • be involved in a complicated

affair; • be in labour; • be in charge of doing sth; • be dressed in
white; • be enough to go around; • be a challenge; • be (really)
in a bind; • be mixed up in a row; • be full of praise for…; • be
stripped of your rank; • be just talk; • be simplicity itself; • be an
issue; • be in full retreat; • be going to have a baby; • be mixed
up in terrorist activities; • be loud in your opposition; • be in a
class of your own; • be made of a mixture of cotton and silk; •
be a great success; • be in a different league (from sb/sth); • be
the reason; • be next in line; • be out of it; • be full of pity; • be
an honour to do sth; • be in use; • be worth a great deal etc; •
be of the opinion that …; • be stacked in piles; • be the victim of
an attack; • be out of practice.
• be simple to make; • be on first name terms (with sb); •
be a past master in/of sth; • be injured in an incident; • be sb’s
birthday; • be in the shadow; •be in debt (to sb); • be square;
• be easy to find; • be bitten by the cooking bug; • be in line
with a policy; • be in charge of an agency; •be the subject of
much/some debate; • be keen on sport; • be subject to stringent
regulations by sb; • be sb’s superior; • be ready for a fight; • be
red; • be sth of a novelty; • be burnt to ashes; • be difficult to
find; • be a matter of conjecture; • be open to negotiation; • be
on the verge of collapse; • be out of sb’s league; • be in the lead;
• be of (no) concern to sb; • be in need of a reform; • be in at
the (dramatic) finish; • be full of praise for sb/sth; • be of benefit
to sb/sth; • be fit for a king; • be accused of killing sb; • be in
the mail; • be a (good/bad etc) influence; • be well rid of sb/
sth; • be exposed to a virus; • be named minister; • be round in
shape; • be booked on/onto a flight; • be pitch dark; • be a size
too small (for sb); • be master of sth; • be unable to travel; • be
at an advantage; • be a step ahead of sb; • be worth the time;
• be under sb’s spell; • be the deputy (of a school, etc.); • be in
fear of sth/doing sth; • be missing in action; • be a size too big
(for sb); • be exploiting a situation; • be short of supplies; • be in
no condition to do sth; • be brothers; • be good practice for sth;
be -c lusters for genera l fluenc y 73
• be full of hope; • be (a) hot favourite for sth; • be wrapped in

bandages; • be singing from the same hymn book; • be on death
row; • be entitled to a pension.
• be sent to jail; • be in an dreadful state; • be wanted on the
telephone; • be destroyed by fire; • be double in size; • be bad
for your health; • be on the throne; • be open to the elements;
• be a relative of sb; • be strewn with corpses; • be against a
motion; • be mirrored in/on sb’s face; • be a total ban on sth;
• be sb’s responsibility; • be the same age as sb; • be imagining
things; • be kept in an institution; • be smashed to bits; • be a
long, etc. summer; • be in an awful state; • be wrinkled with
age; • be destroyed by a bomb; • be near (to) tears; • be in
charge of the community affairs; • be entitled to maternity leave;
• be an angry exchange of views; • be subjected to harassment;
• be called to the telephone; • be have a relationship; • be good
at division; • be well camouflaged; • be away from school; • be
of special interest (to sb); • be jailed for life; • be in league with
sb; • be in fashion; • be in a position of authority; • be frantic
with worry; • be out of luck; • be full of enthusiasm; • be left
fuming; • be none of sb’s business; • be lovers; • be on a list; •
be all right; • be filled with passion (for sb); • be an angel; • be
represented by counsel; • be under no illusion(s); • be at work; •
be in pain; • be on (your) best behaviour; • be home to; • be full
of tales about sth; • be in working order; • be a soldier; • be 50
years of age; • be against the rules; • be attached to a research,
etc. unit; • be in goal; • be in favour of doing sth; • be on the
scent; • be concerned about the environment; • be worth a great
deal; • be of particular interest; • be in power; • be the victim of
a crime; • be the truth; • be responsible for all arrangements; •
be duty bound to do sth; • be called to a meeting; • be in good
voice; • be split; • be of age.
• be within range; • be on sb’s side; • be destroyed by an
explosion; • be in for a treat; • be blind to sb’s faults; • be 2 games
etc ahead; • be worthy of note; • be in breach of contract; • be
asking a particular price for sth; • be exposed to the elements;
• be a personality; • be a living hell; • be all your (own) fault;

• be of low quality; • be in flames; • be well advised to do sth;
• be in a meeting; • be in full agreement with sb; • be worth a
try; • be accused of a crime; • be in sb’s light; • be like a father
(to sb); • be full of tourists; • be frightened to death; • be (in) a
mess; • be imprinted on your memory; • be careful with (your)
money; • be sheltered from the elements; • be half the size; •
be associated with a particular cause; • be the next left; • be
given the floor; • be the first left; • be in great danger; • be the
solution; • be aware of the potential for sth; • be a major shift
(in attitude etc.); • be cold; • be open to a debate; • be no hero;
• be right in saying sth; • be economical to run; • be caused by a
lack of sth; • be separated from her husband; • be in big trouble;
• be fit for a queen; • be imprinted on your brain; • be powered
by electricity; • be at the leading edge of sth; • be in shape; •
be sick of sb’s behaviour; • be peopled by characters; • be in a
distressed state; • be caught on a camera; • be on the edge of
your seat; • be in accordance with a policy; • be first in line; •
be an outdoors, etc. man; • be trampled to death; • be of (no)
benefit to sb/sth; • be right in believing sth; • be available for
comment; • be scheduled to start; • be in love; • be in danger
of doing sth; • be up to your elbows in sth; • be under (heavy)
fire; • be armed with clubs; • be charged with an offence; • be
hostile to an idea etc; • be an officer; • be an idiot to do sth; •
be an (important, etc.) element; • be sb’s own fault; • be a cause
for concern; • be your duty to do sth; • be under attack; • be on
the same, etc. flight; • be worth it; • be of little significance; •
be behind the schedule; • be at college; • be filled with shelves;
• be of assistance; • be locked into a dispute (with sb); • be a
mess; • be set on sth; • be a man!; • be armed with a knife; •
be mine; • be above the law; • be lost at sea; • be a nuisance; •
be made from a mixture of flour, eggs and butter; • be worthy of
support; • be sb’s duty to do sth; •be complicated by a fact that
…; • be seeing things; • be rushed to hospital; • be detained in
custody; • be completely the opposite (of sth).
Group 2
• be shaped like sth; • be square with sb; • be out of your
mind with boredom; • be in danger of sth; • be very much in
love; • be in a relationship; • be dead set on sth; • be caught
up in a dispute, etc; • be smashed to pieces; • be on first name
terms with sb; • be no angel; • be 10 points ahead; • be no
accident that…; • be of poor quality; • be efficient at your job; •
be sent to prison; • be a piece of cake; •be in a position of power;
• be out of your mind with jealousy; • be in discussion with; •
be of no significance; • be out of food supplies; • be based on a
structure; • be a tidy sum; • be on a collision course with sth; •
be of the same mind (about); • be booked solid; • be quite an
occasion; • be open to suggestions; • be treated for an injury; •
be your own master; • be bad for sb’s image; • be the channel for
sth; • be a cross between; • be a mystery to sb; • be on speaking
terms (with sb).
• be in the public interest; • be in perfect working order; •
be through to the finals; • be under discussion; • be a cool/warm
evening; • be to blame (for sth); • be infected with a virus; •
be the brains behind sth; • be subject(ed) to an exam(ination);
• be poles apart; • be paralysed with fear; • be the complete
opposite (of sth); • be out of fashion; • be at university; • be
on a contract; • be visible in the skies; • be full of drama; • be
a mixture of; • be in the post; • be in sb’s way; • be drawn into
an argument; • be involved in a crime; • be on the board; • be
like a father to sb; • be in your (own) interest(s); • be rushed off
your feet; • be lit by electricity; • be remanded on bail; • be a big
draw; • be on the road of recovery; • be well looked after; • be
well represented; • be covered from head to foot/toe; • be lulled
into a false sense of security; • be the person responsible; • be
in danger; • be endowed with a great capacity (to do sth); • be
blighted by injury; • be set to do sth; • be on a council; • be all
in the past; • be run over; • be a close second; • be in transports
of delight; • be according to the schedule; • be mentioned in the
media; • be (only) part of the reason; • be used to the sight of;

• be sb’s shadow; • be bound by a convention; • be blind in one
eye; • be on a different plane; • be a waste of time?; • be at a
disadvantage; • be good for you; • be a sure sign of/(that); • be
sb’s elder by three months, etc; • be reduced to a pile of sth; •
be on drugs; • be reduced to the ranks; • be lined with shelves;
• be in charge of sb/sth; • be high in cholesterol; • be worth a
fortune; • be short for sth; • be quite a job; • be at your peak;
• be of sound body; • be in a different league from sb/sth; • be
in regular contact (with sb); • be short of funds; • be heavily in
debt; • be left standing; • be open to the public; • be struck off
(a roll); • be in training (for sth); • be my idea of heaven; • be
no exception; • be free from worry.
• be double the amount; • be involved in an argument; •
be a wonderful cook; • be a welcome addition (to sth); • be
remanded in custody; • be struck by lightning; • be in the way;
• be entirely your (own) fault; • be well matched; • be based
on detailed comparison; • be on holiday; • be at school; • be
a close finish; • be in a crash; • be under stress; • be dismayed
at/by the prospect; • be beset with problems; • be on time; • be
out of town; • be in for a surprise; • be handled by computers;
• be a size too large (for sb); • be in/at the (developmental)
phase; • be the reason why/(that); • be a (complete) failure; •
be responsible for the management (of sth); • be on a diet; • be
hard to find; • be covered by/with a layer; • be on a collision
course; • be delayed by minutes/ hours etc; • be all smiles; •
be in a sorry state; • be in sb’s favour; • be a promising pupil; •
be a total failure; • be a heated exchange of views; • be largely
your (own) fault; • be given official recognition; • be all right
if sb does sth; • be overcome by/with emotion; • be admitted
to the inner circle; • be responsible for the staff; • be behind in
the polls; • be beset by troubles; • be fitted with a device; • be
laid up (in bed) with sth; • be eligible for a grant; • be in the
national interest; • be of no/little relevance to a situation, etc;
• be (out) on strike; • be involved in a movement; • be in a
temper; • be made from (out) of metal; • be no gentleman; • be

of little /no value sb; • be situated along the coast; • be worthy
of admiration; • be no easy task; • be blind in both eyes; • be a
matter of survival; • be in short supply; • be like…; • be in great
pain; • be worthy of consideration; • be in no rush to do sth; •
be the occasion of sth; • be on friendly terms (with sb); • be very
routine; • be delayed for hours/months etc; • be in agony; • be
on the tip of your tongue; • be sb’s double; • be my idea of bliss;
• be mean (with your money); • be 3 years/6 months sb’s elder;
• be on your guard; • be set in your ways; • be a waste of sth; •
be widely forecast; • be at home; • be in leaf; • be as long as…;
• be in deep trouble; • be (only) part of the story; • be wanted
for a crime; • be thought to do sth; • be aware of danger; • be up
to no good; • be bad value; • be a judge; • be accused of armed
robbery; • be good for…; • be in serious trouble; • be tall for
your age; • be associated with a particular organization; • be of
one mind (about).
• be in films; • be in sb’s/sth’s (best) interest(s); • be on
manoeuvres; • be confident of your ability; • be born outside
marriage; • be singing from the same song sheet; • be up
and running; • be coming up; • be in doubt; • be killed in an
incident; • be your sole object (in life); • be part of sb’s brief; •
be engaged in a bitter battle; • be exacerbated by a lack of sth;
• be partly your (own) fault; • be an honour; • be all in favour
of sb/sth; •be good for a laugh; • be killed in an accident; • be a
step nearer (to sth); • be high on the list; • be on a low income;
• be burnt to death; • be madly in love (with sb); • be free of
charge; • be under investigation; • be capable of violence; • be
in town; • be all talk; • be in bandages; • be in a heap; • be in
(close/regular) contact; • be password protected; • be worlds
apart; • be good for doing sth; • be the same height (as); • be
not to blame; • be at the centre of the stage; • be 1 metre/25
centimetres etc wide; • be stretching it; • be a danger to sb/sth;
• be all a bit of a blur; • be overcome with horror; • be in danger
of collapse; • be a good girl; • be in favour of a motion; • be
economical to use; • be easy to use; • be plunged into darkness;

• be protected from the elements; • be all right to do sth; • be
exposed to a chemical; • be open to attack; • be a good influence
(on sb/sth); • be worthy of praise; • be running 15 minutes/one
hour etc late; • be a cloud over sth; • be hurt in an incident; • be
shot to pieces; • be brought up on a farm; • be numb with cold;
• be spoilt for choice; • be some comfort (to sb); • be badly hit;
• be a great help; • be square in shape; • be a disaster for…; • be
on the agenda; • be on a mission; • be in a cheerful mood; • be
under guarantee; • be in for a bumpy ride; • be out of work; • be
on the dole; • be in good working order; • be cast from metal; •
be shot to hell; • be open to ideas; • be plunged into an activity;
• be covered in mud; • be on the threshold of a new era; • be
in theatre; • be late home; • be based on the belief (that); • be
under new management; • be under sentence of death; • be set
in gold; • be double in amount; • be in limited supply; • be on
display; • be spared the worst.
Group 3
• be (of) no use to sb; • be in custody; • be in/out of season;
• be adopted as a candidate; • be at war (with a country); •
be on the increase; • be on your feet; • be all sb’s fault; • be in
service; • be subjected to abuse; • be generous to a fault; • be
left over; • be killed in a crash; • be in a mess; • be at a young
age; • be all set to do sth; • be stuck in a snow drift; • be hell
on earth; • be the master of your own destiny; • be dealt a bad
hand; • be loud in your support; • be subjected to criticism; • be
in trouble (with sb); • be extra; • be (a) hot favourite to do sth; •
be in shock; • be an occasion for celebration; • be on television/
TV/the radio; • be on leave; • be packed with tourists; • be short
of space; • be doomed to failure; • be racked with pain; • be
of Irish/Chinese descent; • be caked in mud; • be sb’s elder by
years; • be on the same page; • be in awe of sb; • be present at
a birth; • be host to; • be poor value; • be just beginning to do
sth; • be open to abuse; • be in a (terrible) state; • be right to do
sth; • be a useful addition (to sth); • be interested in girls; • be

next in line the throne; • be in credit; • be utter hell; • be more
trouble than sb/sth is worth.
• be double in price; • be in a position to do sth; • be none
of sb’s concern; • be of sound mind; • be out of/in sympathy
with sb/sth; • be responsible for the administration of sth; • be
up against a champion; • be crippled in an accident; • be in
good health; • be good for sth; • be caught in the middle; • be
suspicious of sb/sth; • be a big help; • be under sb’s control; •
be no substitute for sth; • be in the army; • be under a (lot of )
strain; • be on the scene; • be an achievement; • be in control of
your own destiny; • be a secret; • be deeply split; • be made with
a mixture of butter, sugar and milk; • be simple to use; • be only
obeying orders; • be in full possession of your faculties; • be in a
category (all) of its/your own; • be sb’s writing; • be a welcome
release from work, etc; • be all right with/by sb; • be caught in
a storm, etc; • be razed to the ground; • be low on the list; • be
in bad taste; • be affected by the (monsoon/wet, etc.) season; •
be covered in/with blood; • be honest to a fault; • be beyond sb’s
grasp; • be shattered by the prospect; • be under the impression
(that) …; • be helping the police with their inquiries; • be close
to tears; • be under (a) contract to sb/sth; • be 10 miles long; •
be fond of sport; • be red-carded; • be a small minority; • be a
great pity; • be my idea of paradise; • be busy with last-minute
preparations.
• be right (of sb) to do sth; • be good for sb’s image; • be
in grave danger; • be of merit; • be filled with a strong smell;
• be in the red; • be away on business; • be at the door; • be
enshrined in a constitution; • be tipped as a possible successor;
• be heard to remark…; • be in a different class; • be dead (set)
against (doing) sth; • be in a good mood; • be covered in/with
scales; • be on a grant; • be scheduled for publication; • be a
question of survival; • be hard hit; • be a fool to do sth; • be
worthy of attention; • be appointed as an officer; • be in no
mood for sth; • be available at/from a library; • be ashamed of
yourself. • be on a salary; • be the proud owner of sth; • be your

own boss; • be in a bit of a corner; • be heading for disaster; •
be engaged in social activities; • be in love (with sb); • be struck
off (a register/roll); • be against the law; • be on a/the slippery
slope to sth; • be at war (with); • be in fine voice; • be difficult
to call; • be armed with bows and arrows; • be full of praise for
sb/sth; • be yellow-carded; • be in a situation; • be no fun; •
be in a bad state; • be very good employers; • be in difficulty/
difficulties; • be second in line; • be asking for it; • be a good
buy; • be in conflict (with sb); • be run down; • be ahead of the
field; • be down on your luck; • be green; • be on a panel; • be
sb’s master (at school); • be sick to death of; • be in a bad mood;
• be scared to death; • be a failure; • be no contest; • be the
result of sth; • be good value; • be of particular interest (to sb);
• be burnt at the stake; • be confident in the knowledge that …;
• be packed to capacity; • be a poor shot; • be cast in metal; • be
in port; • be ahead of the schedule; • be in a hurry to do sth; • be
on good terms; • be a crime to do sth; • be (easily) the worst; •
be in breach of an article; • be gripped by fear; • be sb’s fault for
doing sth; • be doing fine; • be worth the wait; • be overcome
with excitement; • be in a good state; • be under the impression
(that); • be present; • be found at sea; •be in/on a team; • be
good citizens; • be out of funds; • be twice the size; • be bitten
by the travel bug; • be open to offers; • be covered in snow; • be
accused of murder; • be killing sb; • be a genuine article; • be
scarred for life; • be tarred with the same brush; • be covered in
flowers; • be double the size; • be eligible for inclusion; • be not
any good; • be filled with fear; • be advertised in a newspaper;
• be tied to sb’s apron strings; • be under sb’s command; • be
able to travel; • be in a league of your own; • be tired after/from
a journey; • be ready to go; • be clear in your mind (about sth);
• be great fun; • be hardly your (own) fault; • be on the pill; •
be at risk; • be interested in sport; • be broadcast live; • be in a
position of strength; • be responsible for an incident; • be faced
with unemployment; • be captain of a team; • be an offence (to
do sth); • be well designed.

• be an improvement; • be in the index; • be hard to fault;
• be of considerable interest (to sb); • be good for your health;
• be under pressure (to do sth); • be beyond description; • be at
the controls; • be an endangered species; • be in charge of the
administration of sth; • be involved in criminal activities; • be
the exception rather than the rule; • be edged with lace; • be full
of praise; • be on the radio; • be a beauty; • be sb’s fault (that)
…; • be under orders to do sth; • be ripe for development; • be
off the danger list; • be the first person to do sth; • be full of
tales (about sth); • be absent without leave; • be in crisis; • be
admitted to an institution; • be in disagreement; • be sb’s age; •
be 50,00,000 rupees in debt; • be due for publication; • be wary
about the prospect; • be marked on a map; • be affected by the
weather; • be plain to see; • be in business; • be destroyed by
shots; • be a help; • be in the line of fire; • be in existence; • be
given probation; • be on duty; • be 50 years old; • be heard to
comment…; • be well studied; • be in need of assistance; • be
an absolute master at sth; • be based on complex technology;
• be no comfort (to sb); • be in agreement; • be in charge of a
department; • be heated by electricity; • be out of danger; • be
on the point of collapse; • be out of context; • be burnt to the
ground; • be expecting a baby; • be included in sb’s calculations;
• be overcome with emotion; • be on familiar terms with sb;
• be nuts; • be of use to; • be near (to) death; • be excited at
the prospect; • be a step closer (to sth); • be running late; •
be running; •be a (great) disappointment; • be young for your
age; • be perplexed by the prospect; • be on a committee; •
be carried along by the current; • be sb’s misfortune; • be in a
hurry; • be in a depressed state of mind; • be part of a society;
• be over the worst; • be fraught with problems; • be on fire;
• be available in packs; • be a dear and do sth; • be a good
boy; • be paralysed from the chest down; • be responsible for
your behaviour; • be involved in an incident; • be a matter for
a debate; • be in keeping with a policy; • be against the flow of
sth; • be of German, etc. descent; • be paralysed from the waist

down; • be of no interest (to sb); • be bounded by limits; • be
commonly attributed to hard work, etc.
Group 4
• be confident of success; • be of particular importance; •
be opposite sb/sth; • be ahead in the polls; • be in a dream; • be
littered with corpses; • be advertised in a magazine; • be placed
in an institution; • be steeped in tradition; • be involved in an
organization; • be bent double; • be in sb’s/the family; • be
fair to sb; • be ashamed; • be carrying an injury; • be small for
your age; • be a relation of sb; • be a liability; • be the double
of sb; • be in poor health; • be divorced from her husband; • be
bottom of the league; • be dead set on (doing) sth; • be in (full)
flood; • be the victim of an assault; • be a real help; • be of great
significance; • be no use; • be bored to death; • be in the market
for sth; • be sheer torture (for sb); • be an interesting comparison;
• be a bad influence (on sb/sth); • be prepared for the worst; •
be a problem; • be in a fight; • be of the same opinion; • be a
member of sth/belong to sth; • be under pressure to do sth; • be
more trouble than it is worth; • be a comfort to sb; • be round;
• be right in thinking sth; • be right about sb/sth; • be perched
on the edge of sth; • be killed in battle; • be fun; • be in ruins; •
be suitable for inclusion; • be taught sth at your mother’s knee; •
be on the brink of collapse; • be the intended destination; • be in
production; • be the boss; • be in/outside a category; • be a lot
of money; • be in trouble with the authorities; • be in the habit
of doing sth; • be troubled with back injury, etc; • be excellent
value; • be convicted of an offence; • be filled with pity; • be
a trained nurse; • be involved in the administration of sth; • be
forced to travel; • be in transports of joy; • be loyal to a fault; •
be in breach of sth; • be wrong; • be given your money back; •
be perched on top of sth; • be shaking like a leaf; • be in a state
of shock; • be worth a lot; • be a real hit; • be well prepared; •
be admitted to hospital; • be based on a true story; • be blue; •
be familiar with a theme.

• be good company; • be aware of the adverse circumstances;
• be no good; • be due in three months; • be a delight; • be
destroyed by an exchange of fire; • be settled by negotiation;
• be at the heart of sth; • be onto a good thing; • be 3 metres
by 5 metres; • be in transports of grief; • be the ruin of sb/sth;
• be part of a movement; • be in trouble with the police; • be
in the majority; • be of the opinion that…; • be pure hell; •
be a false economy; • be detained in hospital; • be in charge;
• be an escape (for sb); • be double the number; • be a good
example; • be caught in a trap (of sth); • be a bitter lesson to
sb; • be thrown in at the deep end; • be biased in favour of sb/
sth; • be economical with the truth; • be advertised on TV; • be
in favour of sth; • be brought up in comfortable circumstances;
• be filled with shame; • be worth the effort; • be caught in the
act; • be top of the league; • be in a rush; • be dealt a good
hand; • be scheduled to take place; • be away from work; •
be given your marching orders; • be engaged in an affair; • be
hampered by a lack of sth; • be of interest (to sb); • be in good
taste; • be run over (by a car, etc.); • be filled to capacity; • be
an example to sb; • be a sad commentary (on sth); • be blue
with cold; • be difficult to fault sb/sth; • be small comfort (to
sb); • be a complete waste of time; • be in for it; • be due in an
hour; • be a hit; • be freed on bail; • be the case; • be hearing
things; • be faced with the prospect; • be on the danger list; •
be overwhelmed with guilt; • be not much good; • be a good
idea; • be firm with sb; • be on trial (for murder, etc.); • be 15
metres high; • be in charge of the staff; • be in preparation; • be
crowned a champion; • be sick with worry; • be a blow to sb/sth;
• be coming along with sth; • be home; • be (sb’s) brother; • be
woken from a dream; • be in/out of range; • be all an illusion;
• be asking for trouble; • be a romantic at heart; • be burnt to
a crisp; • be free to travel; • be rich in natural resources; • be
paralysed from the neck down; • be advertised on the radio; •
be bitten by the fitness bug; • be capable of high-speed flight; •
be involved in an accident; • be confident in your ability; • be

set on (doing) sth; • be marred by violence; • be ranked number
two; • be in control; • be a success; • be out of your mind with
worry/worries; • be (only) part of the problem.
***
Word clusters useful across topics 85
Chapter 8
Word clusters
useful across topics
Whether you’re speaking seriously about business affairs or
politics (or for that matter, about any other topic), here’s a rich
collection of action word clusters that can help you say what
you’re saying with fluency.
Pick up each word cluster and say it ALOUD several times.
Here we go:
Group 1
ignore your fellow passengers; • generate energy; • gain
recognition; • receive acclaim; • leave your keys sw; • lift your
leg; • gather information; • gain impetus; • raise taxes; • grow
flowers; • register concern; • identify your target market; •
obtain consent; • improve your service; • learn English; • leave
college; • gain experience; • give punishment; • give vent to
your feelings; • recover your sight; • meet costs; • invite guests;
• receive information (that…); • minimize damage; • ignore
that/this letter; • guarantee happiness; • operate equipment;
• lose money; • receive thanks; • play poker; • play pirates;
• lack moral fibre; • recognize sb’s voice; • hate swimming; •
raise funds; • pass legislation; • obtain funding; • provide jobs;
• lift turnips; • promote use; • have fear; • hand your ticket
to sb; • press your suit; • maintain dominance; • indicate sb’s
presence; • remove your gloves; • hurt sb’s feelings; • leave
your station; • report a 5% increase; • give pleasure; • give no
importance to sth; • put fear into sb; • perform magic tricks; •
hear sb’s voice; • push your plate away; • have lessons; • hear
talk; • last hours/a long time; • plan your escape; • return your
books; • gain popularity; • hold talks; • produce electricity; •
86 Word clusters useful across topics
kill time; • remove rubbish; • limit ability; • restore unity; •

give expression (to sth); • give cause for sth; • halt progress;
• increase production; • invite trouble; • play your hand; • go
through university; • offer hope to sb.
• obtain licence; • risk punishment; • hurl abuse; • offer
credit; • lay money/odds (that); • love life in the village; •
rest your eyes; • raise doubts in people’s minds; • reach your/
its peak; • gain speed; • meet payments; • raise cattle; • lose
height; • prevent trouble; • open your umbrella; • need money;
• have help; • know your limits; • make trouble for sb/sth; • lose
your sight in an accident; • gain confidence; • gather evidence;
• obtain permission; • restore peace; • obtain information; •
rent your flat from sb; • link your computer with a network;
• last all day; • provide variety; • lose control of sth; • hear
noises; • raise your eye-brows; • receive a small increase in
sth; • mean no offence; • lift your head; • leave work at…; •
remember sb’s phone number; • provide feedback; • restore
confidence; • leave your jacket sw; • need protection; • gain
seat; • quote Shakespeare; • gain knowledge; • play chess; •
lose blood; • play cards; • put stress on sth; • remove your hat;
• need skill; • make time; • raise corn; • prepare sb’s room; •
promote interest; • produce an overall increase; • restore calm;
• offer employment; • receive support; • lose interest; • mention
your name; • prevent pollution; • receive publicity; • prove sb’s
innocence (S=sth); • offer benefits; • owe money; • learn truth;
• maintain quality; • learn this theory; • generate heat; • raise
your arm/leg; • refuse entry; • play James Bond; • narrow your
eyes; • produce growth; • receive financial assistance; • provide
pleasure; • restore pride; • promote awareness; • put support
behind sb/sth; • press return.
• meet your doom; • receive protection; • raise fears in
people’s minds; • hang sb’s portrait sw; • preserve independence;
• win acceptance; • improve standards; • recover your hearing;
• produce evidence; • know all the answers; • remain friends;
• play football; • have money; • prevent development; • resist
arrest; • promote violence; • maintain independence; • get

pleasure from/out of sth; • repeat each sentence (after sb);
• improve communications; • lay stress on sth; • maintain
standards; • hit your head on/against sth; • raise capital; •
grant permission; • give support; • gain favour (with sb); • give
information; • make conversation; • improve sb’s motivation; •
pass/pronounce sentence; • read sb’s thoughts; • lose control
(of the car etc.); • lose time; • require permission; • get benefit
(from sth); • organize your work; • miss your footing; • nod
your head; • oppose racism; • overcome fear; • miss lunch; •
have technology; • grant sb’s wish; • name names; • hit your
elbow on/against sth; • restore ancient rights; • preserve your
integrity; • need information; • gather speed; • produce energy;
• relax rule; • require information.
• get your money ( back); • need attention; • reach your
(full) potential; • press home an argument; • help old people; •
improve your score; • raise awareness (of); • move your pawns;
• lack imagination; • have information; • refuse help; • get work
done; • influence sb’s judgment; • prefer charges (against sb); •
receive guests; • hold power; • make money; • hear arguments;
• pull sb’s hair; • open your eyes; • offer hope; • impose
discipline; • indicate desire; • lose points; • pay particular
attention to sth; • respect authority; • gain access to sth; • hurt
sb’s pride; • increase scope; • prevent damage; • require skill; •
prevent disaster; • impose conditions; • play baseball; • restore
ancient traditions; • remove objections; • generate publicity;
• return books to the library; • issue guidelines; • indulge sb’s
taste; • question sb’s motive; • hate sb’s plastic smile; • meet sb’s
expectations; • open your laptop; • impose sanctions (against/
on a country); • obtain evidence; • lack personality; • hear sb’s
explanation; • have admiration for sb/sth; • have hope; • receive
money; • open your doors to sb; • represent sb’s interests; • open
your own business; • recognize independence; • like your new
dress; • observe some changes; • make your escape; • remember
all the words; • prove sb’s guilt; • play tennis; • need exercise;
• increase safety; • increase efficiency; • generate interest; •

raise salaries; • generate excitement; • inspire fear; • promote
development; • gain satisfaction; • risk defeat; • paint portraits;
• reach boiling point; • have trouble; • press your face against
the window.
Group 2
• invest money; • maintain safety; • lose your job; • hear
voices outside; • make time to do sth; • gain entry to sth; •
give help; • gain ideas; • reach adulthood; • lack energy; • lift
sanctions; • remember your homework; • get religion; • have
cause to do sth; • gain information; • produce no evidence; •
identify priorities; • lose your hair; • resist demands; • maintain
relations; • lose your teeth; • meet sb’s special needs; • regain
control; • handle patients; • produce power; • impose constraints
on sth; • need energy; • paint rosy picture of sth; • require
involvement; • promote safety; • keep your weight down/
on/off; • have knowledge of sth; • organize arrangements; •
lack ambition; • receive advice; • increase tension; • maintain
stability; • guess sb’s secret; • register confusion; • prevent injury;
• leave home; • run some tests; • recover your composure; •
recover your health; • impose restrictions on sth; • pick holes in
sth; • miss dinner; • impose your will (on sb); • pay fees; • need
advice; • miss your connection; • keep sb’s place; • gain control
of sth; • mobilize support; • raise your prices; • promote sb’s
interests; • like sb’s music; • obtain finance; • require patience;
• offer support; • increase growth.
• lay siege to sth; • return sb’s love; • get exercise; • increase
suspicion; • manage stress; • introduce legislation; • raise
fears; • reach across; • lose your argument with sb; • provide
inspiration; • reap benefit (from sth); • prove sb’s innocence;
• leave your valuables sw; • have difficulty doing sth; • pass
judgment (on); • provide insight; • please your parents; • lay
charges against sb; • hear both sides of an argument; • have
imagination; • increase demand; • promote health; • lift your
head; • improve your swimming; • paint landscapes; • increase

membership; • receive recognition; • pay damages; • pay low
wages; • press rewind; • remove restrictions (on); • revive
interest; • maintain your stance; • protect liberty; • reach your
sales targets; • gain credibility; • offer variety; • hear rumours;
• perform miracles; • invest money in sth; • miss your family; •
lack ability; • hear voices in the next room; • lose your balance
(on the ice etc.); • lock all our valuables away; • pass urine; •
provide training (for sb); • gather strength; • incur damage; •
provide employment; • impede progress; • hang your head; •
not have any idea; • leave town; • not have any/much luck; •
keep your distance; • improve sb’s position; • present yourself
as sth; • hide your feelings; • have support; • limit damage; •
pay rent; • relax restriction; • run hot water into a bucket; •
raise public awareness of sth; • reduce scope; • hate spinach; •
maintain peace; • gain benefit (from sth); • register disapproval;
• own land (sw); • order some coffee; • issue visas; • obtain
authorization; • gain entry (to a place); • lend support; • offer
help; • miss your mark; • inflict damage (on/to sth/sb); • have
ability; • learn your lesson; • receive damages; • reveal truth; •
read your writing (can’t).
• keep goats/hens; • pack your suitcase; • gain weight; •
gain insight; • require equipment; • reveal sb’s presence; • hide
your excitement; • maintain your dignity; • keep your secret;
• reject demands; • leave university; • give your love (to sb);
• provide energy; • refuse permission; • open your mouth (to
speak); • mean trouble; • plant doubt; • get work; • intend
no disrespect; • reduce stress; • issue passports; • gain trust;
• require protection; • register surprise; • get news; • reserve
judgment; • promote understanding; • reduce prices; • lose
your case in a court; • resist chocolates; • give hope to sb; •
obtain approval; • register sb’s presence; • lift restrictions (on);
• learn your lines; • push your luck; • mortgage your house; •
produce reaction; • press enter; • improve conditions; • please
everybody (can’t); • lack experience; • hear sb’s ideas; • pick
your nose; • have importance; • get sb’s opinion; • need help;

• reduce growth; • pack your razor; • gain respect; • register
distaste; • invest effort; • protect your reputation; • gather wild
flowers; • raise suspicion; • learn news; • generate power; •
press home a point; • leave school; • hold sb’s attention; • grow
your hair; • improve (your) efficiency; • receive reports; • hear
steps outside; • lack focus; • remove obstacles; • lose your leg in
an accident; • have sb’s attention; • read sb’s mind; • love your
country; • kick your legs; • receive news; • increase awareness
(of); • provide power; • repair damage; • pass comment; • lend
your support; • raise questions; • hear raised voices; • require
effort; • provide help; • miss your friends; • raise hopes; • gain
support; • know every word of a song; • meet conditions; • have
experience; • reach deadlock; • reflect sb’s personality; • press
home an attack; • handle stolen goods; • preserve peace; • press
charges; • bring charges; • play Cleopatra; • gather momentum;
• reduce tension; • raise standards; • maintain continuity; • open
your gates to sb; • keep prices down; • hate summer vacation;
• play golf; • guess sb’s age; • offer comfort; • need care; •
increase intake; • miss your old car; • hear news; • raise sb’s
spirits; • leave/depart this world; • pay homage to; • like spicy
food; • lack confidence (in yourself); • register protest; • ignore
advice; • improve health; • replace broken glasses; • raise your
score; • provide protection; • place importance on sth; • reveal
your identity; • influence your/sb’s behaviour; • get support; •
receive training.
Group 3
• raise money (for sth); • maintain prices; • open doors (for
sb); • miss your concert; • offer advice; • invest time; • leave
space; • like wine; • prove your case; • receive help; • restore
your faith in sb/sth; • register complaint; • play computer
games; • maintain your innocence; • increase opportunities; •
guarantee liberty; • play roulette; • reach your destination; •
raise doubts; • live separate lives; • pack your rucksacks; • recall
sb’s name (not); • muster support; • relax constraint; • gain

permission; • relax regulation; • pay staff; • raise expectations;
• hit your arm on/against sth; • get help; • get information; •
handle arrangements; • meet sb’s needs.
• maintain order; • reduce pollution; • gather intelligence;
• miss your bus; • raise morale; • offer no explanation (for your
actions); • like your attitude (don’t); • report commands; • pass
your driving test; • keep sb’s attention; • raise your eyes (from
sth); • impose restrictions (on); • obtain/receive intelligence; •
provide satisfaction; • reduce crime; • reach agreement; • gain
control; • reflect sb’s character; • gain height; • protect your
innocence; • lift your gaze from your book; • get loose (from sb/
sth); • release your grip; • read music; • plant suspicion; • pay
money; • leave your job; • increase productivity; • leave this
world; • pay little regard for sth; • lay emphasis on sth; • return
sb’s hospitality; • increase your income; • obtain leave; • play
Macbeth; • intend no offence; • get your hopes up; • promote
growth; • join your wife (sw); • require energy; • improve
safety; • obtain advice; • relax your grip; • receive permission;
• have talks; • recover consciousness; • reduce intake; • raise
awareness about sth; • give advice; • prefer tea; • improve
ability; • reduce weight; • organize our files; • need effort; •
maintain law and order; • risk your life; • register objection;
• question sb’s ability; • gain promotion; • return sb’s smile; •
improve morale; • provide/give intelligence; • prevent crime; •
maintain links; • raise suspicions (in people’s minds); • mistake
sb’s meaning; • guarantee sb’s safety; • gather enough support;
• preserve liberty; • maintain discipline.
• issue tickets; • read crime novels; • protect your identity; •
increase your lead; • produce results; • represent an increase in
sth; • lose support; • learn that theory; • join your family (sw);
• raise prices; • receive treatment; • relax control; • grant leave;
• promote competition; • realize your (full) potential; • provide
care; • run its course; • meet sb’s gaze; • give intelligence; •
move your body; • permit your child to do sth; • make trouble;
• not see any harm in (doing) sth; • generate electricity; • know

sb’s address; • protect sb’s interests; • provide guidelines; • invite
speakers from sw; • lack direction; • provide advice; • limit
intake; • kill yourself. • have no idea; • protest your innocence;
• reiterate your belief; • increase profits; • put money in/into
sth; • maintain contact; • not cost anything; • prove your mettle;
• report any incident; • increase sb’s motivation; • register
disbelief; • raise concerns; • receive care; • influence choice; •
request permission; • not hold out hope; • promote efficiency;
• owe your success to sth; • present difficulty; • hang your coat
on a rack; • hit your mark; • play your ace; • nod approval; •
maintain control; • own several houses; • lose power; • receive
communion; • give money; • run special trains; • not mean (sb)
any harm; • give rise to a difficulty; • raise your voice; • reveal
sb’s character; • point your finger in sb’s direction; • respect
sb’s wishes; • improve quality; • risk death; • make progress; •
generate income; • resist change; • return sb’s call; • lose weight;
• lift your arm; • make no answer; • recognize reality; • mean
business; • promote peace; • gain acceptance; • reduce costs.
• monitor sb’s progress; • request leave; • produce stress;
• receive basic instruction in sth; • review your failures and
triumphs; • get money; • pay attention (to sb/sth); • gain
understanding; • help industry; • restore power; • gain entrance
(to sth); • hit your knee on/against sth; • lift sb’s spirits; • read
university; • generate stress; • knock your opponent down; •
move furniture; • generate profit; • obstruct progress; • reflect
sb’s taste; • raise money (to pay for sth); • gain independence;
• hurt your back doing sth; • remove problems; • raise your
hand; • gain currency; • have work; • question sb’s judgment; •
provide support; • gain strength; • question sb’s integrity; • have
no ambition; • offer your services as sth; • prevent violence; •
receive programmes via satellite; • gain momentum; • guarantee
supplies of sth; • guarantee safety; • get advice; • pay attention
to; • need patience; • lose (your) confidence; • maintain your
integrity; • need permission; • meet sb’s demands; • indicate
left; • pay much attention to sb/sth; • put energy into sth; •

raise finance (for sth); • give offence (to sb); • reserve tickets;
• recover costs; • restore order; • gain sb’s attention; • receive
severe injuries; • repeat prescription; • gather your wits; •
publish books; • pledge (your) support; • lack motivation; •
gain admission; • review progress; • reduce violence; • provide
information; • maintain unity; • lose hope; • involve violence;
• rally support; • gain admittance to sth; • lose your way; •
race relations; • return fire; • remember sb’s name; • place
stress on sth; • provide benefits; • rest your head on sth; • need
equipment; • raise sb’s profile; • increase knowledge; • obtain
satisfaction; • preserve unity; • move your queen.
***
94 Word -clusters in serious conversations
Chapter 9
Word-clusters
in serious conversations
Here’s an exhaustive collection of noun-like word clusters. These
are word groups that occur frequently in serious conversations
– conversations that are content-intensive. And the junctions
between the content words in each of these clusters are those
that you should have the ability to negotiate easily.
So get your organs of speech to become used to saying them
ALOUD. Here we go:
Group 1
a valid argument; • lone-parent family; • an extreme case; •
motives behind sb’s conduct; • dab hand with sth; • an advertising
blitz; • a walk around; • second largest state; • the minute sth
happens; • something like drawing a picture; • first love; • an
absolute disgrace; • the very centre; • a sharp distinction; • an
informed choice; • excessive demands; • conspiracy theory; • a
well-balanced diet; • further information; • a serious boyfriend;
• a sorry state; • exorbitant demands; • a sure sign; • the one
certainty; • the first few; • government sources; • a slim chance;
• discrimination against homosexuals; • a tight squeeze; •
outside help; • the day will come (when); • inside job; • an
everyday occurrence; • a selective memory; • interest groups;
• the point at issue; • a thought crosses sb’s mind; • the last
hope; • a searching question; • your very own bedroom; • drug
smuggling; • your word against sb’s. • a vague idea; • a short
book; • a wet spell; • engine failure; • a step sideways; • a
social class; • a team captain; • class struggle; • a terrible shock;
• an accessory after the fact; • dress sense; • a sharp pain; •
the initial stage; • biggest regret; • a takeover bid; • one-parent
Word -c lusters in serio u s conversations 95
family; • a tight spot; • a school report; • the far north/south;

• a wide selection; • immunity from prosecution; • a thorough
investigation; • the speed limit; • an airline passenger; • a silver-
tongued person; • the animal kingdom; • the main characteristic;
• an exhibition catalogue.
• the show opens; • a strong correlation; • the way back/
forward; • an overnight success; • a whole series; • a tight finish;
• a tight schedule; • the minimum required; • your every whim;
• second gear; • a tragic death; • a technical glitch; • a team
member; • the same place (as…); • the best intentions; • an old
trouper; • a shock defeat; • the full extent; • the finished goods;
• the precise moment; • the way here; • a safe bet (that…); •
the only ever defeat etc; • an economic imperative; • customer
satisfaction; • an economy drive; • first ever trip abroad; • a
trip abroad; • an accessory before the fact; • her place; • school
rules; • the modern world; • a/one stage further; • a work
permit; • single-parent family; • the shooting season; • second
offence; • a well-defined area; • an hour along sth; • miles from
anywhere/nowhere; • a serious problem; • the least favourite;
• a warning light; • a week tomorrow; • a storm breaks; • first
prize; • the other one; • a terrible mistake; • forward planning;
• serious troubles; • the far side; • a wild guess; • an excellent
choice; • the minimum possible; • the preferred choice; • drug
trafficking; • the wrong time; • internationally agreed; • rough
seas; • an all-time low; • the sad thing (is…); • the travelling
public; • the northern sky; • the lull before the storm; • news
flash; • an opening shot; • dear sweet woman; • a short poem;
• a worthy successor; • an after-dinner speech; • water-resistant
covering; • a vast expanse; • a thorough search.
• military observers; • the story behind sth; • customer
service; • traffic lights; • the principal reason; • first performed;
• the individual concerned; • a temper tantrum; • a spoilt child;
• a vacant chair; • a wide choice; • business as usual; • a serious
crime; • final draft; • an electrical fault; • the financial year;
• an extensive collection; • a three-course meal; • the public
96 Word -c lusters in seriou s conversations
sector; • the fishing season; • a shopping spree; • an even

chance; • breathing problems; • watchful eye; • a small margin;
• the central character; • a well-defined task; • a sharp increase;
• the big two; • a tight budget; • an hour’s time; • an expensive
mistake; • a secret location; • an obvious choice; • a valuable
addition; • income per head; • a smoking-related illness; • the
government machine; • love affair with sb/sth; • an exhibition
stand; • utter disgrace; • the only person/thing; • plus point; •
the current trend; • women’s rights; • the motion was carried;
• your old age; • the distinguishing characteristic; • the mid
17th century; • a storm brews; • a step forward; • the happy
couple; • a technical hitch; • the worst accident imaginable; •
the first left; • a valuable contribution; • the female lead; • a
vague feeling; • several hundred/thousand people; • the inside
story; • race relations; • an ego trip; • election campaign; • a
willing volunteer; • a short spell; • currency crisis; • your big
date; • a short time; • a vague suspicion; • exact moment; • an
animal lover; • the days that followed.
• the defining characteristic; • a sore spot; • an enormous
amount; • death by/from starvation; • the diagram opposite; •
outside advisers; • imprisonment without trial; • the dry season;
• the big three/four; • a short article; • a technical term; • an
inadequate substitute; • second post; • deaths from cancer; •
the entire episode; • oil interests; • outside shell; • a substantial
amount; • the human condition; • the financial sphere; •
extravagant demands; • life after death; • a technical problem;
• the other night; • inside lane; • a sorry mess; • the struggle
against communism; • the earth’s core; • the campaign trail; •
the psychiatrist’s couch; • a weekend away/off; • drug problem;
• the years that followed; • the medical profession; • a train
trip; • the proceeds from a sale; • a severe winter; • that same
thing; • a willing helper; • the mating season; • an enthusiastic
supporter; • a while back; • an integral element; • the engaged
tone; • a strong accent; • high sea; • a visible sign; • your other
books/paintings; • a vacant look; • the clever ones; • neither the
time nor/or the inclination; • a steady supply; • a weight off your

mind; • a seeker after truth; • row upon row; • the calm before
the storm; • little sister; • the person responsible; • a sweet little
bird; • space age; • a vital ingredient; • the pink pound/dollar;
• a silver tongue; • the danger zone; • a single mattress; • a
strong wind; • a thorough understanding; • the appointed time;
• an increasing proportion; • a virtual monopoly; • an attempt
at explanation; • the bedside clock; • a slight exaggeration; •
a technical violation; • the only thing (is...); • doubts about a
system; • the home stretch; • news bulletin; • the right decision;
• the final say; • the developing world; • a security light; •
the fight against inflation; • a top student; • crimes against
humanity; • something like a museum; • a successful career; •
little respite.
Group 2
• the then owner; • shock tactics; • a tea break; • a tricky
situation; • outside influence; • the airport run; • big sister; •
quality control; • a weight problem; • a university education; •
the manufacturer’s instructions; • a well-established practice; •
a stupid little song etc; • tightly-focused project; • first gear; • a
tight fit; • several hundred/thousand things; • the exact centre;
• a slow worker; • a smooth talker; • an unfair advantage; • a
valid criticism; • a vain attempt; • a sharp rise; • an exhibition
hall; • plus factor; • sweeping demands; • the past few; • inside
your head; • outside experts; • the lunch time rush; • tiny
little piece; • the immediate future; • the walking wounded; •
violent death; • the public purse; • an emergency landing; •
an important ingredient; • the whole time; • the community at
large; • the common good; • my love; • an inch wide; • the
sky above/overhead; • an interested party; • crime figures; •
the main character; • a winning run; • neck ache; • an eternal
truth; • the very beginning; • second most important reason; •
intense lobbying; • a universal truth; • my other commitments;
• a step along the way; • the ocean depths; • an attempted coup;
• sb’s own fault; • many thanks; • the maximum possible; •

the trip home; • the river’s edge; • a true successor; • the town
centre; • drug addiction; • an article entitled/headed (“…”); •
the extreme edge; • the whole year (through).
• inside information; • coffee-making facilities; • a writer’s
guild; • her old age; • a while ago; • last thing at night; • a stroll
around (sth); • a willing partner; • a step ahead; • the sporting
public; • a valuable resource; • the rainy season; • poor (little)
girl; • a useful indicator; • a single sheet; • a trial basis; • the
majority opinion; • your own house; • the scientific sphere; •
labour relations; • an important factor; • the winning trail; • the
last few; • poor (little) kid; • a train strike; • an early frost; • the
minimum acceptable; • class conflict; • a substantial increase;
• an endless supply; • second try; • the whole night (through);
• the political sphere; • a sharp fall; • a vast range; • the most
terrible shock imaginable; • a thought enters sb’s mind; • an
upward trend; • a safe distance; • many hundreds/thousands;
• a sure bet; • a tender spot; • wage levels; • a substantial
number; • wage packet; • the food industry; • staff training;
• the world over; • high sugar content; • the music business;
• young children; • a significant correlation; • a woman with a
mission; • a tricky question; • a social circle; • the back bone;
• tiny little girl; • the final stretch; • an optional extra; • traffic
control; • the landed aristocracy; • the task ahead; • the five
senses; • your best efforts; • the desired effect; • the right way
up/round; • an integral feature; • a sea change; • a striking
resemblance; • mission impossible; • the barest essentials; • fat
chance; • the advertising business; • a substantial proportion; •
the day’s catch; • the power behind the throne.
• conflicting opinions; • a serious danger; • an inch high;
• a vain bid; • a vacant smile; • a select few; • profit motive;
• an enormous number; • the world stage; • a short period; •
cheeky little girl; • dab hand at sth; • a vacant table; • an active
supporter; • the motion was passed; • an easy time; • a strange
experience; • a vivid memory; • the principal architect; • a
week’s rent; • an enormous volume; • the strange thing (is…);

• outside observers; • the lion’s share; • poor (little) boy; • the
thought strikes sb; • a well-read person; • number crunching; •
the right moment; • a silly little table; • great shock; • a small
fraction; • an inch long; • every conceivable sth; • the quickest
route; • outside contractors; • a scorch mark; • a snap decision;
• the tourist season; • human rights; • the minimum necessary;
• some excuse etc. or other; • the means by which sth is done;
• a technical fault; • drug abuse; • the most direct route; • the
common people; • tender loving care; • outside interference; •
the interest rate; • concentration span; • the finished product;
• a scratch mark; • the open sea; • the previous month/week; •
the good old days; • the current climate; • walking distance; •
an hour past sth; • a well-defined plan; • the next best thing; •
an evening off/out; • the first time; • ransom demand; • the day
may/might come (when); • same old complaints; • the fashion
business; • deaths from traffic accidents.
• opening credits; • the morning rush; • a terrible shame; •
the international stage; • computer error; • limited success; • an
opposition party; • his own; • child star; • the festive season; •
a sharp bend; • the way home; • an energy-saving feature; • the
answer is ‘no’; • a worthy cause; • the front two/three; • your
life’s work; • the young ones; • a year’s subscription; • odd jobs;
• the odd thing (is that…); • a sweet little box; • a smoking-
related disease; • big date; • little tiny cottage; • a social call;
• the full whack; • an hour’s sleep; • small talk; • deaths from
disease; • a train ride; • a sure indication; • an awful lot; • an
essential ingredient; • a star pupil; • protection from the elements;
• a stark choice; • good old joke; • the night sky; • reduced
sugar content; • the bare minimum; • an underlying theme; • a
step behind; • the very end; • an important element; • a tough
decision; • the lucky ones; • opening remarks; • removal from
office; • repeated demands; • the book-buying public; • inside
pocket; • the best opportunity imaginable; • the bare necessities;
• the right time; • a strong supporter; • the lower middle-class;
• a vacant expression; • a tight timetable; • a serious injury; •

the funny thing (is…); • the established order; • a young boy;
• the security aspect; • a weak showing; • the comeback trail; •
an army coup; • civilization as we know it; • beginner’s luck; •
the majority view; • a team manager; • only your imagination; •
first string; • ransom note; • a traumatic experience; • the time
(when) sb does sth; • my old age; • first place; • some distance;
• corruption charges; • the summer sky; • the hunting season;
• his/her life’s work; • ill-treatment at sb’s hands; • the whole
thing; • a vague notion; • a train crash; • a serious mistake; •
an infinite variety; • first offence; • forward thinking; • a valid
point; • your other friends; • a step down; • engine problems;
• the growing season; • a treasured possession; • an hour’s
exercise; • security against a loan; • a vague memory; • space
travel; • a vain effort; • the animal world; • round table talks; •
a set pattern; • an attitude problem; • robbery with violence; •
inside knowledge; • an honest living; • a top scientist; • crowd
control; • a shock win (against…); • insight into sb’s character.
Group 3
• a thought-provoking speech; • outside surface; • the weird
thing (is…); • the far end; • a silly little idea; • another chance;
• many millions; • closely-typed pages; • the next few weeks; •
sb’s one reservation; • events surrounding sth; • chemist’s (shop);
• a smoking-related death; • the nation at large; • inside lining;
• a surge forward; • the general reader/viewer; • currency deal;
• the far left/right; • a vast collection; • closing remarks; • a
top player; • the community as a whole; • mixed reception; •
a sharp decline; • love at first sight; • circumstances beyond
our control; • an after-dinner speaker; • the private sector; •
a sharp frost; • the year when…; • the political stage; • the
day after; • a substantial reduction; • court proceedings; • a
tense atmosphere; • first draft; • a writer’s union; • an oval-
shaped table; • an accident involving two cars etc; • income per
capita; • the main focus; • the sole surviving sb/sth; • the whole
episode; • that same person; • a spoilt brat; • death penalty; •

the person concerned; • outside lane; • high calorie diet; • a
willing pupil; • the devil incarnate; • the trouble (with sb/sth) is
(that)…; • the whole day (through).
• the minimum needed; • a strong showing; • dividing
line between; • the day after tomorrow; • a surprise party; •
an empty threat; • a vast number; • an oil leak; • the shortest
route; • the exception that proves the rule; • the second time;
• a sure thing; • cheeky little boy; • the single largest/biggest;
• dear little chair; • the next left; • your own transport; • the
then president/governor; • first beginnings; • an airline pilot; •
low sugar content; • the present day; • the ruling classes; • the
next five years; • the day when…; • the time or the inclination;
• a staff shortage; • a soft glow; • a writer’s association; • a
step back; • a spider’s web; • an hour away (from sth); • a
sharp drop; • independent observers; • the past month; • a trial
period; • the medical field; • a smaller size; • second biggest
computer company; • a step along the road; • the moral high
ground; • the final whistle; • drug trials; • the common man; •
an outgoing call; • a sacrifice worth making; • good intentions; •
the true extent; • the seven seas; • wedding anniversary; • group
pressure; • the only certainty; • house prices; • drug smuggler; •
an attempt at reconciliation; • breathing difficulties; • business
opportunities; • the landed classes; • a solid performance; • an
attempt at conversation; • an only child; • a well-oiled machine;
• the appointed place; • a thorough knowledge; • the whole
truth; • first course; • a struggle against cancer; • an acquired
taste; • the major focus; • the finishing stretch; • a shopping
trip; • little success; • drug pusher; • a vast array.
• a soft option; • introductory remarks; • a total stranger;
• the early 16th century; • a technical infringement; • a vacant
seat; • a varied selection; • the health aspect; • a valid excuse;
• a serious girlfriend; • a wide vocabulary; • a serious offence;
• a trial separation; • a short while; • a sneaking suspicion;
• a serious relationship; • the last week; • the argument goes
(that…); • the existing order; • dear old friend; • doctor’s

orders; • drug culture; • an empty space; • the upper middle-
class; • the only surviving sb/sth; • first impressions; • a tense
silence; • my other brother/sister; • a striking difference; •
sb’s silver-tongued charm; • main course; • pounds sterling; •
the extreme end; • first past the post; • the holiday season; •
animal rights; • an adverse effect; • a way out; • the current
situation; • the halfway mark; • trial by jury; • sweet dreams;
• the country as a whole; • a short stay; • the easy way out; •
a star attraction; • outside wall; • the summer holidays; • the
nation as a whole; • a sharp tongue; • the political agenda; •
drug addict; • poor (little) child; • an infinite number; • the very
spot; • a vague impression; • a whole range; • a sneezing fit; •
the water’s edge; • early beginnings; • sign language; • a trip
overseas; • the previous day; • election fever; • a sleepless night;
• a valid reason; • an increasing number; • an enclosed space;
• an all-time high; • the time when…; • first post; • an empty
house; • a tight deadline; • a serious threat; • death sentence; •
a serious illness; • a small dose; • best hope; • the far east/west;
• a well-established principle; • a vivid account; • an incoming
call; • famine relief; • a sneaking feeling; • second prize; • the
earth’s crust; • a travel permit; • the late 17th century; • the way
down/up; • a slim hope; • compliance with a regulation; • an
isolated incident; • the exact spot; • customer relations; • the
final decision; • a substantial sum.
• a year’s rent; • the best going; • a single bed; • an
outstanding contribution; • a shallow breath; • an essential
element; • the most wonderful surprise imaginable; • an
economic situation; • a vivid description; • a storm is brewing; •
a well-established tradition; • an idle threat; • a sorry business;
• the wrong decision; • the extreme left/right; • traffic island;
• further details; • the very top; • an export permit; • a seller’s
market; • a serious accident; • the next several months; • the
last time; • the weeks that followed; • a science class; • an
added incentive; • a thorough examination; • the general good;
• a stranger here; • the finer points; • the primary focus; • a

sneaking fear; • low-ranking officers; • a writer’s group; • a slim
margin; • a stamped addressed envelope; • the norm (rather
than the exception); • a substantial improvement; • an hour’s
practice; • treasurer’s report; • the earth’s surface; • the other
(person/thing); • an electric fire; • the march eastward; • the
bare essentials; • an hour ago; • financial troubles; • the folks
back home; • an overall majority; • a wide margin; • a tragic
accident; • the last month/year; • the whole story; • an added
bonus; • your native tongue; • a tea tray; • the whole world;
• the smart set; • second place; • an early stage; • a vague
recollection; • a snap judgment; • argument by/from analogy;
• the motion was defeated; • the diagram above/below; •
precious few; • a thumbnail sketch; • mixed success; • foreign
observers; • an accident black spot; • the breeding season; • the
extreme tip; • the extreme north/south; • the safety aspect; •
the judges’ decision; • a thin line; • leadership qualities; • a slim
majority; • a vast quantity; • earnings from tourism; • freedom
from worry; • a single ticket; • profit margin; • a second chance;
• the male lead; • a vast amount; • an undisclosed location; •
group dynamics; • a step backwards; • the general drift; • last
chance; • the wider community; • a step up; • a tricky problem;
• the general public; • the days ahead; • a tight bend.
That’s it. Bye for now.
***

15-Book-S3 Fluency in Telephone English & Sectoral English - Unlocked

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15-Book-S3 Fluency in Telephone English & Sectoral English - Unlocked

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1

Prof. Kev Nair was born in Kerala, South India, in 1949.

• “Prof. Kev Nair... has... reached out to thousands – judicial

Fluent English Dictionaries1 by Kev Nair

Books by Kev Nair making up

Prof. Kev Nair

fluency in telephone english and sectoral english.

Guidelines for making a call, 13

Chapter 2: Fluency in Business English, 27

Chapter 3: Fluency in Banking English, 43

Preface to the 4th edition

Here’s the latest edition of this book.

Fluency in Telephone English

someone by pointing them out to your addressee — because the

your meaning across over the telephone as it is when you have a

Guidelines for making a call

ii) If he says it is the right number, it’d be a good idea

announce your identity once again, and ask this second

Guidelines for answering a call

Telephone word groups

sort. These are word groups that have to do with telephoning in

1. Word groups for use while making a phone

want to get some information about a flight. • What time

a TV from you last week, and I’m having some problems

you sent us yesterday. • Would Friday 4 o’clock be suitable

2. Word groups for use while answering a phone

he’s here. • I’m afraid he’s not in yet. • He is in a meeting

please? • It isn’t convenient to talk at the moment. I’m in

us know the mistake. • Sorry, this is the wrong extension. •

3. Word groups to speak about telephoning in

was no dialling tone. • I had/received a call from him last

the message and put down the phone. • There’s no reply

Fluency in Business English

will arrive on Wednesday. The rest will arrive after a week. •

kept a shop. • The cost of electricity has gone up.

Supposing they’re not able to deliver on time. • The arrangement

is my deadline. • These records will have to be brought up to

brand of tea. • I don’t think these figures are accurate. • Who’s

• Can you give us 45 day’s extra credit? • How much money

unloaded. • He runs a small antique business. • Can you supply

Director retires? • If you don’t deliver immediately, we’ll be short

get satisfactory service and I wrote a letter of complaint to their

The company made a loss of 75 lakhs of rupees. • I can give

expand into the American market. • I want to get a good rebate.

came to Rs.10,000. • The company went bust and was forced to

Importance of doing practice

Fluency in Banking English

from my current account to my savings account. • The banks are

cleared yet? • Their account has been working very satisfactorily.

savings account. • The bank was closed, and so I couldn’t cash

Fluency in Travel English

and accommodation. • They travelled the length and breadth of

• This is a long flight. • We broke our journey at Nagpur.

the booking a month in advance. • Did you manage to make a

available from airport into town? • I came across an old friend in

mountains. • It’s a long way to drive. Why don’t we take a train?

Speaking about Food and Drink

• Slice the apple and chop it. • A mouthful of food went

• There’s a smell of cooking. • He didn’t like the food, but he got

or flavour. • I like spiced food. • The dinner smells good. • He

it over lunch. • These oranges are completely rotten. Don’t eat

won by a majority of 15, 000. • He’s a conservative politician. •

be a by-election. • Our party demands social equality. • Our