For better or worse, money is a part of our lives every day.
Whether you're a beggar looking for donations or a wealthy banker depending on currency exchange, as an English speaker you'll know how to talk about the money you use.
This is especially true for business English. Here we will learn the language which you'll need to use every day, no matter who you are or what you do.
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| "Money makes the world go round!" |
Whether you're a beggar looking for donations or a wealthy banker depending on currency exchange, as an English speaker you'll know how to talk about the money you use.
This is especially true for business English. Here we will learn the language which you'll need to use every day, no matter who you are or what you do.
On our Facebook page, we gave three connected quizzes on the vocabulary of money. The first quiz was a fun listening exercise (and the answers are included in the comments):
Let's concentrate on the second quiz. Here, we asked about the different financial verbs in everyday English. If you haven't done this quiz already, why not take about 5-10 minutes to try it?
Let's concentrate on the second quiz. Here, we asked about the different financial verbs in everyday English. If you haven't done this quiz already, why not take about 5-10 minutes to try it?
How many could you guess? Don't worry - only the most advanced students would be able to think of all of the possible words. Probably only a native speaker (who's a business person!) would know all of the correct verbs.
But we're here to study these words. So let's look at each answer. We'll find out why this word is correct, and we'll find out how to use it in a sentence...
1. She went shopping and spent over £200 on shoes!
"To spend" means to give money in return for a product or
service.
It is something a person or company does.
It is something a person or company does.
This verb is useful in your personal life and in
the business world. For
example, a company can spend €200
million on advertising.
2. This cafe is very expensive: an espresso costs €5.50.
“To
cost” describes the price of a product or service.
This verb is used with the product or service – not with the person who is spending the money, or the person/company who is asking for the money. So, it is not correct to say: “British Airways costs €500 to travel to Toronto.” You should say, “A flight with British Airways costs €500 to Toronto.”
This verb is used with the product or service – not with the person who is spending the money, or the person/company who is asking for the money. So, it is not correct to say: “British Airways costs €500 to travel to Toronto.” You should say, “A flight with British Airways costs €500 to Toronto.”
This verb is useful in your personal life and in
the business world. For
example, a company’s advertising can cost
€200 million.
3. If you live in Scandinavia, you must/have to pay a lot of tax.
“To
pay” is the most general verb we use with money. It means “to give
money”, so it can be used for almost anything. We pay taxes, but we also pay
when we go shopping, or when we get into trouble with the police, or when we
work in a business. The list goes on...
It is something the person or company does. Looking again at sentence number 1 (“to spend”), we can simply say, “She paid £200.” If we want to include the product she bought, we use the preposition for: “She paid £200 for shoes.”
It is something the person or company does. Looking again at sentence number 1 (“to spend”), we can simply say, “She paid £200.” If we want to include the product she bought, we use the preposition for: “She paid £200 for shoes.”
This verb is useful in your personal life and in
the business world. For
example, “The newspaper paid the
celebrity after it reported an untrue story about her”.
4. In my job, I earn $500 per week for my work.
“To
earn” means “to receive money for a job.”
This verb is mainly useful in
your personal life. [see example in sentence 4.] Sometimes it is used in the business world. For
example, “Apple earned a profit of
$900 million this quarter.” But here it is more common to use the verb “to
make”, which we can use in personal life and in the business world (“I make $500 per week”; “Apple made a profit of $900 million.”)
5. I want to go to Italy this summer, but I don’t have a lot of money: I need to save around €1000 by next June.
“To save” means “to
collect money” and “to not spend”.
As a verb, it comes in a sentence after a person or a company and almost always an amount of money appears after the verb.
The first meaning (“to collect money”) is mainly used in your personal life. We save money when we have more money than we need, or we need to spend less – the money then goes to a safe place (like a separate bank account); we regularly add more money and eventually use it to buy something expensive.
As a verb, it comes in a sentence after a person or a company and almost always an amount of money appears after the verb.
The first meaning (“to collect money”) is mainly used in your personal life. We save money when we have more money than we need, or we need to spend less – the money then goes to a safe place (like a separate bank account); we regularly add more money and eventually use it to buy something expensive.
The second
meaning (“to not spend”) can be used in your personal life and in the business
world. We use it when we have bought something for a lower price than
usual, or when we stop spending money on something.
(For example, “The iPod was £150 in the shop, but it was £130 online, so I bought it online and I saved £20”.
Or, “The company changed to a cheaper paper supplier and so it saved lots of money each month.”)
(For example, “The iPod was £150 in the shop, but it was £130 online, so I bought it online and I saved £20”.
Or, “The company changed to a cheaper paper supplier and so it saved lots of money each month.”)
6. The mechanic said he would charge me £200 for a new wheel on my car.
“To
charge” means “to ask for a price in return for a service or a product.”
Note that this verb is very similar to sentence number 2 “to cost”, but we use this verb after the person or company who is selling the service/product.
Note that this verb is very similar to sentence number 2 “to cost”, but we use this verb after the person or company who is selling the service/product.
This verb is useful in your personal life and in
the business world – but because
we use “to charge” in connection with
the seller, it is almost always a verb for business transactions.
7. Our company made a profit of £5 million last year.
[see sentence
number 4]
8. So far, the charity has raised almost enough funds with its advertising campaign.
If you work in a
charity or
not-for-profit organisation, and you rely on money
which other people give (not pay) the
verb to
raise is more common. It is
the same as make or earn, but this verb is used only for
organisations which are not businesses.
We use this verb in a sentence after an organisation and, like many other verbs here, it is followed by a noun or a sum of money. (For example, “The charity is trying to raise €1,000 to help a school in Africa.”)
We use this verb in a sentence after an organisation and, like many other verbs here, it is followed by a noun or a sum of money. (For example, “The charity is trying to raise €1,000 to help a school in Africa.”)
ACTIVITY IDEA 1: When you feel confident that you understand each of these verbs, and how to use them, try this short exercise. It's a report from a meeting in a large company. Pay attention to the meaning of each sentence and the tense of each sentence, and then fill in the missing verbs (the first one is done for you):
In today’s meeting, the Accounts team examined how much the company spends on external resources, such as suppliers, consultants and utilities (gas, electricity, etc.) The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) started the meeting by revealing that our company [____________] consultants over £2 million last year. Even though our company [____________] £20 million in profit last year, the CFO said that we should try to spend less on consultants. We could [____________] up to £2 million this year if we end our business with these consultants or if we ask them to [____________] less money for their services. Next, the Chief Accountant told us about how much money the company pays its employees. He told us that the average employee in our company [____________] £30,000 per year. Altogether, he said, employees [____________] the company around £500 million each year. The CFO announced that this was an acceptable amount of money to pay, so no changes will be made in this area. Lastly, the Chief Accountant’s assistant brought up the issue of how much money the company gives to the charity Amnesty International. This charity [____________] over £30 million last year; £1 million of this came from our company. The CFO and the Chief Accountant agreed that we should continue giving money to this charity.
[The answers to this quiz will appear in the next post on Business42]
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