English: At the Office

Level: B2. At work, what you say matters less than how you say it. This lesson gives you the vocabulary of meetings, projects and deadlines, and — more importantly — the indirect, polite phrasing that makes office English sound professional rather than blunt.

By the end of this page you can…

…talk about meetings, deadlines and projects; write a clear, polite email with the right opening and sign-off; make and respond to requests indirectly; and judge how formal to be in a given situation.

Why office English is indirect

In professional English, a direct order sounds rude even when you have every right to ask. Compare:

• ❌ Send me the report. (an order — fine only between close colleagues)
• ✅ Could you send me the report when you get a chance?
• ✅ Would you mind sending me the report?

The trick is to wrap the request in a question and add a softener: possibly, when you get a chance, if that’s okay. This is not weakness — it is the normal register of the workplace, and skipping it marks you as abrupt.

Meetings and projects

Projects have their own verbs: you kick off (start) a project, keep on track (keep to schedule), fall behind (be late), and meet or miss a deadline. You report to your manager and cc (copy) people into an email.

Email openings and sign-offs

Emails run on fixed frames. Learn each as a whole chunk:

• Openings: I hope this email finds you well. / I hope you had a good weekend. / Thank you for your email.
• Reason: I’m writing to ask about … / I wanted to follow up on … / Just a quick note to …
• Requests: Could you possibly …? / Would it be possible to …? / I’d be grateful if you could …
• Sign-offs: Best regards, / Kind regards, / Many thanks, (formal) · Cheers, / Best, (informal).

Chasing and softening

Two situations come up constantly: chasing late work and giving bad news. Both need softening.

• Chasing: Just following up on my last email … / I was wondering if you’d had a chance to look at … / Sorry to chase, but …
• Declining / bad news: I’m afraid we won’t be able to … / Unfortunately, there’s been a delay. / I’m not sure that will be possible, but let me check.

Example sentences

Press play and copy the rhythm. These are the exact phrases you will use at work.

Quick recap before you practise.

A short conversation

Manager: Morning, Dan. Have you had a chance to look at the client report? Dan: Not yet, I’m afraid — I’ve been tied up with the budget. Could I get it to you by this afternoon? Manager: That works. Would you mind cc’ing me when you send it to them? Dan: Of course. I’ll follow up with the client as well, just to confirm the deadline. Manager: Perfect. Thanks, Dan.

Quick recap before the quiz.

Usage notes

• I’m afraid softens, it doesn’t mean fear: I’m afraid I can’t simply flags bad news politely.
• would you mind + -ing: the answer is back-to-front — Would you mind sending it? → Not at all (meaning yes, I’ll do it).
• ASAP sounds pushy: prefer when you get a chance or by end of day unless something is genuinely urgent.
• cc / bcc: cc copies someone visibly; bcc copies them without the others seeing. Both are used as verbs: I’ll cc you.
• touch base, circle back, reach out are common office idioms but stay informal — keep them out of formal client emails.

Practice

How to say it

A few office words trip up English learners. Copy the audio rather than the spelling.

• colleague stresses the first part: KOL-eeg, with a hard g.
• agenda stresses the middle: uh-JEN-duh, with a soft g.
• schedule is SHED-yool (British) or SKED-jool (American) — both are standard.
• deadline is a compound with the stress on the first part: DED-line.

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

• Previous lesson: English: Jobs & Professions
• Next lesson: English: The Job Interview
• New here? Start with Start Learning English Here
• Build the sounds: English Pronunciation Overview