Grammar for Business with Audio CD 

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business/?site_locale=en_US

Grammar for Business is a must‐have for intermediate business students and anyone using 
English in the workplace. It provides clear explanations and authentic practice of the most 
essential language used in business English. Designed to help you improve your 
communication skills in real business situations, it includes a unique focus on spoken as well 
as written grammar, and practical tips on areas such as organising presentations, negotiating 
and giving your opinion. Ideal for classroom use and self study. 

Key Features 
 Based on a corpus of real written and spoken business English to ensure you learn 
language as it's really used. 
 Includes a special focus on speaking strategies to help you get your point across more 
effectively in business. 
 Clearly explains differences between formal and informal language and British and 
American English. 
 'Make it personal' sections encourage you to apply what you have learnt to your own 
personal experience. 
 Audio CD provides extra speaking and listening practice. 
Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-72720-4 - Grammar for Business
Michael McCarthy, Jeanne McCarten, David Clark and Rachel Clark
Frontmatter
More information

Contents
Unit Title Extension Page
1 Imperative and present simple Write for business: Checking your work 8
2 Present continuous Business talk: Present continuous + always 12
3 Present simple and continuous Business talk: State verbs 16
4 Present perfect simple and Write for business: Using the present perfect in the news 20
continuous
Speaking strategies 1 Discussing 24
Test 1: Units 1–4 26
5 Past simple and continuous Business talk: Using past tenses to be polite 28
6 Present perfect and the past Business talk: Using continuous forms to give background 32
information
7 Past perfect simple and continuous Business talk: Regrets and intentions 36
8 Used to and would Business talk: be/get used to 40
Speaking strategies 2 Managing conversations 44
Test 2: Units 5–8 46
9 The future 1 (be going to, present Business talk: Organising presentations and workshops 1 48
continuous)
10 The future 2 (will, shall, the present Business talk: Organising presentations and workshops 2 52
tense)
11 Future continuous and future perfect Business talk: Using the future continuous to be polite 56
12 Other ways of talking about the Business talk: Future time expressions 60
future
Speaking strategies 3 Emphasising and softening 64
Test 3: Units 9–12 66
13 Modals 1 (talking about possibility and Write for business: Alternatives to modal verbs 68
ability, asking, offering and giving
permission)
14 Modals 2 (making suggestions and Business talk: Other ways of making informal suggestions 72
giving advice)
15 Modals 3 (saying what people have Business talk: Changing the force of instructions 76
to do)
16 Modals 4 (speculating and saying Business talk: Responding to other people 80
how certain you are)
Speaking strategies 4 Simple spoken grammar 84
Test 4: Units 13–16 86
17 Conditionals 1 (talking about the Business talk: Negotiating 88
present and future)
18 Conditionals 2 (talking about the Business talk: More hypothetical conditionals 92
hypothetical present and past)
19 The passive 1 (forming and using the Write for business: Using the passive in business 96
passive) correspondence
20 The passive 2 (modal verbs, Write for business: Using expressions with modal passives 100
two-object verbs, have and get) in reports
Speaking strategies 5 Making your meaning clear and avoiding misunderstandings 104
Test 5: Units 17–20 106

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Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-72720-4 - Grammar for Business
Michael McCarthy, Jeanne McCarten, David Clark and Rachel Clark
Frontmatter
More information

21 Questions Business talk: Persuading and giving opinions with 108

negative questions
22 Question tags Business talk: Question tags for checking information 112
23 Reported speech 1 (statements Business talk: Talking about news 116
and instructions)
24 Reported speech 2 (questions) Write for business: Making polite requests in business 120
letters
Speaking strategies 6 Checking information 124
Test 6: Units 21–24 126
25 Verbs and objects Business talk: Typical business uses of verbs and objects 128
26 -ing and infinitives after verbs Write for business: Giving reasons and views 132
27 Phrasal verbs Business talk: Phrasal verbs with get 136
28 Prepositions Business talk: Describing change 140
Speaking strategies 7 Organising what you say and highlighting information 144
Test 7: Units 25–28 146
29 Adjectives Write for business: Describing your products and services 148
30 Adverbs Business talk: Giving your personal perspective 152
31 Comparisons 1 (comparatives, as … as) Business talk: Modifying comparisons 156
32 Comparisons 2 (superlatives, Write for business: Using most in formal correspondence 160
comparing with verbs)
Speaking strategies 8 Being an active listener 164
Test 8: Units 29–32 166
33 Countability and number Write for business: Checking verbs after singular and plural 168
nouns
34 Articles Write for business: Not using the 172
35 Quantifiers Write for business: Levels of formality 176
36 Possessives and reflexive pronouns Write for business: Possessive noun phrases with of 180
Speaking strategies 9 Vague language 1 184
Test 9: Units 33–36 186
37 Relative clauses 1 (who, whose, Business talk: Commenting on what people say 188
which, that)
38 Relative clauses 2 (whom, where, Write for business: Writing about quantity 192
when, -ing, -ed)
39 Conjunctions and linking words 1 Write for business: Linking ideas in formal reports 196
40 Conjunctions and linking words 2 Business talk: Reasons, results and consequences 200
Speaking strategies 10 Vague language 2 204
Test 10: Units 37–40 206

Key 208
Recording script 235
Appendix 1 Spelling 246
Appendix 2 Common prefixes and suffixes 248
Appendix 3 North American English 250
Appendix 4 Formal and informal English 253
Appendix 5 Irregular verbs 256
Appendix 6 Verb patterns 258
Appendix 7 Prepositions 260
Appendix 8 Saying numbers, weights and measures 264
CD tracklist 267

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-72720-4 - Grammar for Business
Michael McCarthy, Jeanne McCarten, David Clark and Rachel Clark
Frontmatter
More information

Introduction
Who is this book for? After every four units, you will find:

This book is for intermediate-level students of business

• a Speaking strategies unit, which focuses on speaking
skills that business people need, such as managing
English. It teaches the most useful grammar you need to conversations, disagreeing politely or checking
communicate in English, and also gives you lots of practice in information.
the grammar of business communication.
• a test so that you can review what you learnt in the
previous four units.
What is ‘business grammar’? At the back of the book, you will find:

To answer this question, we used a large database of written • an answer key, with notes to remind you why these
answers are correct.
and spoken business English (a ‘corpus’). This database
contains business texts from newspapers and magazines and • the recording script, so you can read the conversations
a separate database of recordings of spoken business English and presentations on the CD.
at meetings, negotiations, presentations and other events in • the appendices, with useful information on spelling,
companies from different countries. irregular verbs, North American English, etc.
The database – or corpus – helps us to find the most common
words and grammar structures and to see how business
people really communicate at work. Many of the examples
How do I use the book?
and practice exercises in the book are edited extracts from the You can work through the book unit by unit, from Unit 1 to
recordings in the database. This symbol – – means that Unit 40. However, if you have a problem with a particular area
the information is from the corpus; this is how people really of grammar, or are interested in a specific point, you can also
use grammar when they speak or write. use any unit or group of units separately.
This book is for self-study students, but teachers and students
What grammar does the book cover? can also use it in class.

• First, we focus on the basics – talking about time, the

What do I need to use the book?
present, past and future.
• Then we look at modal verbs (can, must, may, would, etc.)
To use the book, you will need to be able to play and listen to
which help you to be polite or formal or how to ask people
the audio CD which comes with the book. The CD has both
to do things, for example.
listening and speaking activities on it.
• Next we go on to look at more complex grammar, such as
We hope you enjoy the book, and we wish you success
conditionals and how to report speech.
with business English and success in your business and
• Finally, we focus on difficult areas such as prepositions
professional life.
(at, in, on, with), articles (a/an, the) and ways of putting
sentences together with conjunctions (although, because). The authors
Michael McCarthy
Jeanne McCarten
How is the book organised? David Clark
In each unit, you will see Rachel Clark

• a presentation page to give you the important

information about the grammar of the unit.
• two practice pages, where you can do exercises and
activities to practise the grammar and relate it your own
work situation.
• two Make it personal sections with activities you can do
beyond the book.
• an extension section on speaking or writing; these
sections focus on the types of speaking and writing that
are common in business, such as organising presentations
or writing emails.

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