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English Dictionary: Business Collocations in The Oxford Business

The document discusses business English collocations found in the Oxford Business English Dictionary. It provides examples of adjective-noun and verb-noun collocations and exercises for learners to practice identifying collocations and using them in sentences. It also discusses multi-word dictionary headwords related to business terms and their meanings.

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Bojana Jovanovska
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467 views4 pages

English Dictionary: Business Collocations in The Oxford Business

The document discusses business English collocations found in the Oxford Business English Dictionary. It provides examples of adjective-noun and verb-noun collocations and exercises for learners to practice identifying collocations and using them in sentences. It also discusses multi-word dictionary headwords related to business terms and their meanings.

Uploaded by

Bojana Jovanovska
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Business Collocations in the Oxford Business

English Dictionary
Collocations are combinations of words that frequently go together. The
Oxford Business English Dictionary contains a lot of information about
important collocations in business English. These are listed at the entry for a
word, after the example sentences. They are marked with a special
symbol.

Activity 1: adjective + noun collocations


a Look at the list of nouns in the right-hand column below. Decide which group of
three adjectives on the left goes with each one and draw a line joining adjective
group and noun. Check your answers by looking up the dictionary entries for the
nouns, and then looking at the section.

average/competitive/modest customer
big/crippling/massive debt
blue-collar/manual/white-collar demand
cash/credit/online inflation
economic/personal/security management
effective/good/strong purchase
galloping/rapid/spiralling risk
good/loyal/regular salary
job/management/vocational training
strong/growing/rising worker

b Look at the following pairs of sentences. Fill the gap in the second sentence so that it
means the same as the first sentence. Look at the adjectives listed in the collocations
section for the word in bold in your dictionary if you need help. In most cases more
than one correct answer is possible but you only need to write one word.
1 The company borrowed a lot of money. ➞ The company ran up debts.
2 The demand for new cars is becoming less. ➞ There is a/an demand for
new cars.
3 The project failed because it wasn’t well managed. ➞ The project failed because of
management.

4 The risk of bankruptcy is becoming greater. ➞ There is a/an risk of


bankruptcy.
5 You will be paid £50 000 per year. ➞ You will receive a/an salary of £50 000.
Activity 2: verb + noun collocations
a Look at the list of nouns in the right-hand column below. Decide which group of three
verbs on the left goes with each one and draw a line joining verb group and noun.
Check your answers by looking up the dictionary entries for the nouns, and then
looking at the section.

accept/receive/sign for bankruptcy


agree/establish/set borrowing
avert/avoid/stave off a career
break/enforce/respect a charge (for sth)
build/close/open a contract
build/take up/pursue a factory
curb/cut/reduce the law
draw up/make/sign an objective
generate/make/show a profit
impose/levy/make a shipment

b Look at the following pairs of sentences. Fill the gap in the second sentence so that it
means the same as the first sentence. Look at the verbs listed in the collocations
section for the word in bold in your dictionary if you need help. In most cases more
than one correct answer is possible but you only need to write one word.
1 We should try to borrow less money. ➞ We should try to borrowing.
2 Please put your signature on the contract and return it to us. ➞
Please the contract and return it to us.

3 They did what they set out to do. ➞ They were able to their objectives.
4 There is a healthy profit for the first quarter, according to sales figures. ➞ Sales figures
a healthy profit for the first quarter.

5 Discrimination against older workers is illegal. ➞ The law discrimination


against older workers.
Activity 3: headwords and collocations
Many of the headwords in the Oxford Business English Dictionary are made
up of more than one word. These headwords have their own special meaning,
but this meaning is often related to the meanings of the individual words they
contain.
a Look at the pages of the dictionary where you can find headwords that
begin with the word in bold, and find the headword that matches the
description.
1 basic : the normal amount that somebody is paid in
a year, without any extra payments
2 corporate : the ideas, beliefs and values of a particular
company
3 direct : the use of strikes and protests to
achieve a political or social aim
4 front : the place where visitors go to introduce
themselves when they enter a hotel or an office
5 hard : information that can be measured or proved
6 industrial : an area especially for factories, on the edge
of a town
7 open : a situation where employees and
managers can freely exchange information and ideas
8 operating : the plan that a business follows in
order to achieve its aims
9 soft : advantages and rewards that employees
receive that are not money
10 white : large pieces of electrical equipment used in the
home

b The SEE ALSO: section at the beginning of some entries tells you when the
headword you are looking at is also included as a part of other headwords in
the dictionary.
Look at the entry for test, and find answers to the following questions. If
you need help, look up the entries listed in the SEE ALSO : section.
1 Which type of test examines somebody’s
mental abilities, personality, etc?
2 Which types of test are especially used with new computer software?
3 Which type of test is used as a verb meaning to test something,
like a new product, in the place where it will be used?
4 Which type of test means an official check of the money that
somebody owns or earns?
5 Which type of test is used to show how well people remember
a product that they have seen in an advertisement?

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