gcm cr2 manual2 1 ingles 4

8/13/2019 Gcm Cr2 Manual2 1 Ingles 4

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INGLS COMERCIAL II

GESTIN COMERCIAL Y MRKETING


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Ingls comercial II

INDEX

1. Getting in touch

Keep in touch..................................................................................................3 First grade conditional....................................................................................7 Make and Do .................................................................................................9 Franchising...................................................................................................13 Necessity of an advice..................................................................................14 Offers, suggestions, invitations.....................................................................18

2. Going into the Stock Exchange

Uniform, constant, equable...........................................................................21

Environment ethic ........................................................................................23 World markets .............................................................................................26 Business ethic..............................................................................................28 Yard sales ...................................................................................................31 Recycling.....................................................................................................33

3. Being impersonal

How things are made...................................................................................36 The Agent (Passive) ...................................................................................38 Doing a market research ..........................................................................42 Alliances......................................................................................................43 Phrasal verbs...............................................................................................46

4. Writing in/ for business

Negotiations.................................................................................................51 Information checkers .................................................................................54 How to sell a product ..................................................................................57 Commercial letters......................................................................................60 The language of complaints .......................................................................62 Letters of reply and adjustment .................................................................66

5. Going on holiday

Enquires and replies...................................................................................70

Electronic correspondence.........................................................................72 Banks and money.......................................................................................75 How to place and order ..............................................................................78 Energy.........................................................................................................81 Reports........................................................................................................84

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Ingls comercial II

1 Getting in touchKeep in touch

Two of the most popular web sites in the world are Classmates and FriendsReunited which offers the same service, they enable people to get back in touchwith friends who went to the school with them.

Today Classmates , which was founded by Michael Schutzler in 1995, has over35 million members in the United States where it has grown rapidly. The site, whichprovides listing for most public and private schools, and universities, is visited by

people worldwide.

Users, who can register for free by providing their name, name of the school theyattended, graduating years, and contact information, can view the names of whohave also registered with Classmates. Only when a user wants to contactsomeone, they pay a subscription fee.

Four years after, a husband and wife decided to start a similar service in Britainwhere they launched Friends Reunited. They ran the original operation from aspare room in their house. Today it is one of the best known and most popularsites in Britain whose 86 million registered members come from nine different

countries.

However, it has received some criticism and been accused of causing severaldivorces, as some users have used the site to say bad things about their ex-teachers, while others have made contact with teenage sweethearts and left theirpartners.

GRAMMAR POINT

Look at these expressions from the text:

which offer the same service. which was founded by Michael Schutzler in 1995. which provides listing for most public and private schools and universities. who went to the school with them. who can register for free. Where it has grown rapidly. Where they launched friends Reunited. The names of whom have also registered with classmates.

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Whose 8.6 million registered members come from nine different countries.

They are all relative clauses, short phrases beginning with words like who,that, which (called relative pronouns) that define or describe people and

things. They follow a noun (grammatically called antecedent) about which they addsome sort of information.

Relative clauses are often used in both spoken and written English. There is atendency to use non-defining relative clauses mostly in written, rather than inspoken English.

We use relative clauses to provide extra information. This information can eitherdefine something (defining clause), or provide unnecessary, but interesting, addedinformation (non-defining clause).

There are two types of relative clauses:

Defining relative clauses:we use them to identify exactly which person orthing we mean. The information provided in a defining relative clause iscrucial in understanding the meaning of the sentence.

They enable people to get back in touch with friends who went to the schoolwith them.

The purpose of a defining relative clause is to clearly define who or what weare talking about. Without this information, it would be difficult to know who

or what is meant.

We are not talking about any friends, but only about those whom we met atschool and have not seen for years.

Non- defining relative clauses: give extra information which is notnecessary for the sentence to make sense. In writing, they go betweencommas.

Users, who can register for free, can view the names of Classmate'smembers.

Correct punctuationis essential in non-defining relative clauses.

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Relative pronouns in non-defining relativeclauses

Person Object

Subject who whichObject who, whom which

Possessive whosewhose,ofwhich

If the non-defining relative clause occurs in the middle of a sentence, acomma is put before the relative pronoun and at the end of the clause.

If the non-defining relative clause occurs at the end of a sentence, a commais put before the relative pronoun.

Relative clauses can be introduced by:

A relative pronoun: who (whom), which, that, whose.

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Person Object

Subject who that which, that

Object, that, who,

whom , which, that

Possessive whose whose, of which

Relative pronouns in defining relativeclauses


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Relative pronouns

Which:refer to things.

That:refers to things and people. It is more common, especially in speech.Who/Whom: refer to people.

In formal speech and writing we can use whom instead of who, whenwho is not the subject but the object of a sentence, and after a preposition.However, this is becoming less common and in modern English speakersrarely use whom they prefer who with the preposition at the end of thephrase or that.

They can view the names of whom have also registered.

Whose:shows that something belongs to someone. It can be translated by:cuyo/a, cuyos/as.

Friends Reunited whose 8.6 million people come from 9 different countries.

Where:can be a relative pronoun when its antecedent is a noun indicatingplace:

Britain where they launched a similar service

When: can also be a relative pronoun when its antecedent is a noun

indicating time:

The day when she came was the best in our lives.

No relative pronoun, . Where, why and when instead of a relative pronoun.

When, where and why

Where, referring to a place, why, referring to a reason, and when, referringto a time, can be used instead of a relative pronoun after a noun.

In defining relative clauses why and when, unlike where can be omitted.

When, where and why are not omitted in non-defining relative clauses.

It is preferable to use that (not which ) after the following words: all, any(thing), every (thing), few, little, many, much, no (thing), none, some(thing),and after superlatives.

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When using the pronoun to refer to the object, that can be omitted.

Leave out the relative pronounSometimes we can leave out the relative pronoun:

In a defining relative clause that refers to the object.The doctor I spoke to told me not to worry(The doctor whom I spoke to ).

After a superlative.That was the best film I've ever seen!( the best film that I've ever seen).

But we cannotleave out the pronoun:

In a defining relative clause that refers to the subject.

The doctor who treated me told me not to worry.

In non-defining relative clauses:Cervantes, who died long ago, is still the best Spanish writer.

First grade conditional

Read the text. It contains a description of a computer game.

A virus tries to destroy your computer. Luckily, your computer has an antivirusprotection system. But can it stop the virus before it totally destroys thecomputer? Two players or teams can play the game. One team is the virus andthe other team is the antivirus! Both need different coloured pens.

If your team is the virus, then your objective is to destroy as much of thecomputer system as you can.

If you team is the antivirus, your objective is to save as much of the computersystem as possible.

You take turns moving on the playing board. You can move only a shape at atime and always to shapes connected by a line. All shapes contain questions oranswers to the questions.

If you land on a shape with an answer, or if you land on a shape that has alreadybeen coloured, you have to wait for your next turn to move again. If you land on ashape with a question you must search the other shapes for the correct answer to

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the question. You have a maximum of 30 seconds to match the question andanswer.

If you correctly match the question and answer then you can colour both shapeswith your colour and move to the answer shape. If you do not manage to match

them correctly you will have to return to the shape you occupied previously.

When all the shapes are coloured, the virus and antivirus teams should counthow many shapes they matched right. The winner is the team that has the mostcoloured shapes: virus/antivirus.

GRAMMAR POINT

We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition orsituation in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility

that this condition will happen.

IF condition result

Present Simple

will + base verb

When reading this text about a board game you can see many sentences withif, they are called conditionals. The if clause is the condition and the otherpart of the sentence is the result.

People sometimes call conditionals "IF" structures or sentences, because there

is usually (but not always) the word "if" in a conditional sentence.

The important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real possibilitythat the condition will happen.



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When the verb of the condition is a Present Simple the verb of the result can be:

A present too. It expresses a general truth.

If your team is the virus your objective is to destroy the computer system.

Sometimes it is called a zero conditional because it expresses more acause/effect relation than a condition. We can also use when to introduce thesentence.

Sometimes, we use shall, can, or may instead of will , for example: If you aregood today, you can watch TV tonight.

A modal auxiliary, adds a sense of necessity, obligation, possibility to theresult.

If you land on a coloured shape you have to wait.

A simple future (will). It describes events that will happen or are likely tohappen, a real possibility in the speaker's mind.

If you don't manage to match them correctly you will return to your previousplace .

An imperative, it tells you what to do.

If you are a virus, attack the computer system.

Make and Do

Look at these advertisements:For your convenience we've printed an information leaflet about our companytelling you what we do, who we are and how we do it.

Thank you for your support and for making us the U.K. 's most successful retailer.

In order to maintain our number one position we need to know where we've gonewrong.

Suggestions and comments can be made to the customer service. They willreceive a reply. Please, let us know your opinion about us. We really care !

We made profits of more than 500.000 dollars and suppliers are keen to dobusiness with us.

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GRAMMAR POINT

When dealing with the verbs make and do, problems may arise, becausethey are very similar in meaning and it is not always easy to know which one we

should use.

Make.It often has the meaning of create or construct, as in the example fromthe text:

We made profitsor: We made a new design for the product.

The company makes photographic equipment.

Make is often used with nounsconnected with talking and sounds; as we can

see in these examples:

Children make a lot of noise.I'd like to make a suggestion.You can write to our customer service to make a complaint.

Make can also be found in expressions related with travellingsuch as:Make a journey or make a visit.

However, there are many other expressions which do not follow these guidelinesand it is best to learn them or use a dictionary if you are unsure.

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Expressions with Do and Make

Do Make

do good make an attempt

do harmmake a bed (usually this means "tidythe bedclothes" but it could mean"manufacture the furniture")

do well make a change/changes

do badly make a complaint

do a favor make a decision

do business make a demand

make an effort

make an exception

make an excuse

make a loss

make love

make a mistake

make money

make a noise

make an offer

make peacemake a phone call

make a profit

make a suggestion

make war

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Here are some of them:

an appointment make sense

arrangements make certain

an attempt

a choice

money

progress

a start

Make

my/your-mind up

Dois often used when talking about an activity without mentioningexactly whatit is, as in the sentences:

What do you do?I do my homework everyday.Women do most of the housework in Western countries.He is doing a master in Business.

Also it is used when we talk about a work or a task.And in the structure:

do + ing

It was a pleasure doing business with you.Could you do some photocopying for me, please?

Remember that we usually use make for products or goods that are manufactured.That's why you see labels like "Made in Hong Kong" or "Made in the USA " onproducts that you buy.

As in the case of make, do is used in many other expressions without followingthese rules, as we can see in these examples:



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good

harm

my/your/his/her best

someone a favour

Do

well

Franchising

Today businesses are changing and one of the most outstanding features is theclosing of traditional shops in favour of big chains that offer their productseverywhere in outlets that look alike. That's what we call franchising.

But there is more, it can be defined as a business system in which a company, thefranchisor, sells an individual the right to operate a business using the franchisor'sformat. The franchisee has the right to take advantage of the franchisor's brandnames, reputation and experience.

As part of the agreement or contract, the franchisee pays an initial sum calledfranchise or front end fee, and it agrees to pay a management services fee, whichis usually calculated as a percentage of the annual turnover. Some franchisorsrequire their franchisees to pay and advertisement fee to contribute to the annualadvertising and marketing costs but not all of them.

Ben and LarryBen and Larry is an American company, based in Vermont which makes naturalice-cream. It was founded in 19789 by Ben Hogen and Larry Greenfield. Itdistributes its products in all the states and has 100 independent franchise shops inU.S.A. and Canada.

The franchisees buy a ten year license and they receive personnel training and awell-planned marketing campaign. Most of their franchisees are experiencedoperators whose stores are their primary source of income. As part of theirpublicity, shops have to participate in many local events and social campaigns

such as: aiding homeless shelters, sponsoring cultural activities.

The franchisee has to put up the necessary capital to open the business andoutlets. Quite a big investment if we remember that, decoration and personneltraining had to fit all the franchisor's requirements and they are usually expensive.

As a counterpart the franchisee receives an operations manual containing all theinformation required in order to manage the business.

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What are the advantages of this system? Why would it be necessary to pay inorder to run your own business?

What are the advantages for a big company? Well, if we take into account thatcultures remain different although boundaries may have been removed, you'll haveto understand local culture before setting your business up, which makesfranchising to local businessmen the best way to expand for a foreign company.

However, not everything is wonderful, there are some disadvantages, thefranchisor, who owns the outlet and has to give a big sum of money to get started,may not be as successful as expected; nevertheless, he or she would still have topay the franchisor what they have agreed upon. He will be tied up by a contract fora fixed time and the chances of cancelling the contract might be none.

Necessity of an advice

When we want to express an obligation, or a necessity we use mustor have to.Some people worry about the difference between them, which, in fact, is verysmall.

Have to expresses impersonal obligation. The subject of have to is obliged orforced to act by a separate, external power (for example, the Law or school rules).Have to is objective.

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There are a number of formulas used when giving advice in English.

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Formula + Verb Form

I don't think you should work sohard.

Use I don't thinkyou should + thebase form of theverb in a statement.

You ought to work less.

Use You ought to+ the base form ofthe verb in astatement.

You ought not to work so hard.

Use You ought notto + the base formof the verb in astatement.

If I were you,If I were in your position,If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't

work so hard.

Use If I were +you

in your position

your shoes + Iwouldn't

I would + baseform of the verb in astatement (A form ofthe conditional 2).

You had better work less.

Use You hadbetter (you'd better)+ the base form ofthe verb in astatement.

You shouldn't or You shouldwork less.

Use You should

You shouldn't + thebase form of theverb in a statement.

Whatever you do, don't work sohard.

Use Whatever youdo + the imperative.

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Have to:is often grouped with modal auxiliary verbs for convenience, but in fact itis not a modal verb. It is not even an auxiliary verb. In the have tostructure, "have"is a main verb.The structure is:

Subject + auxil iary verb + have + infinitive (with to )

Mustis a modal auxiliary verb. It is followed by a main verb. The strcture is:

Subject + must + main verb

Like all auxiliary verbs, mustcan not be followed by to. In general, must expresspersonal obligation. Must expresses what the speaker thinks is necessary. Must issubjective.

It is sometimes possible to use must for real obligation, for example a rule or a law.

But generally, we use have to for this.

Look at these two sentences:

We have to make a decision.I must ring home. I'm going to be late.

With have to the necessity is external; therefore in sentence one, we understandthat the decision has to be made because business needs so.

On sentence number two is the speaker's decision, thus we can say that must is

used when the necessity is internal.

With future necessity we use will have to and must. Which are perfectlyequivalent? Look at these two sentences:

I'll have to attend the meeting next Monday.I must attend the meeting next Monday.

There is no difference in meaning, so that using one or the other is only a questionof style or just the speaker's preference.

Where there is a big difference is in the negative form of both verbs:

When we use mustn'twe mean that something is not allowed. But, When we use don't / doesn't have to we mean that something is not

necessary.

Read this text to appreciate the difference:

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When operating the computer you mustn't switch it off without saving your data,but you don't have to unplug the equipment, you only have to disconnect thesystem from your software program.

To express negative necessity we can also use can't which also meansprohibition, as it is shown in the example:You can't open the shop tomorrow, It's a public holiday.

Can, in the affirmative is also used to express possibility.

Read this text to check how these modal auxiliaries work together:

Miss. Robinson is a personnel manager at a big American company. She is alsothe mother of three young children. She is very happy with her job conditions

because she has to work only four days a week.

She can also bring her children to work because the company has childcarefacilities. Obviously, she can't see them during the day because she is too busy.But she doesn't have to work at weekends and this makes family life much easierfor her. She believes that she must do her job better than the men around her to beaccepted as a woman in a man's world. Her advice to working women: you mustn'tbe too nice.

When we want to give advice we can also use shouldand oughtto, look atthese examples:

You should keep an account of all your expenses.You ought to retire if you don't feel well.

However, when used in the negative form, these two auxiliaries express some sortor criticism.

You shouldn't have sold those shares, they are rising.You oughtn't to have cancelled that meeting; the customer is very upset for thedelay.

As you can see from the examples, the structure for criticism is:

Should (not) + have + Past ParticipleOught (not) to + have + Past Participle

Sometimes they can express criticism in the affirmative:

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You ought to have applied earlier, now it's too late.

Offers, suggestions, invitations

In business situations we need to be very careful when giving an opinion. If wesound too direct, we will be considered aggressive and bossy and no matter howgood our idea might be, nobody will pay attention to us.Very few people are in a position where they can say openly what they want andmake others do it, so learning to suggest and recommend politely is being a stepahead in business.

There are a number of formulas used when making suggestions in English. Hereare some of the most common.

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Formula + Verb Form

Why don't you / we go to amovie?

Use the base form ofthe verb in aquestion.

We / You could go to a movie.

Use the base form of

the verb in astatement.

Let's go to a movie.Use the base form ofthe verb with let's.

What about going to a movie?Use the -ing form ofthe verb in aquestion.

How about going to a movie?Use the -ing form ofthe verb in aquestion.

I suggest you / we go to amovie.

Use suggest + object+ verb in the baseform in a statement.

Formulas used when making suggestions


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We can use shouldwhen we have a strong opinion about something or when weare recommending some sort of action.

In the negative form we do not use shouldn't but I don't think we should.Which, isnot as direct.

Look at these examples:

We should import goods from exotic Asian countries.I don't think we should sell our goods at very high prices.

However if you want to make a less strong suggestion, you can use theseexpressions:

Why don't How about + -ing verb What about + -ing verb

Why don't we make an appointment with the bank manager?How about playing classical music in our stores?What about importing merchandise from China ?

Other possible expressions are:

We could / I suppose we could. Have you thought about? Let's

What do you think about? What I have in mind is

When we offer to do something for someone, we can use shall I in this case, ananswer from the other person is required. But if we do not require an answer, thenwe can use I will.

Look these examples:

My car doesn't work! I'll go and check it.Shall I go check it?

In these cases we are waiting for the owner's permission.

Would you like? Is also a good way to offer help.Would you like me to open the window?

Do you mind if I / we ? / would you mind? With these sentences we areasking permission for doing something for us or for another person. Although

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you may think that it is not necessary to ask, in some situations you'd besurprised.

Look at this text:

Last winter I was sitting on the bus, on my way home after a long day, although Iwas very tired, I'm an old fashioned, well-educated gentleman; so when I realizedthat a middle-aged lady was standing and had some difficulty to keep her balance,I told her: would you like to sit down madam? To my surprise she replied: Do youthink I am so old I can stand on my feet?

Now, when I offer my help I'm very careful and ask: Do you mind if I leave you myseat?

Some people are very particular about accepting any help from strangers.

Offers, suggestions, invitations

Giving OpinionsI'm positive that...I (really) feel that...In my opinion...The way I see things...If you ask me,... I tend to think that...

Asking for OpinionsAre you positive that...Do you (really) think that...(Name of participant) can we get your input?How do you feel about...?

Advising and Suggesting Let's...We should...Why don't you....How / What about...I suggest / recommend that...

Correcting InformationSorry, I think you misunderstood what I said.Sorry, that's not quite right.I'm afraid you don't understand what I'm saying.That's not quite what I had in mind.That's not what I meant.

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2 Going into the Stock Exchange

Uniform, constant, equable

New companies are formed every day. One option to enlarge a small company isto ask for a loan to a bank.

This often brings problems to the company's owner because he or she will have topay an amount of money (the interest rate) monthly during a long period of time; ifthe business is not fully successful and the loan is not paid, the bank can seize thebusiness in order to recover its loan.

Small companies are usually owned by one or two people, or families, and gettingthe capital needed for expansion can be a real trouble.

When you want to raise capital to start a business you should be prepared forsome tough questions from your bank manager. Before agreeing a loan, a bankwill want to see your financial commitment to the success of your business.

Probably if you were in the bank manager's position you would act in the sameway. Don't forget that money comes from small investors who shouldn't like to loseit. They would also want some kind of security like your car or house, or a personwho would back you, in that way, if things went wrong you could find yourself, orsomeone you appreciate, out in the street.

And if the business failed the bank would be the first of a big group of creditors toget its money back. Besides if you were declared bankrupt it would be difficult tosecure any further loans, and you must bear in mind that once a bank has made adecision to get its money back, nothing is going to make them change their mind.

GRAMMAR POINT

The second conditional is like the first conditional. We are thinking about aparticular condition in the future, and the result of this condition. But we use thesecond conditional to talk about something which we think is unlikely to happenor to refer to an imaginary situation.

We use the Past Simple tense to talk about the future condition. We use would +base verb to talk about the future result. The important thing about the secondconditional is that there is an unreal possibility that the condition will happen.

We call second conditional to a sentence formed by two parts, one is a conditionand the other is the result.

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Look at these examples from the text:

If the business failed, the bank would be the first of a big group of creditors toget its money back.If things went wrong you could find yourself out in the street.

If you were in the bank manager's position you would act in the same way.

Note that we use a Past Simple tense in the If clause and would + infinitive(without to) in the main clause in the first sentence, while we use could+ baseinfinitivein second one.

If clause patternIf clause / Past Simple Result clause.

Modals add a sense of possibility; probability or advice to these sentences.

Would + base verb

ShouldCouldverb

Might

+ base

Sometimes, we use should, could or might instead of would, for example: If I won amillion dollars, I could stop working.

In many occasions we can use a second conditional to appear more polite in

making a request or asking a favour:

I would prefer it if you finished your report today.Would you mind if I paid you next month?We would be very grateful if you could send us some information.

When the verb to be is used in an If clause, we can use were instead of was ,especially after I as in this example:

If I weren't so tired, I would gladly help you.

We often use the expression If I were you. for giving someone advice:

If I were you I would pay the loan punctually.

Although If is the most common conjunction used in these sentences, it is not theonly one. We can also use:

Whether:its meaning is the same that the meaning of If.

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Unless: it is more used in first conditional sentences. It has de idea of If not orexcept.

Unless he had the money, he would have to sell his house.

Note that the order of the two parts of a conditional sentence can be interchangedwithout affecting the general sense of the sentence; however the verbal tenseshave to follow the pattern as explained.

Environment ethic

In recent years, some consumers' associations and environmental groups such asGreenpeace and others, are trying to force industries to control the waste theygenerate in their production processes. Their final goal is to improve the quality ofthe atmosphere and the water and try to recover the ozone layer which has

suffered an important damage due to the CFCs used in industry.

Dangerous emissions to the air are now being controlled in most developedcountries and governments are helping underdeveloped countries to growindustrially without using these components.

Many companies and corporations started harassing these organizations andfought against them, violently sometimes, but nowadays, most people are aware ofthe danger that wild industrial behaviour represents for the survival of our planet.

Scientists have joined the environmentalists in their demands, warning us about

the global warming and its effects on the weather. At the beginning, all thissounded like science fiction, but even the most sceptics are now convinced of thetruth that lies in these theories.

GRAMMAR POINT

The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the thirdconditionalwe talk about the past.

We use the Past Perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. Weuse would have + Past Participle to talk about the impossible past result. The

important thing about the third conditional is that both the condition and resultare impossible now.

Third conditional expresses a condition which can never occur because it refersto past or imaginary situations.

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With third conditions the speaker recognises that the consequence isimpossible. It cannot be fulfilled as the condition never happened.

We usually use it when talking about hypothetical situations and theirconsequences. We can also use it to express regrets, wishes and missed

opportunities.

Third conditional used

Read this text and notice how third conditionals are used:

One of the problems that sometimes companies have to deal with is how tohandle negative publicity when things go wrong. For example if they hadaccidentally contaminated their own products during the manufacturing process,they would have to recall their products and make sure they were withdrawn fromthe shops.

However, products can also be victims of product tampering where unknownpeople or members of the public damage them in some way and then, them makefalse claims or blackmail the brand or the store.

A sad fact is that when such accusations are reported, they often provoke acopycat behaviour. Something of that sort happened to Tylenol in the 80s.Someone changed part of the contents of several boxes by poisonous pills. Manypeople who only suffered from a common head ache were very ill. If thepharmaceutical company hadn't retired the product from the shelves, some peoplewould have died. In addition, if they hadn't paid an enormous amount of money to

stop the tampering, it could have gone on forever.

Some months after this episode took place, the police arrested a former workerwho had been sacked. He told the media that nobody would have suffered if thecompany had not made him redundant; and would have readmitted him when hecomplained to them.

As you can see from the examples in the text:

If the pharmaceutical company hadn't retired the product from the shelves somepeople would have died.

If they hadn't paid an enormous amount of money it could have gone on for ever.Nobody would have suffered if the company had not made him redundant and theywould have readmitted him.

The If clause is in Past Perfect, and the result or main clause, in PerfectConditional: (would have + Past Participle).

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IF CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

Perfect Conditional

Would have + Past Participle

Should have + Past Participle

Could have + Past Participle

Past Perfect =

Had + PastParticiple

Might have + Past Participle

In the second sentence we can see that the use of could instead of would addsthe sentence the meaning of future possibility.

Sometimes, we use should have, could have, and might have instead of would

have, for example: If you had bought a lottery ticket, you might have won.

Inverted constructions are widely used in formal written documents such as legalcontracts, insurance, or agreements.

Has the customer refused to accept the goods, we would have terminated thecontract.

In these constructions the conjunction is left out and the past of have had isplaced in front of the subject as if it was a question. This use is very formal, and itdoes not appear in spoken language.

Expressions that can introduce a condi tional phraseBesides If, the following expressions can also introduce conditional phrases orclauses, although they are less frequent:

Provided that / Providing that On condition that So long as. In case. In the case of. In the event that

In the event of.

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NASDAQ 1943.57 10.60 0.55%

DJIA 9854.85 -32.08 0.32%

S&P 500 1099.49 -4.17 0.38%

NASDAQ-100 1464.19 11.93 0.82%

NASDAQ-100PMI

1460.62 8.36 0.58%

NASDAQ-100AHI

1457.24 4.98 0.34%

Russell 1000 588.43 -1.83 0.31%

Russell 2000 572.18 2.05 0.36

When you buy them, you become a shareholder and own a part of that company,you can then, make or lose money depending on the company's profits. If thecompany makes profits it pays a sum of money per share known as dividend to itsshareholders.

Companies can also borrow money from a bank or from the general public issuingbonds which are loans at a fixed interest to be paid each year.

In addition to these shares, loans issued by the government to build roads,hospitals, etc., are called government stocks of gilt-edged securities. They are

also traded in the Stock Exchange.

Every day the press gives prices and other information about shares of thecompanies authorised to use the Stock Exchange.Some shares are grouped depending on the type of company to form an index:Dow Jones, Nikkei, Blue chip which shows the average benefit or loss of theseshares in the Market.

THE STOCK EXCHANGE

Stockbrokers are the people who buy and sell these shares for the generalpublic, and they charge their customers a commission. All developed countrieshave Stock Exchange Markets; the most famous are Wall Street, (at New York),London or Tokyo.

When describing the profits or losses of a company and its shares value, wemust know some expressions:

When shares are gaining value we can say

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-Shares lifted to the top.-Shares climbed-Shares gained-Shares fared well rising a _____ per cent.-Shares went up by a.

-Shares boosted.-They had strong / high / heavy earnings.-They expand / shares are in expansion / they clock up fresh gains.

When they are losing value we can say-Shares crashed.-Shares went down.-Shares plunged.-Shares deepened.

-Shares devaluated.-They declined.-Shares are losing steam.-Shares clocked up lose.

When the market gains steadily, it is called Bull marketwhen it loses it is calledBear market.

As positive wordswe have: golden age, bright spot, and growth.

As negative wordswe have: recession slump, dark age, rainy days.

Some adjectives and adverbs are frequently used with these expressions, suchas: dramatically, steeply, steady.

Business ethic

One of the most important vindications of international organizations such asUNICEF or Save the Children is that children labour should be forbidden or at leastrestricted by laws which force big companies and local manufactures not to employthem.

However, in poor countries, children's salaries are necessary for the families'survival, so governments have to rule the conditions of that labour force andprotect them from abuses, assuring that they can combine school and work, payingthem fair wages and providing them with healthy working environments.

Nevertheless, today, most companies have understood that although the costs of aclean production process are high, they are investing more in research and waste

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disposal because the have found out that they can obtain a benefit from theseefforts by letting their customers know what they are doing.

Most of them have become environmentally aware and do not mind paying a littlemore for ecologic products or environmentally friendly materials.

Marketing advisors have learned to make a profit of this money as they haveincluded news and information about these contributions to the common welfare intheir advertisements.

At the same time, social issues have found their place in industry too. Bigcorporations are supporting social missions and they are helping the communitieswhere they have their plants and buildings and dedicating a part of their benefits tosponsor cultural events.

GRAMMAR POINTWhen the speaker wants to express an opinion about an action that occurred inthe past, saying that these were alternative courses of action available at thattime but which were not adopted, he or she may use the structure:

Could have + Past Participle

Look at these two examples:

I could have done without the jeep.I could have cycled to work or used the tube.

They mean that instead of cycling, a jeep was used to move through the city,but, there was a different option which was not taken at the moment.

This sentence shows an action:She came at 10 o'clock.

It is a past event that cannot be changed but if we want to say that otheralternatives were possible we can say:

She could have come earlier.

The structure:

Should have + Past Participle

Can also be used, although if it has a slightly different meaning.

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In the affirmative, it indicates that there was a better option, and what wasdone was not as good its alternative.

These items didn't sell well.They should have reduced their price sooner.

In the negative, it is used to show that, in the speaker's opinion a particular pastaction was a mistake or regrettable:

He shouldn't have taken so long to finish his report.

The structure:

Might have + Participle

Indicates a remote probability of a thing which has not happened, but it possibleexisted in the past. It disappeared because no appropriate action was taken atthe time.

He might have won the price.

Company advertise

Read this text about a company's alternatives; behave ethically or not. Note howthese expressions are used:Our company could have employed children as many others do, but we are

very worried about the role of big companies in today's society. It is true that ourbenefits might have increased by doing so, but on the other hand negativepublicity could have damaged our corporative image.

Nevertheless we have noticed that in many underdeveloped countries, children'ssalaries are essential for their families' survival, so even though we don't recruitthem for our factories, they continue to be exploited by other companies, most ofthem by local manufacturers, who are interested in offering low competitiveprices to wholesalers and retailers.

Now, we think that we should have employed children over thirteen, assuring

them healthier labour conditions and fair salaries. Besides, we should havegiven them some sort of training, as we do with our technical staff in Europe.That policy might have been more realistic and successful.

LANGUAGE FORMS

In these sentences the main idea is that there was a discarded alternative.

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Our company could have employed children.Negative publicity could have damaged our corporative image.

In these sentences the main idea is that the other option was better.

We should have employed children over thirteen.We should have given them some sort of training.

In the following sentence the main idea is that there was a probability of adifferent alternative.

That policy might have been more realistic and successful.

In spoken language should / couldcan be contracted with the subject as 'd.

Yard sales

Developed countries are basing their economics in a non-stop production of alltypes of products. Companies need compulsive consumers who buy constantlyand throw away old items convinced that they need to acquire the new onesbecause they are better or more necessary or healthier.

Therefore, these citizens produce huge amounts of litter, things that can still beuseful and would be appreciated by others, are destroyed; however, many otherpeople are starting to find new ways of giving a second opportunity to theseobjects. One example of this new conscience is yard sales which have become

extremely popular throughout the United States.

Read this text about yard sales and look at the use of linking words.

Yard sales are to Americans what family gatherings are to Spaniards, a part ofeveryday life. As an American Saying goes One man's trash is another man'streasure. Even American children acquire a taste for these markets early on,putting old toys for sale in the front lawns. Now in its 16 th year, the World'sLongest Yard Sale runs through four states. The buying and selling may take placein tents, yards, fields.

Even at intersections. Anything can be put on sale and anyone can participate,adults as well as children. The cost of the various objects (furniture, clothing,food) on display varies as much as do the objects themselves. The event hasattracted as many as 400.000 people, despite August temperatures and limitedpublicity.

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So famous has the event become in the last years that the sale has been featuredin popular magazines such as Newsweek and National newspapers, for examplethe Washington Post or The Enquirer. It merits a visit.

For here, along the rural back roads of America's Deep South, the buyer need not

beware as there are no just friendly faces and rich local colour, both difficult to findin a big city. Besides, the landscape is worth the trip.

GRAMMAR POINT

There are many different words and phrases used to organize ideas in speakingand writing.

Notice that the position of these words vary, sometimes a word comes in themiddle of a sentence to join two clauses. Other times it comes at the beginningand it is followed by a comma in writing or a pause in speech.

As much As / As many as:they link sentences comparing.The cost varies as much as objects do themselves.The event has attracted as many as 400.000 people.

And: it is used to join words or part of sentences. They are at the same level.Anything can be put on sale and anyone can participate.

As:it links sentences meaning consequence or exemplification:As an American saying goes.The buyer need not beware as there are no bad deals.

Both:it is used to emphasize the fact that there are two things involved:Both difficult to find in a big city.

Also / Too / As well as: they are used to describe two actions at the sametime, or to add actions of things.

Adults as well as children.Also know as the Highway 127 Corridor Sale.

For example / such as:they are use to give examples. For example, canbe placed at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a sentence.

However Such as cannot be used at the beginning of a sentence.

Even: it is used to say that something is surprising, or to emphasizecomparative adjectives.

Even American Children acquire an early taste for these markets early on.

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Besides: it is used to show that we are adding a point or a comment to asentence. It is usually placed at the beginning of a sentence, separated bycommas.

Besides, the landscape is worth the trip.

Recycling

Unwanted objects can be garbage for an individual and a treasure for another. Adifferent option to dispose of our home's waste is to recycle it. Maybe we do notknow what to do but many people; including artists are using litter to createbeautiful sculptures, or useful objects that can be given a new use. Newbusinesses are appearing to satisfy these ecological customers.Read this text to find out more linking words at work.

Do you have a handful of unpaired socks that you don't know what to do with?Instead of throwing them to the trash you could learn what to do with them.

First of all you could follow the idea of an Arizona recycling group which hasdeveloped out an innovative idea. In fact, to avoid creating more garbage thisgroup started to connect people who were interested in getting rid of unwantedobjects with others who would like to have them, all via e-mail. In this way, freecycling was born. It now boasts a network of more than 35.000 people actually.

Finally, as its name implies all the items posted are fire, although these postingsare moderated by volunteers either in local or national groups.

GRAMMAR POINT

When we connect ideas or paragraphs, we can follow a time pattern, or asequence. Using linking words which establish a list of points using:

First of all / Secondly / thi rdly / FinallyLook at the example from the text:First of all you could learn what to do with them.Finally, as its name implies, all the items posted are free.

In fact / actually.They are use to give more detail or surprising information:actually is often misunderstood and translated for the Spanish wordactualmente, when its meaning is closer to the word really.

In this example from the text, more information is given:

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In fact, to avoid creating more garbage, this group started to connect peoplewho were interested in getting rid of unwanted objects, with others whowould like to have them.

In my view / Personally. These linking expressions are used in formal

speech and writing to introduce our own ideas.Here it is an example from the text:

Personally, I think this idea deserves visiting its web.

Instead (of). We use instead (of) to mean in the place of something else. Atthe end of a sentence instead is used without the preposition of.Take this example:

Instead of throwing them to the trash you could learn what to do with them.

Look at this other sentence:You could recycle them instead.

Except / Except for .They mean: not including:They recycle all types of objects, except batteries.

Either, or.It is used to describe a choice or an alternative. In the example:These posting are moderated by volunteers either in local or nationalgroups.

Either or establishes the need of a choice.

Notice that the sequence Oror is not possible in English. It is possible tobegin a sentence with or only when we complete someone else'ssentence.

We could throw those shocks away I suppose. or we could recycle them.

Some time words such as since, yetand whilecan also be used as liking words,but in that case they have completely different meaning, with this use they aremore common in writing:

Sincemeaning asI couldn't swim, since I had a cold.

Yetmeaning althoughNo one replied to my call, yet I know they were in.

Whilemeaning although

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The first two buses were full, while the next was completely empty.

These linking words are the most common in English, but you could find somemore which are not used very frequently in today's language.

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3 Being impersonal

How things are made

When describing a process we often use the passive voice, because we do notwant to focus in the subject but in the description of the events themselves.

Read this text about the Hawthorne Experiments and pay attention to the verbs:

The Hawthorne experiments were conducted in the 1920s at Western Electric'sHawthorne works in Chicago. They were trying to demonstrate the effects oflightning conditions in production. More than 20.000 workers were involved inthem.

In the first experiment, lightening conditions in the factory were improved and itwas found out that the output also improved. In the second experiment, the

lightening conditions were made worse, unexpectedly output went up again.Finally, the lighting conditions in the factory were returned to normal, surprisingly,the worker's productivity improved again.

What conclusion could be drawn from these experiments? Well, maybe productivitywas related to the amount of light or maybe not. What they proved is that theoutput improved because of the attention that was being paid to the workers. Theyfelt valuated simply because they were part of an experiment.

These experiments are a classic about behavioural psychology and are frequentlymentioned in the world of commerce and marketing to focus on the importance of

the individual.

This is so not only in productive stages, but also in selling. Customers are differentindividuals and they want to be treated in a personal way, as if they were the onlyand most important clients of a business. It is important to know as much aspossible about them.

Different cultures need to have different approaches. For instance, British preferdurability and comfort in a product; Spanish prefer cheap fashionable objects thancan be replaced every new season; Germans like quality and seriousness etc.But, we can find that in many stores, all these nationalities are treated equally and

this is a big mistake.

Age and educational background are also important when approaching potentialclient and we must be aware that our explanations or apologies have to meet theirexpectations.

We must use a clear and simple language if our customer is old or uneducated, butwe must be exact and extensive when giving explanations to a well educated one.

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Some say that even sex affects the way people react to a problem.

That is why sales people and sales representatives or agents have to be trained indealing with demands and complaints according to people and their circumstances.

A little bit of psychology always helps.

The same happens when a client complains about something. Mediterraneanpeople: Spanish, Italian, Greek, make a lot of noise, but they rarely place ademand or a written complaint. On the contrary, German and British consumerswould expect an immediate replacement of the product and some sort ofcompensation for the trouble caused. Consumer associations are very strong inboth countries and their citizens have been educated in asking for their rights.

GRAMMAR POINTTake a look at these sentences from the text:

More than 20.000 workers were involved in them.Lighting conditions in the factory were improved.They were made worse.Lighting conditions were returned to normal.

You can see that they are all passive. The verb is made passive by using befollowed by a Past Participle. Be can be Present, Future etc as any activeverb.

When we use the passive voice we change the focus, from the subject to theverbal object. Thus, we often put the attention on something that happens tosomeone, when we do not want to focus on the person who does the action.Therefore, the passive is often used to talk about systems and processes.

Only transitive verbs, that is, verbs with an object can be made passive.

So, we use the passive:

To avoid mentioning the doer of an action because:

-It's unknown-It's not important-It's a group / an institution-It's an impersonal / official announcement-In process descriptions where we are not interested in the agent but in the

action.-In impersonal language such as formal written announcements or wherever

an impersonal tone is intended.

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The passive is used more in writing and formal speech.

Passive in SpanishNotice that in Spanish the passive is less used than in English. This is due to the

fact that Spanish has an impersonal structure with se, which is widely usedinstead of the passive voice when the subject is not important or when we wantto focus on the result of the verb or on the process.

The Agent (Passive)

In passive sentences the doer of the action (what in active sentences is thesubject) is less important than the result of the action and its effect on the receiver.The doer of the action is introduced at the end of the sentence with by;grammatically, it is called the agent. It is not necessary to mention the agent.

There are several reasons for this:

When the agent is not known.My car was stolen last week.

If we knew who had stolen it we would have mentioned the name of theperson, but we don't know.

When the agent is obvious.My house has been painted recently.

It is not necessary to say by the painters. They are the people who usuallypaint houses, if it had been my eighty-year-old grandmother the person whodid the painting we could have mentioned it.

When the agent is unimportant.A lot of English books are sold every year.

Who sells the books? We don't care. If it was a well-known book shop, or aperson or a publishing firm we would say it.

However, in many passive sentences the by-phrase is used to emphasize thedoer, because it is a well-known person, an institution, or a means by which wehave undergone a process.

Look at these examples:

Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.This book has been published by the university.

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Our report was made by computer.

The doer in the first sentence is a famous writer. In second sentence is aninstitution and in the last sentence it is a machine or a process. As you can see,the passive is widely used when an impersonal tone is intended.

Look at this text which offers a clear explanation about how a computer works, andthe different peripherals it has and what they are used for:

A computer is basically a typewriter with extra keys. Al the information can beshown on the monitor which is actually a television for your computer.

The Central Processing Unit, or CPU for short, is the computer's brain and the harddisk is where all the information is stored.

A printer can be used to out put paper copies of whatever you designed on thescreen. But if you want to invert the process, put pages of text or pictures on ascanner and they will be transferred to your screen.

A mouse is attached to the keyboard and it allows you to select items on thescreen. Lately, modems have been developed to send data over telephone lines.You can be connected to the outside world and transfer your data to any computerno matter where.

Loudspeakers are usually built inside the computer, but you can get external onesfor a better quality of sound. Electronic data is often stored on floppy or compactdiscs. Which are introduced into the computer's CD-ROM drive so that your datacan be read.

In these examples from the text:

Your data can be read.A printer can be used.You can be connected to the outside world.

You can see that a passive infinitive is made by using this structure:

Modal auxiliary + be + Past Participle

The passive voice can also be used with continuous tenses, particularly Presentand Past Continuous. It is made with:

A form of to be + being + Past Partic iple

The computer is being repaired by a technician.Samples were being given out at promotional fairs. Verbs with two objects

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The passive voice exists in all tenses, in simple and continuous form and withmodal verbs. Passive forms are rarely used with: Present Perfect Continuous,Future Perfect Continuous, and Past Perfect Continuous.Look at the table below and notice that all passive sentences contain different

tenses of the verb to be+ Past Participle.

Passive sentences

Tense or modal Example in passive

Present Continuous My car is being repaired.

Present Simple Cocoa is grown in Ghana.

Past SimpleThe hospital was built in

1986.

Past ContinuousI realised I was being

followed.

Future Simple (will)The boxes will be deliveredtomorrow.

Present Perfect My car has been stolen.

Past PerfectThe house had been badly

damaged.

Future PerfectShe will have been told by

five o'clock .

ModalsShe must be taken to

hospital immediately.

Infinitive (after a verb)He waned to be introduce

to the director.

Read this text and pay attention to some passive sentences which are verycommon in English, but absolutely impossible in Spanish. They are known asintermediate passives.

Be paid on time, or they will be made pay the price. This has been the messagefrom the government and the European Union since 1997 when a report on latepayments in commercial transactions was published by the European Commission.

Around 10.000 U.K. businesses fail each year due to late payment. The LatePayment Directive aims to encourage a culture were debts are paid within theagreed terms. The U.K. was one of the first countries to implement it and these hasbeen a statutory right for small and medium enterprises, owed money by largefirms or by the public sector. An interest on late payments can be claimed sinceNovember 1998.

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Amends to the legislation came into effect in 2002, and Firms owed money cannow claim up to 100 pounds in debt recovery costs for each overdue bill. But theBetter Payment Practice Group points out that rather than using the legislation as alast resort. It should be employed as a deterrent against late payment, as part ofstandard credit management techniques.

If you are interested in this subject you can go to: Payontime and learn now toprotect your business from late payment.

Look at these sentences:

They will be made pay the price.Small enterprises owed money by large firms or by the public sector.

Why do they seem odd? Well, the answer is that the direct object has not beenmade the subject of the passive sentence.

GRAMMAR POINT

Some verbs can have two objects, for example we can sell something tosomebody. The same happens with other verbs such as, give, lend, offer,promise, send, take, buy, sep, make, prepare and save.

In active sentences we can use these verbs in two ways:

Peter gave Karen a present.Peter gave a present to Karen.

In Spanish only the second sentence can be made passive, by taking the verbalobject to the subject position, but in English, there is another possibility: we cantake the indirect object and make it the subject of the passive sentence.

So: Karen was given a present.

As you can see from this example the direct object a present remains in thesame position and has the same function that it had in the active sentence. Theagent is often left out in this structure. This option is preferred in English, and itis difficult to understand for a Spanish speaker.

VERBS WITH A PARTICLE

Although we have said that only transitive verbs with a direct object can bemade passive, this use gives us some exceptions. Some intransitive verbsfollowed by a particle (usually a preposition) can also be made passive.

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Look at these examples and note that the particle remains in the passivesentences.

Acti ve Passive

T hey laughed at him H e was laughed at

Someone has slept in thisbed

This bed has been sleptin

Someone has paid for thedinner

The dinner has beenpaid for

Doing a market research

When you have to do something, you may need a professional service or advice. Itis not you who perform the action but another person who does something for you.That's a very particular case of a passive structure in English.

We can use either haveor getfollowed by a noun and a Past Participle. The verbshave and get can be used in any tense.

Look at this text and find out some examples:

Companies or organizations which want to discover how the public perceive theirproducts or services have some market research done. This research often takes

the form of a survey. If you car doesn't work then you'll have it repaired by a goodmechanic.

Thus marketing researchers can give you the right point of view. For that reason,they design questions to investigate the attitudes of the public. People are asked torespond to a carefully formulated questionnaire.

Researchers may get a complete random sample of people interviewed or mayhave people selected because they share important characteristics. For example,women accompanied by one or two small children or people over sixty-five who arerepresentative of the segment of the market that has been targeted.

The findings of this research will be then the object of a great deal of analysis andinterpretation. There are several marketing research methods.

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Look at these sentences:

Companies. Have some market research done. If your car doesn't work, then you'll have it repaired by a good mechanic. Researchers may get a complete random sample of people interviewed, or

may have people selected because

Selected volunteers are given different objects and have samples of food ordrink examined, tested and compared.

The researcher has the discussion filmed secretly.

As you can see from the text this structure is often used in different tenses but in allthe cases the meaning is similar: another one does something for you.

In British English haveis preferred while in American English getis the most.

Alliances

Read this text about different corporate Alliances and acquisitions:

As business and the world economy become increasingly more competitivecompanies have to strengthen their operations to remain profitable companies cango about this in a number of ways: they can set up a joint venture, this is when twoor more companies agree to collaborate and jointly invest in a separate business orproject.

This type of deal allows the partners to combine their strengths in one specificarea. In this type of union both companies remain separated.

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In recent days, we have had some examples of this behaviour with companies thathave dismantled their plants to operate in a different place, although they wereobtaining big benefits.

Other companies, such as the Swedish Boliden accepted state subsidies to

develop new plans and manufacturing strategies and after a few years, thecompany abandoned the country leaving behind a great environmental disasterwhich took a lot of money and effort to arrange.

Underdeveloped countries have often been an easy prey for these groups whichhad abused from their natural resources without offering them appropriatecompensations. That is the reason why countries like China prefer joint ventures toforeign companies and have legislated against multinationals to prevent them frombenefiting from low labor costs and taxes without investing a part of their hugeprofits in research and development.

Governments are now trying to be more careful with these big multinationals whichare only interested in earning money quickly and do not hesitate in abandoning aproject for a new and more productive one.

As we have seen in the above mentioned example, a global economy can alsobring important troubles, and sometimes, big companies seem to have more powerthan most governments, surely more money than some of them have.

GRAMMAR POINT

There are phrasal verbs with two parts which are:

Transit ive and inseparable:these phrasal verbs take an object (so they aretransitive). The object must come after the preposition and not between theverb and the preposition. That's why they are called inseparable.

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Transitive and inseparable

Call for (come to your house andcollect)

We'll call for you atabout 8:00.

Call on (visit for a short time)I called on my oldteacher, as I hadn'tseen her for ages!

Deal with (take action or solve aproblem)

Could you deal withthis customer'sproblem, please?

Get at (try to say, suggest)Helen didn'tunderstand what herboss was getting at.

Head for (go in the direction of)He escaped andheaded for London.

Join in (take part, contribute to)Alan started singinghappy birthday andeveryone joined in.

See to (pay attention)The brakes needseeing to.

Stand for (tolerate)I won't stand for somuch noise.

Take after (be similar inappearance or character)

Karen takes after hermother.

Transitive and separable:they take an object (thus they are transitive) andthis object can come after the preposition or between the verb and thepreposition (so the verbs are separable).

In general, we can say that object phrases tend to be put after thepreposition while pronouns (such as: you, it, him, her, us, them) are putbetween the verb and the preposition.

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Transitive and separable

Bring up (look after a child untiladult)

Tom's aunt broughthim up after his

parents died.

Call off (cancel)

The school calledoff the matchbecause of thestorm.

Clear up (make clean and tidy)Can you clear upthe room before youleave it?

Cut off (be disconnected)My mother cut meoff when I wastalking to my friend.

Fill in (complete by writing) Fill in the blanks.

Give up (stop doing something)I gave up my hopesand expectations.

Knock out (make unconscious)Tyson knocked hisopponent out in thefirst round.

Let down (disappoint, fail to keep apromise)

He said he wouldhelp me with theexam but he let medown.

Look up (find information in areference book)

I looked this wordup in anencyclopaedia.

Put off (post pone)The meeting wasput off becauseJohn was ill.

Take up (start a hobby or anactivity)

Sam has taken upmountain biking.

Try on (put on clothes to see if theyare suitable).

I tried the coat onbut it was too big.

Switch on / off (begin or stopoperating electrical equipment)

Switch the radio on.

Intransitive with two parts: these phrasal verbs are not followed by and object.

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4 Writing in/ for business

Negotiations

One of the most important things when trying to reach an agreement or to settle abusiness is the way you negotiate the terms of it.

Just think about your last deal. Are you satisfied with the way you handled it?Probably you could have done better if you have taken into account some usefulhints.

First of all, prepare the meeting. If you haven't had time to do it, cancel it otherwiseyou'll be probably wasting your time.

Make sure you know the arrangements: place, time and set aside enough time forthe meeting if you look bored or pressed the other person may think that your main

interest is elsewhere.

Good negotiations always have a clear set of objectives. You can't have everythingyou are asking for, so you need to know what you really want to achieve; list yourmain objectives and be ready for them.

Prepare a strategy on how you want the meeting to go, but be ready to adapt or torespond to a new offer, flexibility is vital.

Your secondary objectives can be put in a different list and you have to be ready torenounce to achieve them.

Sometimes, when you are negotiating in a team you can play different roles or takea different approach. Your colleagues may have different fields of expertise, so leteach one speak when the theme is about one of your weak points. You can makeconcessions, real or apparent if it helps you achieve your goals.

Be politeand do not interrupt the other speaker, you should always avoid andatmosphere of conflict and saying constantly NO.

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NEGOTIATION TIPS

The ultimatum approachPresenting your counter-offer as the final offer isn't appropriate. Present yourcounter-offers and consider their offers without ultimatums. Decide on whetherthe offer on the table is acceptable, only after you have walked away and used

some time to think. Negotiation is the art of exploring mutually beneficialpossibilities, instead of issuing ultimatums.

Being negativeContinually pointing out what is wrong with the offer on the table is notparticularly pleasant for the other party. They are trying to find a solution, whileyou are constantly looking for what's wrong.

Talking too muchSome would say that the "winner" of any negotiation is the one who talks less.Be succinct and reasonable in presenting your views, and listen carefully. Don't

ramble on and don't repeat yourself.Falling in love with one element of compensationFocusing exclusively on one component of the compensation could be a kiss ofdeath, particularly if the employer is severely constrained on that dimension; forexample, "Less than 1% equity in the company is unacceptable."

Being unreasonable"I can find anywhere at least $50.000 more than what you are offering." If that isthe case, why are you negotiating? Time to go to where you can find that kind ofmoney!

Your behaviour should be polite and respectful you won't gain anything by beingrude and if you are talking to someone whose first language is not yours, don't takefor granted that he or she is deaf or stupid.

No matter how loud you speak if they don't understand English, but it may look as ifyou were aggressive because your body language or your shouts, trying to makeyourself understood, may confuse the other person; you'd better employ aninterpreter in those situations.

You can ask and offer clarification and keep notes of the main points as themeeting progresses, even if there's a minute-taker or it's being recorded, thereforeyou will be able to make sure that all parties agree on what has been settled beforeyou leave the meeting. Finally, follow up the meetinga few days later with a letteror a contract listing the terms on which you agreed.

It is a good idea to prepare a meeting planner to remember all the important points.

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Meeting planner points

SubjectDateTime

Preparation required (documents, charts, graphs)People presentMain objectives (minimum acceptable).Secondary objectives (here you can make concessions and make them believethat you are renouncing to an important thing).Follow up (prepare a schedule to confirm all the details: e-mails, contracts, faxes,etc.).

GRAMMAR POINT

These are useful sentences to arrange a meeting:

What about next week / next month / next day? Are you free on Monday? Could you make it the following Friday / week? Would Thursday be convenient / suitable for you? Shall we meet on / next? Of course you can accept or refuse the suggestion but you must offer a

solution or an apology:

No, I'm sorry; I'm busy all day What about the following day? I'm afraid I have a previous appointment. Let me check if I can change it. That's not very convenient but I could do the Friday? Is that all right with

you? Impossible, I'll be on a business trip. Can I call you tomorrow? I don't have

my diary with me now.

Proposing areas of discussion:

I thought we ought to meet / speak about / take into account. Maybe, we should consider I think should start with a review of I suggest that we look at the question of

In my opinion, it should be useful to sort out the basic agenda now. In my point of view we should establish / clarify the main objectives of I want to put this suggestion forward

Accepting points of view. When you agree on something you should lookenthusiastic, so you have to give a special intonation to these sentences:

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I didn't catch what you said, can you tell me if What you mean is Did you say that? That is

But we can also use tag questionsto check. What is a tag question? It is a shortphrase at the end of a statement that turns it into a question.

They are formed using auxiliaries (do, be, have or a modal). A positive statementhas a negative tag and vice-versa. Some statements do not have auxiliaries, whatdo we do then?

Look at this example:

You speak German?

The auxiliary verb for questions or negative sentences would be do as thisstatement is a Present Simple tense. Then, we use do and since the sentence isaffirmative the tag has to be negative:

You speak German, don't you?

When we use a negative tag we expect the answer will be yes.On the other hand, if we use a positive tag we expect the answer will be no.

You don't like flying, do you? Oh no, I hate it. You know the answer, don't you? Sure. It's

Here are some examples of tag questions showing different verb forms and amixture of positive and negative tags.

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Another important fact about tag questions is intonation which can either rise orfall.

If it rises, then is a real question. The speaker is not sure and needsinformation. The other person will continue speaking afterwards.

You speak Japanese, don't you?Yes, I do. I learned while I was working in Tokyo for Toshiba.

If the intonation falls, then it is just a question for confirmation. The firstspeaker wants to check information and will continue speaking afterwards.

A: You speak Japanese, don't you?

B: Yes, that's right. I do.A: Good because we need an interpreter for a meeting we have with aJapanese businessman.

Sometimes we use short questions to reply to what someone says; we dothis to show interest, surprise or uncertainty. The meaning is somethingclose to: Really? Or, Is that true? The only difference is that these questionsdo not have a change in the auxiliary verb, which is there is no change of

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positive to negative and vice-versa. Although you will find many nativespeakers that do not follow this rule.

I've never eaten hamburgers.Haven't you? (It shows surprise).

We're leaving tomorrow.Are we? (it means you are not sure).

Problematic sentencesSome sentences are problematic. For example:The tag for I am is aren't.

I'm a survivor, aren't I?

The tag for an imperative is will or won't, even if the imperative is formed with have.Both negatives and positive are possible. Look at these examples:

Have a seat, will you? Have a seat, won't you? Sit down, will you? Sit down, won't you? Be quiet, will you? Be quiet, won't you?

How to sell a product

Competition is a key word in the world of business. Our economy is based onconsuming more than we really need, therefore selling techniques are essential toassure a product's success.

Companies invest a lot of money in publicity and eventually, every cent spent inmarketing will provide a huge benefit. If a business wants to survive they mustknow how to gain customer confidence, how to present its products and how toclose a sale.

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First impressions count weather you agree on the fact that first impressions andappearance are important or on the contrary, you are one of those who thinks thatgood products do not need publicity, you wil

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