Scopri 150+ espressioni di Business English in un unico articolo! Frasi e parole specifiche da usare in ufficio, tutte spiegate in inglese. Dopo aver imparato l’inglese come seconda lingua e aver trovato impiego presso un’azienda straniera, vi sentite pronti ad affrontare il mondo lavorativo in lingua inglese, ma vi siete resi conto di non conoscere molti termini ed espressioni di Business English e adesso avete bisogno di recuperarli il prima possibile.  Se avete mai sentito qualche espressione di Business English comunemente usata sul posto di lavoro in un paese straniero o a distanza con colleghi internazionali, saprete già che la maggior parte di esse sono molto… beh, illogiche. Espressioni come “let’s circle back” o “I just wanted to touch base” sembrano riferirsi alla geometria o allo sport piuttosto che a una situazione aziendale. Eppure, fanno parte del gergo aziendale ampiamente riconosciuto e accettato nei paesi di lingua inglese. Nonostante quanto possano sembrare sarcastiche a volte alcune espressioni, sono invece considerate cortesi, formali e rispettose. Ma non preoccupatevi, in questo articolo imparerete tutti termini e le espressioni chiave più utilizzate che dovreste conoscere in ogni situazione in ambito lavorativo: dalle chiacchiere d’ufficio ai termini aziendali specifici di un particolare settore. Vedremo inoltre alcune delle parole che vengono comunemente confuse e come è possibile migliorare efficacemente le proprie conoscenze di Business English. Cosa intendiamo per Business English? Con il termine Business English ci riferiamo a parole ed espressioni tipicamente utilizzate in ambienti professionali e aziendali e nella comunicazione. La terminologia di questa categoria della lingua inglese Include termini correlati a diversi campi, come quello della contabilità, delle risorse umane, dell’informatica, del marketing e altro ancora. Alcuni contesti specifici che spesso richiedono la terminologia del Business English sono e-mail professionali, riunioni, proposte, trattative, newsletter, presentazioni, relazioni, chiamate e conferenze. Le parole comuni del Business English sono spesso usate in diversi settori e tra colleghi di diverse professioni. Ma questo tipo di inglese include anche un vocabolario specializzato per professioni distinte. Ad esempio, probabilmente avrete sentito dire il termine “multitasking” in molti contesti aziendali, ma vi basterà sapere cosa significa “responsive design” se lavorate come ingegneri informatici. Perché è importante imparare la terminologia e le espressioni di Business English? L’inglese è la lingua franca del business. È la lingua più comune che usiamo per fare affari, indipendentemente dalla nostra cultura, etnia o lingua madre. Ecco perché molte lingue usano termini inglesi per parlare di concetti di marketing o vendite. Anche se non siete madrelingua inglesi, potreste già conoscere termini come A/B testing, SEO o branding perché anche la nostra lingua madre italiana li usa. Ma nonostante il crescente numero di termini commerciali inglesi utilizzati in altre lingue, il gergo di Business English contiene ancora molte parole ed espressioni che dovremmo imparare se abbiamo intenzione di fare affari con colleghi e/o clienti che parlano inglese, anche se non si vive in ​​un paese di lingua inglese. Conoscere i termini giusti dei Business English apre infatti le porte a opportunità di lavoro globali e a una crescita professionale senza confini. Investire tempo ed energia nell’apprendimento della terminologia del Business English vi aiuterà a negoziare con i clienti all’estero, tenere presentazioni, fornire feedback costruttivi e comunicare efficacemente le vostre idee attraverso la comunicazione sia orale che scritta. Una buona conoscenza della lingua inglese vi aiuterà inoltre a: -Partecipare ad eventi di networking -Costruire relazioni professionali fondamentali per la vostra progressione di carriera -Assicurarvi che nessuno si perda nella traduzione -Ridurre al minimo il rischio di situazioni di conflitto dovute a incomprensioni -Prendere decisioni informate -Rimanere aggiornati sulle novità del settore seguendo le principali pubblicazioni -Comunicare in modo cortese, persuasivo e autentico con colleghi, clienti, manager e soci che parlano inglese …Siete pronti a padroneggiare il linguaggio aziendale in Business English? Iniziamo! Vocabolario di Business English quotidiano: espressioni idiomatiche comuni  Anche se non vi sentite esperti di affari, conoscere le parole e le frasi più comuni utilizzate nelle interazioni aziendali quotidiane in lingua inglese è fondamentale. Vi serviranno quando vi presenterete a un nuovo cliente o quando parlerete con i vostri colleghi in ufficio. 1. Get back to the drawing board: to start over from the beginning. 2. Call it a day: everyone can stop working and go home. 3. Get the ball rolling: to get started or move faster. 4. Hold your horses: to calm down or slow down a bit. 5. Ahead of the curve: to get ahead of the competition or current trends. 6. By the book: doing everything according to the rules. 7. The big picture: to look at the situation as whole, not just the details. 8. In the same boat: everyone is in a similar or the same situation. 9. Cut corners: taking shortcuts (solitamente porta una connotazione negativa). 10. Diamond in the rough: something or someone that has good qualities but bad qualities overshadow or mask them. 11. Throw in the towel: to give up and admit failure. Acronimi e abbreviazioni di Business English  12. 24/7: spoken as “twenty-four seven”, meaning open or in operation all the time. 13. ASAP: as soon as possible. To do something ASAP means to do it fast, with urgency.  14. EOB/EOD: end of business or end of day, usually set as a deadline for completing a task or project by the end of the day in that time zone. 15. FYI: for your information, usually given as a note or update to someone. 16. BTW: by the way, meaning as an additional point of information. 17. N/A: not applicable, meaning there is no corresponding value. 18. TBD: to be decided or discussed, meaning not yet decided or finalized. 19. RSVP: to reserve your space at an event, spoken literally as “RSVP”. 20. B2B: business to business, a type of business that sells products or services to other businesses. 21. B2C: business to consumer, a type of business that sells products or services to consumers. 22. Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4: a shortened form of referring to a particular quarter in the year, spoken as written. 23. ROI: return on investment, the amount of money earned back from an investment. 24. PO: purchase order, a document outlining a particular purchase. 25. w: short for “with”, only used in writing. 26. w/o: short for “without”, only used in writing. 27. ETA: estimated arrival time, the point in time someone or something is expected to arrive. Terminologia ed espressioni di Business English comunemente utilizzata in una larga varietà di contesti 28. Backburner: to put something on the backburner means to set aside tasks or projects for a while. Ex.: “We’ve put this project on the backburner for now.” 29. Balls in the air: if you have multiple tasks or responsibilities to handle at the same time, you have many “balls in the air.” Ex.: “With the upcoming deadline and client meetings, I have a lot of balls in the air right now.” 30. Too much on my plate: when you feel overwhelmed or have too many tasks or responsibilities, you have “too much on your plate.” Ex.: “I can’t take on any more projects at the moment; I already have too much on my plate.” 31. Bandwidth: a person’s capacity or availability to take on additional tasks or projects. Ex.: “I’d love to help, but I don’t have the bandwidth right now.” 32. Boil the ocean: if we “boiled the ocean”, we just took on an overly ambitious task that’s unlikely to succeed. Ex.: “Let’s focus on smaller goals instead of trying to boil the ocean with this project.” 33. Brain dump: putting lots of ideas on paper. Ex.: “I did a quick brain dump and came up with an awesome idea.” 34. Deliverables: these are the tangible results or outputs that are expected from a project or task. Ex.: “What are our deliverables for this month?” 35. Game changer: something that has the potential to impact or transform a situation significantly. Ex.: “This new organization tool I’m using is a game changer for me!” 36. Good to go: when something is “good to go”, it’s ready. Ex.: “The proposal I’ve been working on is good to go for today’s presentation.” 37. Herding cats: this expression doesn’t mean that someone is literally herding dozens of cats in their apartment. It’s just a weird way to say you’re trying to manage people or tasks that are difficult to manage. Ex.: “Coordinating the different departments’ schedules for this project feels like herding cats.” 38. Run up the flagpole: running something up the flagpole means presenting an idea, proposal, or plan to gather feedback. Ex.: “I haven’t finished the project yet, because I still need to run it up the flagpole.” 39. Throw under the bus: this is a common expression you might have heard in another context. It means to unfairly blame or sacrifice someone for your own benefit or to avoid responsibility. Ex.: “John tried to throw me under the bus by blaming me for the mistake during the presentation.” 40. Micromanage: micromanaging can be the most annoying thing in the workplace! It’s the practice of excessive or unnecessary control over small details of tasks or projects. Ex.: “I’m so annoyed with Susan! She micromanages everything I do.” 41. Let go: these are probably the two scariest words in the office! When someone has been “let go”, they were fired. Ex.: “Have you heard? Jack was let go yesterday!” 42. Keep me in the loop: when you ask someone to “keep you in the loop”, you ask them to keep you informed and included in the conversation. Ex.: “Keep me in the loop! I want to know what’s going on between John and Susan!” 43. Workflow: workflow refers to the sequence of steps or tasks involved in completing a specific process or project. Ex.: “The workflow for this project is insane… I don’t know how I’ll finish it on time!” 44. Meeting agenda: it’s a structured plan that outlines the topics, objectives, and order of discussion for a meeting. 45. Opening remarks: these are the comments or statements your team members make at the beginning of a meeting. Ex.: “They are meant to provide the context and introduce the rest of the team to the topic of the meeting.” 46. Action plan: it’s a detailed plan that specifies what needs to be done. It outlines the tasks and the timeline to achieve set goals. 47. Touch base: if someone wants to touch base with you, it doesn’t mean they want to play hockey. Ex.: “They just want to discuss something with you.” 48. Break the ice: it’s a common expression used in everyday situations. It means starting a conversion and can be used during a meeting to kick things off. 49. Get the ball rolling: it means starting something. In this case, the meeting. 50. Circle back: when someone says, “Let’s circle back”, they want to discuss something again, or they’ll want to discuss it with you later. 51. Going forward: it’s an expression used to move from one topic to another during a team meeting. 52. Think outside the box: this is a popular idiom. But in the corporate setting, it simply means coming up with innovative ideas. 53. Win-win situation: if something is a win-win situation, it’s an outcome or solution that benefits everyone involved. Everybody wins! 54. Move the needle: if someone moved the needle, they made significant progress or achieved something that positively impacted the situation. 55. Take it offline: I initially thought it meant to take the online conversation face-to-face. But no, it means to discuss something outside the current meeting so as not to go over the planned meeting time. 56. Back to the drawing board: when someone wants to go back to the drawing board, they feel the need to start over. Mainly because something didn’t go as planned or they want to reevaluate the plan. 57. Trim the fat: this funny expression means removing unnecessary elements to make something more streamlined or efficient. 58. On the same page: when someone says, “Let’s make sure we’re on the same page”, they want to know whether you’re thinking alike. 59. Deep dive: when someone wants to “deep dive” into something, they just want to explore the topic in detail. 60. Ducks in a row: if your boss says, “Let’s get our ducks in a row”, it means they want to start getting organized to handle a task. 61. On board: if you’re on board with something, you agree with it. If you don’t, you can always move the goalposts. 62. Move the goalposts: if your manager wants to move the goalposts, they want to change something: the objectives, the scope, or the project requirements. 63. Park it: if you’re parking it, you’re holding off on a project or milestone until you get approval from whoever is in charge. 64. Push the envelope: if your boss asks you to push the envelope, they just want you to give your best. 65. Drill down into: to drill down into something means to examine or analyze it in detail. 66. Forward planning: as you may have intuitively assumed, forward planning is the process of anticipating future needs or events and preparing accordingly. 67. Silver bullet: a silver bullet is a simple or quick solution that solves a complex problem or achieves significant results. 68. Cut corners: this is a popular idiom in everyday English, which means taking shortcuts. It’s usually done to save resources (like money or time), but it’s not always the best way. 69. Call it a day: the phrase you’re looking forward to during the entire meeting! “Let’s call it a day” means the meeting is over. Hooray! 70. Follow-up questions: follow-up questions are additional questions you or your teammates might have after discussing something. They aim to clarify things or gather more information. 71. Closing remarks: the opposite of opening remarks. Closing remarks are the comments or statements made at the end of a meeting, usually to summarize what was discussed. 72. Wrap up: when you’re wrapping things up, you’re finishing something – a task, a project, or a meeting. Business English specifico per professione Oltre ai termini generali utilizzati nelle conversazioni aziendali quotidiane, ogni settore e professione ha i suoi termini specifici di lessico aziendale: I vostri colleghi del reparto marketing continuano a lanciare parole di 3 lettere che suonano come un codice segreto. Quelli del reparto legale usano espressioni che li fanno sembrare dei nerd di Harvard e quelli delle risorse umane spaventano i loro dipendenti con parole come “firing” o “benchmarking”. Ma una volta capito il significato di questi termini, diventa chiaro di cosa stanno parlando tutte queste persone. Ecco quindi un elenco di termini aziendali specifici per ogni professione con cui potresti voler familiarizzare: Vocabolario di marketing di Business English L’inglese è la lingua dominante del marketing. Termini come B2B, ROI o CTA vengono lanciati nel mondo del marketing come freccette e se non siete esperti di marketing, potreste chiedervi cosa significano questi termini. Quindi, abbiamo stilato questa lista di vocaboli di marketing per aiutarvi a decifrare il codice: 73. Brand awareness: spreading the word about your brand as far and wide as you can. Usually via social media or Google. Ex.: “Increasing brand awareness is the primary goal of our social media strategy.” 74. Branding: creating a unique and recognizable identity (both visual and non-visual) for a product or a company. Ex.: “This company’s branding is unique.” 75. Call to action (CTA): the button on a website that encourages action, like making a purchase. Ex.: “The CTA on our landing page says, “Sign up for free.” 76. Case study: a story about someone’s experience with your product or service and how it benefitted them. Ex.: “You need solid case studies if you want your customers to trust you more.” 77. Clickbait: sneaky headlines that trick you into clicking. Once you do, it turns out it’s not what you expected. Ex.: “The title of this blog article was clickbait! It was a waste of time.” 78. Cold calling: calling people who have never heard about your brand to sell them your products or services. Ex.: “Cold calling can be an effective marketing strategy if done well.” 79. Content marketing: marketing your brand via any written, audio, or video content. Ex.: “Our content marketing strategy includes publishing informative blog posts to build brand credibility.” 80. Conversion rate: the percentage of visitors who take the desired action on your website (like making a purchase or signing up for your email list). Ex.: “We implemented a new checkout process that increased our conversion rate by 10%.” 81. Customer journey: the process your customers go through before they buy your stuff. Ex.: “The customer journey typically has a few stages.” 82. Customer segmentation: dividing your customers into groups based on shared characteristics. Ex.: “We implement customer segmentation to personalize our email campaigns.” 83. Going viral: you go viral when one of your social media posts receives skyrocketing amounts of engagement you previously didn’t have. Ex.: “One of my Instagram reels went viral, and I became a travel influencer.” 84. Influencer marketing: getting someone famous on social media to market your product or talk about your brand to their followers. Ex.: “We’ve got a fashion influencer promoting our clothing line on Instagram!.” 85. Landing page: a page designed to promote one specific product or offer and get visitors to do one thing, like download a freebie or buy something. Ex.: “Our landing page isn’t converting. We should redesign it.” 86. Market research: collecting data to understand your audience’s preferences and find out what your competitors are doing. Ex.: “We conducted market research to know what customers want.” 87. Onboarding: getting new employees up to speed so they don’t feel like confused puppies. Or setting everything us for new customers so they can use your product or service without feeling confused (like puppies). Ex.: “Let’s get our new employees onboarded quickly.” 88. ROI (Return on investment): the metric we calculate to see if the money we invested into something made us more money. Ex.: “Let’s calculate our ROI to know if we made a profit from our investment.” 89. SEO (Search Engine Optimization): optimizing a website or content to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results. Ex.: “We need to hire an SEO expert to help us appear on the first page of Google.” 90. Social media engagement: it measures how people interact with your social media content via likes, comments, shares, and saves. Ex.: “Our social media engagement is too low. We need to post better content!.” 91. Target audience: the group of people who share similar characteristics and are most likely to be interested in your product or service. Ex.: “Our target audience is young moms who want to get in shape with quick home workouts.” 92. Testimonials: the written or recorded opinions people have about your products or services. Ex.: “How many testimonials should we put on our website?“ 93. Unique selling proposition (USP): it’s the trait that makes your product or service different from your competitors. Ex.: “Our USP is our eco-friendly packaging, which appeals to environmentally conscious consumers.” Vocabolario delle vendite di Business English 94. Bargain: getting a great deal or discount on a purchase. Ex.: “This new dress was a total bargain!” 95. Buy in bulk: to buy large quantities of the same product. Ex.: “When I go shopping for office supplies, I buy them in bulk.” 96. Buyer: the person or company that buys something. Ex.: “The buyer didn’t agree to the proposed fee for the service.” 97. Client: the person that buys our services. Ex.: “Our clients are happy with our web design service.” 98. Close the sale: to successfully convince someone to make a purchase. Ex.: “After overcoming the customer’s objections, I managed to close the sale.” 99. Customer: the person that buys our products. Ex.: “Our customers are satisfied with our beauty products.” 100. Good value for money: a fair and worthwhile return on the amount spent. Ex.: “This hotel was good value for money. I’ll stay there again.” 101. Invoice: a document that shows the details and cost of a product or service. Ex.: “I sent the customer an invoice for my copywriting services.” 102. Negotiate: to attempt to reach a fair agreement between the buyer and seller on terms and price. Ex.: “We negotiated with the supplier to get a better price for the materials.” 103. Out of stock: when a product is temporarily unavailable for purchase, it’s out of stock. Ex.: “I’m sorry, but our T-shirts are currently out of stock.” 104. Pay in full: to pay the entire price of a product or service at once. Ex.: “The customer decided to pay in full, so we gave him a discount.” 105. Payment by installments: the practice of paying for a purchase in smaller, regular amounts over a period of time. Ex.: “You can buy the car with a convenient payment plan in monthly installments.” 106. Payment plan: an arrangement to pay for something in a structured and scheduled manner. Ex.: “We offer a flexible payment plan on our consulting packages.” 107. Prospect: a potential customer who fits the compaby’s target market and shows interest or is likely to show interest in the company’s products or services. Ex.: “We have a long list of prospects we need to call.” 108. Purchase: to buy something. Ex.: “I recently purchased a new car.” 109. Quote: providing a price estimate for a product or service. Ex.: “I sent the customer a quote for our web design service this morning.” 110. Refund: the money that a business gives back to a customer for returning a product or canceling a service. Ex.: “We issued a refund to the customer who wasn’t happy with our service.” 111. Retailer: a store or business that sells products directly to customers. Ex.: “Our retailer partners are selling our merchandise.” 112. Sales pitch: a persuasive presentation to convince someone to buy your product or service. Ex.: “I delivered an epic sales pitch that left the customer speechless. He immediately bought our service!” 113. Seller: the person or company that sells something. Ex.: “The seller is asking for a high price for their product.” 114. Sold out: when a product is sold out, the store has no more left. Ex.: “The tickets to the Beyoncé concert are already sold out.” 115. Supplier: a company that provides another company with the products they will later sell to their customers. Ex.: “Our clothing supplier didn’t deliver the T-shirts we ordered on time.” 116. Trial: testing out a product or service before committing to a purchase. Ex.: “I signed up for a free trial to see what this app offers.” 117. Wholesaler: a company that sells products in large quantities to retailers. Ex.: “Please call the wholesaler and order the usual amount of Coca-Cola cans.” Finanza e contabilità di Business English 118. Assets: things a business owns that have value. Ex.: “Our assets include property, equipment, and inventory.” 119. Balance sheet: a financial statement showing assets, liabilities, and equity. Ex.: “We need to update the balance sheet for the year-end report.” 120. Break-even point: the sales level at which a business neither makes a profit nor a loss. Ex.: “We need to sell 500 units to reach the break-even point.” 121. Budget: a plan for how much money a business can spend and where it will go. Ex.: “Let’s create a budget for our marketing campaign.” 122. Capital: money invested in a business to get it started or help it grow. Ex.: “We raised capital from investors to expand our operations.” 123. Cash flow: money coming in and going out of a business. Ex.: “Good cash flow means we can pay our bills on time.” 124. Depreciation: the decrease in the value of assets over time. Ex.: “We need to account for depreciation when calculating the asset’s value.” 125. Equity: the value of the business after subtracting liabilities. Ex.: “Our equity increased as our business grew.” 126. Expenses: the money a business spend on stuff they need to run the company. Ex.: “Our expenses include rent, salaries, and office supplies.” 127. Gross profit: money left after subtracting the cost of goods sold. Ex.: “Our gross profit margin increased due to cost-saving measures.” 128. Income statement: a financial report showing revenue, expenses, and profit. Ex.: “The income statement revealed our strong sales growth.” 129. Inventory: all the products or items the business has in stock that it’s planning to sell. Ex.: “We need to manage our inventory to avoid overstocking or shortages.” 130. Liabilities: the money a business owes to other people (like investors or stakeholders). Ex.: “The loan from the bank is a liability we need to pay back.” 131. Loss: when a company spends more than they make, they have a loss. Ex.: “We had a loss last quarter due to unexpected expenses.” 132. Net profit: money left after subtracting all expenses. Ex.: “We had a net profit of $100,000 this quarter.” 133. Revenue: the money a business makes from selling products or services. Ex.: “Our revenue skyrocketed after launching the new product.” Vocabolario delle risorse umane di Business English Gli addetti alle risorse umane usano spesso molti termini non familiari rivolgendosi ai loro dipendenti. Ma quest’ultimi dovrebbero conoscerli! Anche se non siamo professionisti delle risorse umane, dovremmo comunque sapere cosa sta combinando il reparto risorse umane quando usa termini come “broadbanding” o “confidentiality agreement”. Conoscere questi termini sarà utile in molte situazioni, come firmare un contratto di lavoro o lasciare il lavoro. 134. Applicant tracking system (ATS): a system that helps recruiters keep track of all the job applications they receive. Ex.: “Our ATS saves recruiters a lot of time on manually tracking job applications.” 135. Behavioral competency: the skills and qualities that contribute to effective job performance. Ex.: “Some of the behavioral competencies we evaluate as leadership and decision-making skills.” 136. Benchmarking: comparing your performance to industry best practices to identify areas for improvement. Ex.: “We’re benchmarking our customer service response time against our main competitor’s.” 137. Broadbanding: consolidating multiple job levels into broader pay ranges. Ex.: “Our broadbanding approach allows us to cut employee costs.” 138. Confidentiality agreement: it’s an agreement that employees sign that prevents them from using the confidential information they handle as part of their job outside of their responsibilities. Ex.: “The company made me sign a confidentiality agreement to be approved for the position.” 139. Exit interview: a conversation held when an employee is leaving to gather feedback and insights. Ex.: “During the exit interview, we asked departing employees to rate their overall experience with us on a scale of 1 to 10.” 140. Gross misconduct: an action that is unacceptable at the workplace and needs to be punished by immediate dismissal. Ex.: “Did you hear that John committed gross misconduct? He got immediately fired!“ 141. Job description: a description that lists everything you’re supposed to do at a particular job, usually part of a job advertisement. Ex.: “My job description says I’m responsible for handling customer queries 24/7.” 142. Key performance indicators (KPIs): HR KPIs are the metrics used to measure how HR contributes to the company’s success. Ex.: “The average interviewing cost is one of our main KPIs to measure HR’s success.” 143. Onboarding: the process of educating new employees and turning them into fully functioning team members. Ex.: “Our onboarding process involves a 3-week training under the team leader’s supervision.” 144. Orientation: the first day of work for new employees that includes a tour of the office and a couple of meetings that explain the nature of the job. Ex.: “During orientation, we gave new hires a crash course on office culture.” 145. Recruitment: the process of finding new employees to work at a company. Ex.: “We’re recruiting a team of expert web developers for our new project.” 146. Succession planning: identifying and preparing potential candidates for key roles in the future. Ex.: “We’re training our interns to become future employees as part of our succession planning.” 147. Talent management: nurturing and developing employees’ skills and potential. Ex.: “Thanks to our talent management efforts, our employees stay at our company longer.” Termini e significati legali di Business English Per qualche ragione, i termini legali aziendali suonano spaventosi per noi che non siamo esperti di diritto societario. Tuttavia, qualsiasi dipendente, libero professionista, imprenditore o proprietario di un’azienda deve avere familiarità con alcuni termini legali di base. Conoscere questi termini è infatti  essenziale quando si firmano contratti e accordi, si negozia un affare o si affronta una questione legale. 148. Agreement: an understanding between two or more parties, usually documented in a contract. Ex.: “A satisfactory agreement between the two parties was finally reached.” 149. Appendix: an additional section of a contract that provides additional information. Ex.: “The project proposal includes an appendix detailing the project deliverables.” 150. Breach of contract: this happens when one of the two parties doesn’t comply with the terms agreed upon in the contract they signed. Ex.: “The supplier’s failure to deliver goods constituted a breach of contract.” 151. Clause: a section in a contract that addresses a specific issue. Ex.: “The non-compete clause prohibits our employees from working for our competitors.” 152. Contract: a document where the agreement between two parties is outlined in detail. Ex.: “The client finally signed the contract.” 153. Copyright: the exclusive legal right granted to the creator of an original work, protecting it from unauthorized use. Ex.: “The author obtained copyright protection for their novel.” 154. Fail to comply: not to adhere to the requirements or terms outlined in a signed contract. Ex.: “The contractor failed to comply with safety regulations.” 155. Fine print: the tiny text, usually at the bottom of a document or contract, that contains important information. Ex.: “Carefully reading the fine print can help you avoid unpleasant surprises.” 156. Intellectual property: intangible creations of the mind, such as inventions, designs, or artistic works, protected by law. Ex.: “The company filed a patent application to protect its intellectual property.” 157. Legal dispute: a conflict between two parties that requires legal intervention. Ex.: “The company entered into a legal dispute with a former employee.” 158. Legal expert: a person who knows the ins and outs of legal matters and can advise those with no idea. Ex.: “The company contacted a legal expert to review the contract.” 159. Legally binding: when something is legally binding, it is enforceable by law. Ex.: “The contract you signed is legally binding.” 160. Null and void: it means that a contract is considered invalid and has no legal effect. Ex.: “The court declared the contract null and void due to misrepresentation by one of the parties.” 161. Party: an individual or a company involved in a contract or a legal dispute. Ex.: “Both parties agreed to the terms of the employment contract.” 162. Terminate a contract: to end the contract before its completion date. Ex.: “The parties mutually agreed to terminate the contract.” 163. Terms: the requirements you agree to when signing a contract. Ex.: “The terms of the contract are clear: you cannot end it without a reason.” 164. Trademark: a legally registered symbol, word, phrase, or logo used to identify a brand or a product. Ex.: “The company registered its logo as a trademark.” Termini comuni di Business English che potrebbero confondere Anche vi sentite senti fluente nella lingua, esistono alcuni termini a cui dovreste fare comunque attenzione. Sapevate per esempio che “client” e “customer” non sono due parole intercambiabili? Lo stesso si applica a “revenue” e “profit” o a “marketing” e advertising. Quali sono le differenze tra queste parole? Eccole spiegate: –Client vs. customer: no, they’re not the same thing. There’s a subtle yet significant difference. A client is a person that buys a service. A customer is a person that buys a product. –Collaboration vs. Cooperation: although used interchangeably by most people, there’s a not-so-subtle difference between these terms. Cooperation is when you work with other people to achieve your own goals. Collaboration, however, is when you work with others to accomplish a shared goal. –Market share vs. Market penetration: unless you’re a marketing pro, these terms can be very confusing! They both talk about the percentage of the market the company claims, but by measuring different things. Market penetration is the percentage of the overall target audience the company sells to. Market share is more detailed and refers to the portion of the target market that buys the company’s products. –Revenue vs. Profit: contrary to what many people think, these two terms aren’t interchangeable. Revenue is the total income a business generates through its operations. Profit is the income left after deducting the expenses the company has to incur to make revenue in the first place. -Marketing vs. Advertising: these two terms are often confused because they overlap. Advertising is part of marketing. Marketing is the practice of promoting your brand or products to your audience. Advertising, however, is the practice of paying to have your content placed in specific locations (such as social media platforms or Google) to reach your target audience. Espressioni di Business English delle riunioni aziendali Negli ultimi anni ci siamo abituati alle riunioni di gruppo online su Zoom o Microsoft Teams. Così come ci siamo anche abituati a sentire le stesse espressioni aziendali più e più volte a ogni riunione di gruppo. Anche se non parlate fluentemente inglese, potreste aver già sentito alcune espressioni usate nelle riunioni di lavoro tenute in inglese. Ma per aiutarvi a gestire con sicurezza la prossima riunione, ecco l’elenco delle espressioni chiave suddivise per contesto con i loro significati: Espressioni di Business English per chiedere chiarimenti -Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you please repeat what you just said? -I didn’t quite hear that. Can you please say it again? -I’m sorry, but could you please speak a bit louder? In maniera indiretta: -Sorry, just to clarify, your point was that… -Am I to understand that… -So, what we’re saying is… -So, if I’m understanding your point, you mean… Espressioni di Business English per esprimere accordo  -That’s a fantastic point (person’s name). I completely agree with you there. -Great, I think we’re all on the same page that… -Yes, I get what you’re saying… -Yes, I’m with you on your point that… Espressioni di Business English per esprimere disaccordo  -Sorry, but I think you might be a bit off there… -From my perspective, it’s a bit different. I can explain… -Well, that could be. Can I clarify my end of things? -I completely understand your point, but I think that… Ecco alcune espressioni utili di Business English per pianificare delle riunioni: Espressioni di Business English per suggerire -Would it be possible for you next Thursday at 4pm? -How does tomorrow morning work for you? -Would you have any available time next week? Espressioni di Business English per accettare -Yes, next Tuesday works for me. See you then! -Yes, tomorrow is a done deal. Looking forward to it! -Great, see you on Friday at 1pm. Bye for now! Espressioni di Business English per rifiutare  -Unfortunately, tomorrow isn’t possible. Would Thursday work instead? -I have a meeting on Friday, so next week would be better for me. -Unfortunately, I can’t make Wednesday morning. Could we do the afternoon instead? Small talk: conversazioni casuali Nei paesi di lingua inglese (specialmente in America), essere in grado di tenere una conversazione casuale può essere importante quanto la riunione stessa. Per questo motivo, abbiamo raccolto per voi alcune espressioni per poter iniziare il proprio meeting con scioltezza: Espressioni di Business English per parlare del tempo -Beautiful day, isn’t it? -Can you believe all this snow we’ve been having? -Did you order this sunshine? -Talking about the office -Looking forward to the weekend? -How has your week been? -I can’t believe how busy it’s been lately. How has it been for you? Espressioni di Business English per parlare di viaggi/ piani per le ferie -Got anything fun planned for Christmas? -Any fun travel plans coming up soon? -How was your Thanksgiving? -How was your last vacation? Non dimenticatevi di usare un linguaggio formale e gentile Tenete a mente che l’utilizzo di queste espressioni in Business English vanno usate in un registro linguistico formale e gentile. Avrete notato che le frasi utilizzate nelle riunioni menzionate negli ultimi paragrafi non fanno richieste o affermazioni dirette ma includono parole come: unfortunately, sorry, a bit, e quite. Queste parole sono utilizzate per ammorbidire il tono, che corrisponde al modo in cui l’inglese aziendale dei paesi di lingua inglese viene reso gentile. Come migliorare le proprie conoscenze di Business English? Esistono molte strategie che potete usare per migliorare la vostra conoscenza dell’inglese commerciale e acquisire nuovi termini ed espressioni. Ecco alcune tattiche che possono aiutarvi a iniziare: Lettura: leggete le pubblicazioni in inglese commerciale e registrate le nuove parole e frasi che vedete nei documenti. Ascolto: ascoltate conversazioni in inglese commerciale su podcast, film e serie TV, quindi annotate qualsiasi nuova parola o terminologia non familiare che sentite. Aggiornamento: seguite i leader aziendali o i gruppi sui social media (ad esempio LinkedIn, Twitter) e prendete nota del nuovo vocabolario che viene utilizzato. Scrittura: scrivete espressioni commerciali e termini commerciali di base in inglese che includano parole comunemente usate nel vostro settore, campo o ufficio. Disegno: disegnate simboli o immagini che vi aiutino a ricordare le nuove parole o espressioni aziendali che state imparando. Studio: studiate autonomamente la terminologia di Business English utilizzando app di apprendimento, schede didattiche, video didattici o corsi online di inglese commerciale. Conversazione: parlate con un partner di scambio linguistico, un amico o un collega in modo da potervi esercitare a usare il vostro vocabolario aziendale in conversazioni reali. Il Business English, con tutte le espressioni e vocaboli che include potrebbe sembrare intimidatorio se non si conosce ancora. Ma con la lista completa riportata in questo articolo direttamente nel vostro arsenale di conoscenza, non vi sentirete mai più confusi durante le vostre conversazioni di lavoro in lingua inglese. Una volta che le avrete padroneggiate inizierete a muovervi nel mondo degli affari con crescente sicurezza, lasciando un’impressione duratura sul vostro capo, sui vostri colleghi e sui clienti esteri. Fonte immagine in evidenza dell’articolo “Tutte le espressioni in Business English con spiegazione in inglese”: Artursafronovvvv su Freepik.com