Word

A.T.M.
banknote
bitcoin

Meaning

Automated Teller Machine; cash dispenser

Piece of paper money.
Digital currency which allows payments to be sent from one party to another
without going through a financial institution.
borrow
Obtain money which must be returned.
broke (to be) To have no money.
budget
Amount of money available or needed for a specific use.
cash
Coins or bank notes (not cheques); actual money paid, not credit.
cash
Automatic machine from which a bank customer can withdraw money.
dispenser
cashier
A person dealing with cash transactions in a bank, shop, etc.
cheque /
Written order to a pay the stated amount from one's account.
check
coin
A piece of metal used as money.
currency
The money used in a country.
debt
Money owed by one person to another.
deposit
Sum or money payable as a first instalment on a purchase;
Money placed in an account in a bank.
donate
Givie money, especially to charity; make a donation.
exchange
The rate at which one currency can be exchanged for another.
rate
fee
Payment made to a professional person (doctor, lawyer, etc.).
interest
Money paid for borrowing or investing money.
invest
To put pmey into a business, property, etc. in order to earn interest or profit.
legal tender Currency that cannot legally be refused as payment.
lend
Give or allow the use of money which must be returned, usually with interest.
loan
Sum of money to be returned with interest.
owe
To be in debt to someone; to owe money to somebody.
petty cash
Small amount of cash available for everyday expenses.
receipt
Written statement that money has been paid.
refund
Pay back money received; reimburse.
tip
Small sum of money given to a waiter, taxi driver, tec.
withdraw
Take money from a bank account.

Word

Meaning

Group of listeners or spectators

Communication through facial expressions, body movements, etc.
Sheet of information in the form of a table, graph or diagram.
Graphic representation of a situation e.g. the results of an action.
Pad of large paper sheets on a stand for presenting information.
Diagram showing the relation between variable quantities.
Advice or instructions given in order to guide or direct an action.
Written information (report etc.) given to people at a presentation.
Essential or main point.
Pen with felt tip used for writing on a whiteboard.
Electrical instrument used to amplify the speaker's voice.
Overhead transparency : sheet of film with an image or printed
information for overhead projector.
objective
What one wants to achieve; aim
outline
Brief description or presentation.
overhead projector Device that projects an O.H.T. onto a screen.
overview
Short presentation of the main points.
pointer
Rod or stick used to indicate things on a map, screen, etc.
screen
Flat, reflective blank surface on which films, slides, etc. are projected.
signposting
Phrases used to help focus the audience's attention on different parts of
language
a presentation.
slide
Small photographic transparency.
summarize
Make a summary of the essential points; sum up.
topic
Subject of a discussion or talk.
transparency
Image or information printed on transparent plastic or film.
visual aids
Aids such as charts, slides, etc. used at a presentation.
whiteboard
Flat white board on which to write or draw with markers.
audience
body language
chart
diagram
flip chart
graph
guidelines
handout
key point
marker
microphone
O.H.T.

SHOULD_OUGHT-TO
Should and ought to are interchangeable for advice and conclusions :
You should / you ought to write to your grandmother.
He has revised all day; he should / he ought to be ready for his exam.
Should is also used :
In hypothetical situations :
Should anyone call, please take a message.
Should you need any help, just call me.
If I were you, I should leave.
(In this last example, 'would' is often used today.)
With 'imagine', 'say' and 'think' to give tentative opinions :
I should think the journey will take about two hours.

NEED
Need expresses necessity.
In summer we need to drink more often (= it is necessary for us to drink often.)
You needn't / you don't need to take notes. You'll get a summary.
(=it is not necessary to take notes.)
Need I / Do I need to do this? (=Is it necessary for me to do this?).
NEEDN'T HAVE / DIDN'T NEED TO
Needn't have is used to refer to an action which was performed but later turned out
to be unnecessary.
We needn't have rushed to the airport; the flight was delayed.
He needn't have taken a sweater; the weather was warm.
Didn't need to is used to refer to an action in the past which was not performed
because there was no need for it. It was not necessary.
We didn't need to show our passports - ID cards were accepted.

Salutation

Starting

Referring to
previous
contact

Making a request

Dear Mr. Brown

Dear Ms. White
Dear Sir
Dear Madam
Dear Sir or Madam
Gentlemen
We are writing
- to inform you that ...
- to confirm ...
- to request ...
- to enquire about ...
I am contacting you for the following reason...
I recently read/heard about ..... and would like to
know ....
Having seen your advertisement in ..., I would like to ...
I would be interested in (obtaining / receiving) ...
I received your address from ----- and would like to ...
Thank you for your letter of March 15.
Thank you for contacting us.
In reply to your request, ...
Thank you for your letter regarding ...
With reference to our telephone conversation
yesterday...
Further to our meeting last week ...
It was a pleasure meeting you in London last month.
I enjoyed having lunch with you last week in Tokyo.
I would just like to confirm the main points we
discussed on Tuesday.
We would appreciate it if you would ...
I would be grateful if you could ...
Could you please send me ...
Could you possibly tell us / let us have ...

Offering help

Giving good news

Giving bad news

Complaining

In addition, I would like to receive ...

It would be helpful if you could send us ...
I am interested in (obtaining / receiving) ...
I would appreciate your immediate attention to this
matter.
Please let me know what action you propose to take.
Would you like us to ...?
We would be happy to ...
We are quite willing to ...
Our company would be pleased to ...
We are pleased to announce that ...
I am delighted to inform you that ..
You will be pleased to learn that ...
We regret to inform you that ...
I'm afraid it would not be possible to ...
Unfortunately we cannot / we are unable to ...
After careful consideration we have decided (not) to ...
I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with ...
I am writing to complain about ...
Please note that the goods we ordered on ( date )
have not yet arrived.
We regret to inform you that our order n ----- is now
considerably overdue.
I would like to query the transport charges which seem
unusually high.

Apologizing

We are sorry for the delay in replying to ...

I regret any inconvenience caused (by) ...
I would like to apologize for the (delay,
inconvenience)...
Once again, please accept my apologies
for ...

Orders

Thank you for your quotation of ...

We are pleased to place an order with your
company for..
We would like to cancel our order n .....
Please confirm receipt of our order.
I am pleased to acknowledge receipt of your
order n .....
Your order will be processed as quickly as
possible.
It will take about (two/three) weeks to
process your order.
We can guarantee you delivery before ...
(date)
Unfortunately these articles are no longer
available /
are out of stock.

Prices

Please send us your price list.

You will find enclosed our most recent
catalogue and price list.
Please note that our prices are subject to
change
without notice.
We have pleasure in enclosing a detailed
quotation.
We can make you a firm offer of ...

Referring to payment

Our terms of payment are as follows ...

Our records show that we have not yet
received
payment of ...
According to our records ...
Please send payment as soon as possible.
You will receive a credit note for the sum
of ...

Enclosing documents

I am enclosing ...
Please find enclosed ...
You will find enclosed ...

Closing remarks

If we can be of any further assistance,

please let us know.
If I can help in any way, please do not
hesitate to
contact me.
If you require more information ...
For further details ...
Thank you for taking this into consideration.
Thank you for your help.
We hope you are happy with this

THE PASSIVE VOICE

Passive and Active Voices

Verbsarealsosaidtobeeitheractive(Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthenewpolicy)or
passive(Thenewpolicywasapprovedbytheexecutivecommittee)invoice.Intheactivevoice,the
subjectandverbrelationshipisstraightforward:thesubjectisabeeroradoerandtheverbmoves
thesentencealong.Inthepassivevoice,thesubjectofthesentenceisneitheradoerorabeer,but
isacteduponbysomeotheragentorbysomethingunnamed(Thenewpolicywasapproved).
Computerizedgrammarcheckerscanpickoutapassivevoiceconstructionfrommilesawayandask
youtoreviseittoamoreactiveconstruction.Thereisnothinginherentlywrongwiththepassive
voice,butifyoucansaythesamethingintheactivemode,doso(seeexceptionsbelow).Yourtext
willhavemorepizzazzasaresult,sincepassiveverbconstructionstendtolieaboutintheir
pajamasandavoidactualwork.
Wefindanoverabundanceofthepassivevoiceinsentencescreatedbyselfprotectivebusiness
interests,magniloquenteducators,andbombasticmilitarywriters(whomustgetwearyofthis
accusation),whousethepassivevoicetoavoidresponsibilityforactionstaken.Thus"Cigarette
adsweredesignedtoappealespeciallytochildren"placestheburdenontheadsasopposedto
"Wedesignedthecigaretteadstoappealespeciallytochildren,"inwhich"we"accepts
responsibility.AtaWhiteHousepressbriefingwemighthearthat"ThePresidentwasadvisedthat
certainmembersofCongresswerebeingaudited"ratherthan"TheHeadoftheInternalRevenue
serviceadvisedthePresidentthatheragencywasauditingcertainmembersofCongress"because
thepassiveconstructionavoidsresponsibilityforadvisingandforauditing.Onefurthercaution
aboutthepassivevoice:weshouldnotmixactiveandpassiveconstructionsinthesamesentence:
"Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthenewpolicy,andthecalendarfornextyear'smeetingswas
revised"shouldberecastas"Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthenewpolicyandrevisedthe
calendarfornextyear'smeeting."
Takethequiz(below)asanexerciseinrecognizingandchangingpassiveverbs.
Thepassivevoicedoesexistforareason,however,anditspresenceisnotalwaystobe
despised.Thepassiveisparticularlyuseful(evenrecommended)intwosituations:
Whenitismoreimportanttodrawourattentiontothepersonorthingacted
upon:Theunidentifiedvictimwasapparentlystruckduringtheearlymorninghours.
Whentheactorinthesituationisnotimportant:Theauroraborealiscanbe
observedintheearlymorninghours.
Thepassivevoiceisespeciallyhelpful(andevenregardedasmandatory)inscientificor
technicalwritingorlabreports,wheretheactorisnotreallyimportantbuttheprocessorprinciple
beingdescribedisofultimateimportance.Insteadofwriting"Ipoured20ccofacidintothe
beaker,"wewouldwrite"Twentyccofacidis/waspouredintothebeaker."Thepassivevoiceis
alsousefulwhendescribing,say,amechanicalprocessinwhichthedetailsofprocessaremuch
moreimportantthananyone'stakingresponsibilityfortheaction:"Thefirstcoatofprimerpaintis
appliedimmediatelyaftertheacidrinse."
Weusethepassivevoicetogoodeffectinaparagraphinwhichwewishtoshiftemphasis
fromwhatwastheobjectinafirstsentencetowhatbecomesthesubjectinsubsequentsentences.

The executive committee approved an entirely new policy for

dealing with academic suspension and withdrawal. The policy had
been written by a subcommittee on student behavior. If students
withdraw from course work before suspension can take effect, the
policy states, a mark of "IW" . . . .

Theparagraphisclearlyaboutthisnewpolicysoitisappropriatethatpolicymovefrombeingthe
objectinthefirstsentencetobeingthesubjectofthesecondsentence.Thepassivevoiceallowsfor
thistransition.

Passive Verb Formation

Thepassiveformsofaverbarecreatedbycombiningaformofthe"tobeverb"withthepast
participleofthemainverb.Otherhelpingverbsarealsosometimespresent:"Themeasurecould
havebeenkilledincommittee."Thepassivecanbeused,also,invarioustenses.Let'stakealookat
thepassiveformsof"design."

Auxiliary
Plural

Past
Participle

The car/cars is

are

designed.

Present perfect

The car/cars has been

have been

designed.

Past

The car/cars was

were

designed.

Past perfect

The car/cars had been

had been

designed.

Future

The car/cars will be

will be

designed.

Future perfect

The car/cars will have been will have been designed.

Tense

Subject

Present

Singular

Present progressive The car/cars is being

are being

designed.

Past progressive
The car/cars was being
were being
designed.
Asentencecastinthepassivevoicewillnotalwaysincludeanagentoftheaction.For
instanceifagorillacrushesatincan,wecouldsay"Thetincanwascrushedbythegorilla."Buta
perfectlygoodsentencewouldleaveoutthegorilla:"Thetincanwascrushed."Also,whenan
activesentencewithanindirectobjectisrecastinthepassive,theindirectobjectcantakeonthe
roleofsubjectinthepassivesentence:
Active

Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.

Passive An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa.

Passive Jorge was given an A.
Onlytransitiveverbs(thosethattakeobjects)canbetransformedintopassiveconstructions.
Furthermore,activesentencescontainingcertainverbscannotbetransformedintopassive
structures.Tohaveisthemostimportantoftheseverbs.Wecansay"Hehasanewcar,"butwe
cannotsay"Anewcarishadbyhim."Wecansay"Josefinalackedfinesse,"butwecannotsay
"Finessewaslacked."Hereisabrieflistofsuchverbs*:
resemble look like equal agree with
mean

contain

hold

comprise

lack

suit

fit

become

Verbals in Passive Structures

Verbalsorverbformscanalsotakeonfeaturesofthepassivevoice.Aninfinitivephrasein
thepassivevoice,forinstance,canperformvariousfunctionswithinasentence(justliketheactive
formsoftheinfinitive).
Subject:Tobeelectedbymypeersisagreathonor.
Object:Thatchildreallylikestobereadtobyhermother.
Modifier:Grassowasthefirstwomantobeelectedgovernorinherownright.
Thesameistrueofpassivegerunds.
Subject:Beingelectedbymypeerswasagreatthrill.
Object:Ireallydon'tlikebeinglecturedtobymyboss.
Objectofpreposition:Iamsotiredof
beinglecturedtobymyboss.
Withpassiveparticiples,partofthepassiveconstructionisoftenomitted,theresultbeingasimple
modifyingparticipialphrase.
[Havingbeen]designedforoffroadperformance,thePathseekerdoesnotalways
behavewellonpavedhighways.

Use of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not
known, however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not
know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the
following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame
anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example: A letter was written.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive
sentence
the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive
sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive
Subjec
t

Tense
Active:
Simple Present

Passive:
Active:

Simple Past

Passive:
Active:

Present Perfect

Passive:
Active:

Future I

Passive:
Active:

Hilfsverben

Passive:

Verb

Object

Rita
writes
a letter.
A
is written
by Rita.
letter
Rita
wrote
a letter.
A
was written by Rita.
letter
Rita has written a letter.
A
has been written by Rita.
letter
Rita
will write a letter.
A
will be written by Rita.
letter
Rita
can write
a letter.
A
can be written by Rita.
letter

Examples of Passive
Subjec
t

Tense
Active:
Present Progressive

Passive:
Active:

Past Progressive

Passive:
Active:

Past Perfect

Passive:
Active:

Future II

Passive:
Active:

Conditional I

Passive:

Verb

Rita
is writing
A
is being written
letter
Rita
was writing
A
was being written
letter
Rita
had written
A
had been written
letter
Rita
will have written
A
will have been written
letter
Rita
would write
A
would be written
letter

Object
a letter.
by Rita.
a letter.
by Rita.
a letter.
by Rita.
a letter.
by Rita.
a letter.
by Rita.

Active:
Conditional II

Passive:

Rita would have written a letter.

A
would have been writtenby Rita.
letter

Passive Sentences with Two Objects

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one
of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object.
Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the
focus on.
Subjec
t

Verb

Object
1

Object
2

Active:

Rita

wrote

a letter to me.

Passive:

A
letter

was
written

to me by Rita.

Passive:

was
written

a letter by Rita.

.
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant.
Thats why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes
the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object
(transitive verb) can form a personal passive.
Example: They build houses. Houses are built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal
passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the
passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you
need an impersonal construction therefore this passive is called Impersonal
Passive.
Example: he says it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages
(e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs
of perception (e. g. say, think, know).
Example: They say that women live longer than men. It is said that women
live longer than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more
common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. Women are said to live
longer than men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the
sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the
sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary
verbs and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect
object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.