UNIT 03.

Ways of saying "no" in English.

1. The direct "no".
Sometimes, saying sorry, then saying no is not necessary or even appropriate. If that's
the case, use the direct 'no'. For example:

A: Are you joining us for lunch?

B: No, no thank you.

2. The reasoned "no".

Sometimes you feel it would be polite to offer a reason for your refusal but, on the other
hand, you don't want to open up any sort of negotiation. In this case, use the reasoned
'no'. Example:

A: We're leaving now. Are you coming with us for a drink?

B: I can't come for a drink tonight. I've got to get this report out for tomorrow.

3. The reflecting "no".

You want to acknowledge the request but still want to say "no" quite firmly. Example:

A: Do you have time to go through some things now?

B: I know you want to talk to me about the meeting arrangements but I can't do it today.

4. The raincheck "no".

This is similar to the reflecting 'no'. It's not so much saying 'no' as saying this is not a
good time. Example:

A: Could you check through these figures for me?

B: I can't right now, but I could some time tomorrow.

Be careful! only use this if you really do want to accept the request at a later date. Don't
use it if you really mean 'no'.

5. The unwavering 'no'.

This is how you have to deal with pests – people who don't hear 'no'.

A: Come on let's go for lunch.

B: No, I'm not going out for lunch today.

A: Oh, please, it won't take long.

B: No, I'm not going out for lunch today.

A: Oh, go on, I'll pay.

B: No, I'm not going out for lunch today.
Comparatives and Superlatives
One-syllable adjectives.
 To form the comparative, we add -er to the end of the adjective.
 To form the superlative, we add -est to the end of the adjective.

Adjective Comparative Superlative

Small. Smaller. The smallest.
Cold. Colder. The coldest.
Light. Lighter. The lightest.
Short. Shorter. The shortest.

Remember that comparatives are often followed by than.

 London is bigger than Santiago.
 Mike is taller than John but James is the tallest.

Two-syllable adjectives ending in -Y.

 To form the comparative, we remove the -y and add -ier to the end of the
adjective.
 To form the superlative, we remove the -y and add -iest to the end of the
adjective.

Adjective Comparative Superlative

Crazy. Crazier. The craziest.
Happy. Happier. The happiest.
Early. Earlier. The earliest.
 It was the happiest day of my life.
 My joke was funnier than your one.

Adjectives with two or more syllables.

For adjectives with 2 syllables (that don't end in -y) and higher (3, 4 syllables etc), we
use:
 more for comparatives.
 the most for superlatives.

Adjective Comparative Superlative

Handsome. More handsome. The most handsome.
Nervous. More nervous. The most nervous.
Enthusiastic. More enthusiastic. The most enthusiastic.
 My girlfriend is more beautiful than yours.
 Alex is more intelligent than you, but I am the most intelligent.

Be careful! There are some irregular forms.

Adjective Comparative Superlative
Good. Better. The best.
Bad. Worse. The worst.
Far. Further / farther. The furthest / farthest.
 I am a better tennis player than you but Marcelo is the best.
 Steve is a worse liar than me but Adrian is the worst.
The Bullying Phenomenon.
Words related to Bullying Translation
Ally. Aliado, aliada.
Bully. Matón/matona.
Bystander. Testigo, transeúnte.
Discrimination. Discriminación.
Harass. Acoso.
Hate crime. Delito motivado por discriminación.
Humiliate. Humillación.
Prejudice. Prejuicio.
Respect. Respeto.
Slur. Comentario racista, denigrante.
Stereotype. Estereotipo.
Sympathy. Compasión, lástima.
Target. Blanco, objeto de burla.
To bully. Intimidar, amenazar.
To put someone down. Humillar, rebajar a alguien.

Common verbs, nouns and adjectives.

Common words Translation
Ache. Dolor constante, menos severo que "pain". "achaque" o "dolor continuo." (verbo
y sustantivo).
Body's immune system. Sistema inmunológico.
Health.Salud.
Hurt. "Doler", "lastimar" y "herir". (verbo).
Ill. Enfermo / enferma. (adjetivo).
Illness / Disease. Enfermedad. (sustantivo).
Pain. Dolor causado por una herida, enfermedad o problemas emocionales. (sustantivo).
Sick. Malestar. (adjective).
Sore. (E.g: a sore throat). Irritación. (sustantivo / siempre con el artículo "a"). (Ejemplo
dolor de garganta).

Common illnesses and Symptoms.

Illnesses and Symptoms Translation
Anxiety. Ansiedad.
Backacke. Dolor de espalda.
CFS. (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). Síndrome de Fatiga Crónica.
Constant tiredness. Cansancio continuo.
Depression. Depresión.
Fatigue. Fatiga.
Irregular heart beat. Arritmias cardíacas.
Irritability. Irritabilidad.
Lack of motivation. Falta de motivación.
Loss of self-esteem. Pérdida de autoestima.
Panic attacks. Ataques de pánico.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (PTSD). Estrés post-traumático.
Severe headaches. Dolores fuertes de cabeza.
Sleeplessness. Insomnio.
Stress. Estrés.
Suicidal thoughts. Pensamientos de suicidio.
Looking for the Perfect Environment.
Tact and Diplomacy.
Making language more diplomatic.
1. Use would, could or might to make what you say more tentative.
For example:
 That would be too long a delay.
 That does not meet our specifications.
 That might not meet our specifications.
 You must visit our London office.
 You could visit our London office.

2. Questions rather than statements make your views less dogmatic.

For example:
 It's a good idea to check with head office.
 Is it a good idea to check with head office first?
 The risk involved in this is far too serious.
 Would the risk be too serious?
 He's not the right person for the job.
 Is he the right person for the job?

3. Introductory 'softening' phrases prepare your listeners for an unwelcome or

unhelpful message.
 "I'm afraid" …
 "Frankly" ...
 "With respect" ...
 "To be honest" ...
 "To put it bluntly" ...
 "If I may say so" ...
Example:
A: Could I speak to John, please?
B: I'm afraid he's out of the office.

4. Use qualifying words to soften what you say.

 "A slight" misunderstanding.
 "A bit of a problem".
 "A short" delay.
 etc.

5. Soften your message by using a comparative form:

 Would Tuesday be a better day to meet?
 Would the afternoon be more convenient?
 Option C might be more cost-effective.
How to say it: Prepositions of movement.
Apart from many other functions, prepositions can be used to show movement. Here,
you'll find the most common ones:

 We use "to" to show movement with the aim of a specific destination. For
example:
 I moved to London in 2010.She's gone to Paris on a business trip.

 We use through to show movement from one side of an enclosed space to the
other.
 For example: The train went through the tunnel.

 We use across to show movement from one side of a surface or line to another.
 For example:Peter swam across the river.

 We use along to show movement following the boundary of something.

 For example: He walked along the park.

 We use down to show the direction of the movement.

 For example: My colleague went down the stairs immediately.

 We use over when we talk about movement from one side of an open space to
another.
 For example: She walked over the bridge. The bird flew over the clouds.

 We use off meaning leaving a place.

 For example: Mr. Smith ran off the office. Who ran off with my keys?

 We use round to talk about the movement from one side to another and start
over again.
 For example: He went round the tree.Anne went round the park.

 We use into to talk about the movement of entering a place.

 For example: He went into the building.Joseph walked into the office.

At and in can also be used as prepositions of movement, but it's used to show the
purpose of the movement.

For example: Throw the paper in the bin. Let's have dinner at my place.

When used after some verbs, the preposition at also shows the target of an action:

For example: The little boy threw the ball at the wall, instead of to his dad.
Prepositions of Place
PREPOSITION TRANSLATION EXAMPLE
Above. Encima de (sin tocarlo). Write your name above the
line, please.
Among. Entre (a elegir entre He borrowed my stapler
muchos). and pencil case among
other things.
Around. Alrededor. Write a circle around the
correct answer.
At. En (en un lugar concreto). I'll see you at the office.
Behind. Detrás. The post-office is behind
the gym.
Below. Por debajo de. Write your name below the
line.
Between. Entre dos cosas u objetos. My office is between the
toilets and the reception
desk.
In / Inside. Dentro de, dentro. The stapler is in/ inside the
drawer.
In front of. Delante de. If you look right, you'll see
the cabinet in front of you.
Near, by. Cerca de. There's a coffee shop
near /by my office.
Next to. Al lado de. There's a public phone box
next to the vending
machine.
On. Sobre, encima (tocando el The telephone is on the
objeto). table.
Opposite. De frente a / en frente. The coffee shop is
opposite the office.
Out of / Outside. Fuera de, fuera. The document is out of the
folder.
Under. Debajo. There's a wastepaper
basket under the table.
With. Con. Peter is having a meeting
with the boss.
Within. Dentro de. Write some words within
the circle.
Words you need: Writing Formal Emails.
To write down a successful Formal e-mail follow these steps:

1. Use a neutral e-mail address. Your e-mail address should be a variation of

your real name, not a username or nickname. Use periods, hyphens,
or underscores to secure an e-mail address that's just your name, without extra
numbers or letters, if you can.
2. Use a proper salutation. Addressing the recipient by name is preferred. Use the
person's title (Mr. Mrs. Ms. or Dr.) with their last name, followed by a comma or
a colon. Optionally, you can precede the salutation with "Dear..." (but "Hello..."
is acceptable as well).If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to
(but you really should try and find one) use "To whom it may concern".
3. Introduce yourself in the first paragraph. Also include why you're writing,
and how you found that person's e-mail address, or the opportunity you're
writing about.
E.g. "My name is Alan Parker. I'm contacting you to apply for the administrative
assistant position listed on CareerXYZ.com."

4. Write the actual message. Be sure to get your point across and do not ramble
on! Be direct and to the point, otherwise the reader may glance over the
important details.
5. The email should be no more than 5 paragraphs long, and each paragraph should
be no more than 5 sentences long. Insert a line break between each paragraph
(indenting isn't necessary).
6. Use the correct form of leave-taking.
Yours sincerely,
Yours cordially,
Respectfully,
Best,

7. Sign with your full name. If you have a job title, include that in the line after
your name, and write the company name or website in the line after that. If you
do not have a job title but you have your own blog or website related to the
content of the e-mail, include a link to that below your name.
8. Come up with a brief and descriptive subject. E.g. Enquiry regarding sales
position request for volunteer application
9. Double-check your message to make sure that you have contained
everything that you need in your message. Read your email out loud. Ask
someone to proofread the e-mail for you as well.

How to Write a Fax Cover Sheet.

To write a successful Fax Cover Sheet follow these instructions:

1. Add a letterhead to the top of the fax cover sheet. The letterhead can be for a
company or an individual. The letterhead should include the company or
individual's name, address, telephone number, fax number and email address.
2. List the date a couple of lines down from the letterhead.
3. Write "Company Name," followed by a colon. Below, write in the name of the
company where you are sending the fax.
 4. Write "To" and then a colon. A couple of lines down, fill in the name of the
person who should receive the fax.
5. On the next line, write "From" anda colon. List the sender's name.
6. Write "Recipient's fax number" and then a colon. Fill in this line with the correct
fax number where you are sending the fax.
7. Write "Number of pages of the fax including the fax cover sheet," followed by a
colon. Count the number of pages that you are faxing and add one for the fax
cover sheet. Enter this number on this line. This helps the recipient make sure
that a page is not missing.
8. Write "Notes" and then a colon. Enter any additional information that is needed.

How to say it: The Causative.

 The Causative can be used in any verbal tense, even the continuous form:
The Causative

Tense Have/get something done

Present Simple. I have/get my hair cut.

Past Simple. I had/got my hair cut.

Present Continuous. I'm having/getting my hair cut.

I was having/getting my hair

Past Continuous.
cut.

Present Perfect. I have had my hair cut.

Past Perfect. I had had my hair cut.

Will. I will have my hair cut.

Must. I must have my hair cut.

Be going to. I'm going to have my hair cut.

 Notice that to make the interrogative and negative form, the causative verb
works like any other verb.
Do you have your car serviced regularly?
Did he get his house redecorated last week?
You won't have your eyes tested next week.
I'm not getting my hair cut today.
 To mention who performs the action we may add by + the agent. For
example: My boss is having his car repaired by a mechanic.
Formulae.
To form the Causative we use the following structure: subject+ have/get+ object+past
participle.
She is having/getting her office refurnished.
He had/got his car serviced by a beautiful woman.
Mary and Paul will have / get some pizzas delivered at home in a few minutes.
 Notice that have/ get may be used in any context though have tends to be a little
bit more formal, and get is more commonly used in the imperative form.
Sally is having a costume made.
Get your room tidied at once!

Words you need: Legal framework for job contracts.

What is a contract of employment?
There is always a contract between an employee and employer. Your employer does
have to give you a written statement within two months of you starting work. The
statement must contain certain terms and conditions.
A contract gives both you and your employer certain rights and obligations. The most
common example is that you have a right to be paid for the work you do. Your employer
has a right to give reasonable instructions to you and for you to work at your job. These
rights and obligations are called contractual terms.
The rights that you have under your contract of employment are in addition to the rights
you have under law, such as, for example, the right to a national minimum wage and the
right to paid holidays.
Generally, you and your employer can agree to whatever terms you wish to be in the
contract, but you cannot agree to a contractual term which gives you less rights than you
have under law.
A contract of employment will usually be made up of two types of contractual terms.
These are:
 Express terms.
 Implied terms.
Express contractual terms.
Express terms in an employment contract are those that are explicitly agreed between
you and your employer and can include:
 Amount of wages, including any overtime or bonus pay.
 Hours of work, including overtime hours.
 Holiday pay, including how much time off you are entitled to (nearly all full-
time workers are entitled by law to 28 days' paid holiday - they may be entitled
to more under their contract. Part-time workers are entitled to a pro
rata amount).
 Sick pay.
 Redundancy pay.
Implied contractual terms.
Implied terms in an employment contract are those which are not specifically agreed
between the employer and employee. Implied terms are:
 General terms which are implied into most contracts of employment.
 Terms implied by custom and practice.
 Terms from agreements made with the employer by a trade union or staff
association.
Finally, let's remember that according to the type of contract, there are also different
worker status:
 Fix term contracts employees are those workers on fixed term employment
contracts, which means the contract contains a date when it will end.
 Probationary periods. It is common for employers to treat new employees as
being in a probationary period when they first start work. The employer may
then argue that you can be dismissed while you are in this probationary period
 with no warning (notice). Employers also often argue that employees do not
have usual employment rights to, for example, pay or holidays, during this
probationary period.
 Short term contracts or seasonal workers. Employers may hire employees on
a series of short term contracts, usually lasting for about a year, but always less
than one or two years, to try to avoid the employee gaining employment rights.
They may also pay the employee only during a particular season, for example,
during the summer to pick fruit, but the employee may be expected to go back
and work for that employer each year during that season.
 Trainee. When you are learning how to carry out a job, your employer may call
you trainee in your employment contract, to try to prevent you from having
your statutory rights. Once your trainee period is over, you can be hired and
become a normal worker.

Job Contracts Vocabulary.

Words Translation

Agreement. (n). Acuerdo.

Appendix. (n). Apéndice. (normalmente al final del documento).

Mediador o mediadora. (persona acordada entre ambas

Arbitration. (n).
partes para mediar).

Article. (n). Artículo.

Clause. (n). Cláusula.

Condition. (n). Condición.

Express terms. Acuerdos expresos a los que se ha llegado.

Force majeure. (n). Fuerza mayor.

Fulfil. (v). Cumplir, llevar a cabo.

Herein. (adv). Aquí. (refiriéndose a un documento).

Hereinafter. (adv). Más adelante, a continuación. (en un documento).

Hereto. (adv). Aquí. ("attached hereto" aquí adjunto).

Heretofore. (adv). Hasta este momento.

Implied. Implícito.

Null and void. Sin validez legal.

On behalf of. En nombre de, de parte de.

Words Translation

On the one hand. Por un lado.

On the other hand. Por el otro lado.

Party. (n). Parte. Una de las personas que firma el contrato.

Stipulate. (v). Estipular.

Terms. (n). Términos, condiciones.

Third party. Tercero. Persona involucrada en un contrato.

Warrant. (v). Garantizar.

Whereas.
En tanto que.
(conjunction).

Bonus. (n). Plus, paga extra, bonificación.

Dismiss. (v). Despedir.

Employer. (n). Patrón / patrona, persona que te emplea.

Make redundant. (v). Despedir.

Maternity Leave. (n). Baja de maternidad.

Perk. (n). Dietas.

Personnel manager.
Jefe de personal.
(n).

Promotion. (n). Ascenso.

Recruit. (v). Emplear.

Resign. (v). Dimitir.

Take on. (v). Contratar.

Retire. (v). Jubilarse.

Salary. (n). Sueldo.

Staff. (n). Plantilla, personal.

Types of contract.
Contracts Translation

Binding contract. Contrato vinculante, que no se puede romper.

Contrato de exclusividad, no se puede trabajar con nadie

Exclusive contract.
más.

Renewable contract. Contrato renovable, que se puede renovar.

Non-renewable. Contrato sin posibilidad de ser renovado.

Temporary contract. Contrato temporal.

Terms of contract. Cláusulas del contrato.

To draw up a
Redactar un contrato.
contract.

Valid contract. Contrato con validez legal.

Breach of contract. Incumplimiento de contrato.