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Business English

30+ Common Business Collocations in English

In this post, you will explore common business collocations in English to enhance your business communication skills. The main sections you will find include a list of business collocations, examples of common business collocations, and relevant images and videos that illustrate these phrases.

List of Business Collocations

Business CollocationsPin
Business Collocations – Created by 7ESL
  • Annual turnover
  • Bear in mind
  • Break off negotiations
  • Cease trading
  • Chair a meeting
  • Close a deal
  • Come to the point
  • Dismiss an offer
  • Draw a conclusion
  • Draw your attention to
  • Go bankrupt
  • Go into partnership
  • Launch a new product
  • Lay off staff
  • Market forces
  • Past few weeks
  • Sales figures
  • Take on staff

Common Business Collocations with Examples

Learn useful expressions and collocations about business with example sentences.

Annual turnover

  • The company had an annual turnover of over five million dollars last year.

Bear in mind

  • Bear in mind that the authors of these books also have agendas.

Break off negotiations

  • He said he decided almost immediately after the hijacking to break off negotiations.

Cease trading

  • A company can cease trading and still be registered at Companies House.

Chair a meeting

  • He will also chair a meeting of the International Democratic Union.

Close a deal

  • I told her not to come back until she closed a deal.

Come to the point

  • It has come to the point where communication is relied on technology.

Dismiss an offer

  • This is what happens when you dismiss an offer of food and you are running for president.

Draw a conclusion

  • The basis upon which you draw a conclusion is subject to incredible impeachment.

Draw your attention to

  • “I want to draw your attention to one absolutely fundamental fact”, he said.

Go bankrupt

  • I am afraid that most of the small farmers will go bankrupt.

Go into partnership

  • Tom went into partnership with Smith to form the firm in 1990.

Launch a new product

  • If we launch a new product, we don’t see people lining up at the door, he added.

Lay off staff

  • He is accused of failing to notify authorities of plans to lay off staff.

Market forces

  • He predicted that market forces will continue to reform the current system.

Past few weeks

  • The stock is healthy, having consolidated the past few weeks.

Sales figures

  • He declined to give sales figures.

Take on staff

  • Employers cannot take on staff unless they have a card.

Common Business Collocations | Video

B1 Knowledge Check · 5 questions

30+ Common Business Collocations in English — Practice Quiz

1 / 5
Q1

Question 1: What does the business collocation 'close a deal' mean?

Question 1 options
'Close a deal' means to successfully complete a business agreement or transaction. It is a common business collocation used when negotiations end with a signed contract or agreement.
Q2

Question 2: In business English, the correct collocation for ending employment of multiple workers is 'lay off staff'.

Question 2 options
'Lay off staff' is indeed the correct business collocation meaning to dismiss employees, often due to financial difficulties or restructuring. The article lists this as a common business collocation.
Q3

Question 3: Which sentence uses the collocation 'go bankrupt' correctly?

Question 3 options
'Go bankrupt' means to become financially unable to pay debts. The sentence about the small business closing because it couldn't pay its debts uses the collocation correctly. The other options misuse 'go bankrupt' in contexts where a different expression would be appropriate.
Q4

Question 4: Match each business collocation to its meaning.

Question 4 options
Annual turnover
Chair a meeting
Launch a new product
Break off negotiations
Lead or preside over a discussion
Stop talks without agreement
Introduce something to the market
Total yearly revenue

Select an item on the left, then tap its match on the right.

'Annual turnover' refers to the total revenue a company earns in a year. 'Chair a meeting' means to lead or preside over a meeting. 'Launch a new product' means to introduce a product to the market. 'Break off negotiations' means to stop discussions without reaching an agreement.
Q5

Question 5: Which collocation correctly completes the sentence? 'The company decided to ___ because they needed more employees for the holiday season.'

Question 5 options
'Take on staff' means to hire new employees, which fits the context of needing more workers. 'Lay off staff' means the opposite — to dismiss employees. 'Cease trading' means to stop doing business. 'Draw a conclusion' is unrelated to hiring.

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