Word web

COMPETITION
Verb: to COMPETE
• to compete (v.) = to try to be more successful than other companies
or people in business
• to compete IN
• We have to compete in a commercial environment.
• to compete WITH/AGAINST
• The stores compete with each other for increased market shares.
• Startup companies must compete against established companies which have
had many years to build up their markets.
• to compete FOR
• Several companies are competing for the contract.
Noun: COMPETITOR
• competitor (n.) = a person /company that is trying to compete with others;
rival

• chief /main / major / leading / biggest competitor

• Many companies focus much of their energy on taking market share from their major
competitors.
• Many of our biggest competitors have gone out of business.

• closest / direct / nearest competitor

• Nike’s closest competitors include Adidas and Reebok.

• domestic ≠ foreign / overseas / global competitor

• Compare our prices with those of our overseas competitors.
Verb + COMPETITOR
• Smaller companies often outdo their competitors in
• You can Y
customer service.
O
• In recent years our company has outperformed most of
• be better than U
its biggest competitors.
R
• outdo C
• Microsoft continues to outsell its competitors.
• A high proportion of manufacturing businesses
• outperform O
M
in Western Europe have now been outstripped by
foreign competitors.
• outsell P
E
• We have just succeeded in overtaking our nearest
competitor.
• outstrip T
I • The firm will be able to undercut its competitors while
still making a profit.
• overtake T
O
R
• undercut S
 Noun: COMPETITION
• competition (n.) = the situation in which people
or businesses are trying to be more successful than
each other
• Competition has intensified in recent months.
• competition between / among / amongst
• There is an intense competition between the
financial institutions.
• competition from
• Competition from cheaper imports is making
life difficult for manufacturers.
IN competition WITH
• We are in competition with three other companies for the project.
• the competition = the person, company
or thing that someone is competing with;
can be followed by a singular or plural verb
• Let’s look at what the competition is
doing and do it better.
• to keep / stay ahead of the competition
• The company had to make drastic
changes if it was to stay ahead of the
competition.
Adjective + COMPETITION
CUT-THROAT
FIERCE
FORMIDABLE • The cut-throat competition in the airline
industry kept prices low for many years.
INTENSE • There is fierce competition between the
KEEN three leading car manufacturers.
• We’re all about promoting keen
SERIOUS COMPETITION competition to keep prices low.
STIFF • The industry faces increasingly tough
STRONG competition from overseas for the contract.
TOUGH • US companies face increasing competition
from Eastern markets.
INCREASING
• The low-key competition reflects the
GROWING unfavourable economic atmosphere.
LOW-KEY
Adjective + COMPETITION
• fair competition
• Fair competition offers the best guarantee of good services and low
prices.
• unfair competition
• This will protect the industry from unfair competition from abroad.
• open competition (=a situation that offers anyone a chance to
be successful)
• We welcome open competition in the software market.
• healthy competition 
• Healthy competition makes everyone work harder.
• perfect competition ≠ imperfect competition
• global/international ≠ local/domestic competition
Verb + COMPETITION
create
They beat off competition beat off encourage The policy would promote
from other companies to win fight off promote competition in the banking
the contract. sector.
see off stimulate

limit
be up against
restrict
face
stifle
COMPETITION
Monopoly is never good
Clothing stores face keen
because it stifles
competition from factory
competition.
outlets.
COMPETITION + Verb
COMPETITION

+
heat up / hot up / intensify

• Competition starts to heat up again as the car market gradually recovers.

• The competition is really hotting up now.
• Competition is intensifying as customers demand more online services.
Adjective: COMPETITIVE
• competitive (adj.)

• competitive price / fee / rate

• The company is known for its quality products and competitive prices.

• competitive business / environment / sector / industry

• Advertising is an intensely competitive business.

• competitive advantage / edge

• Only by keeping down costs will we have a competitive advantage / edge over
other companies.
competitive, competitively, competitiveness
• to be / become / remain / stay competitive
• These industries must constantly develop new products to stay competitive.

• ≠ UNcompetitive (adj.)
• The minister believes that higher taxes would make industry uncompetitive.

• competitively (adv.)
• Our products were competitively priced.

• competitiveness (n.) = the ability of a company, country, or

a product to compete with others (konkurentnost)
• New machinery has enhanced the company’s productivity and competitiveness.
Fill in the blanks in the text with the words from the box. – Textbook, p.
85, ex. D.

competition competitors competitive compete

Two or more companies which sell or manufacture the same product

are ____________.
COMPETITORS They are in ____________
COMPETITION and they ____________
COMPETE

for customers. In order to sell more goods than its ____________

COMPETITORS a

company must be ____________.

COMPETITIVE It is important to keep ahead of the
____________
COMPETITION by selling at ____________
COMPETITIVE prices. If one company has
an advantage over its ___________
COMPETITORS (for example a cheaper or better
product), it gives them an edge on the market.
SUPPLY THE APPROPRIATE FORM OF THE WORD WEB compete:

1. ___________
Competition for jobs is intense.
2. He’s a tough ___________
competitor and will probably do well in
business.
3. The two companies are in __________ with each
competition other.
4. We have to invest in new technology if we are to remain
__________.
competitive

5. Men and women ought to be able to _________for compete jobs

on an equal footing.
6. There’s a lot of __________
competition between computer
companies.
7. The dollar is the primary factor behind eroding U. S.
______________,
competitiveness economists believe.
SUPPLY THE APPROPRIATE FORM OF THE WORD FAMILY compete:

8. One of the key reasons that they will lose customers is because
their products are not priced _____________.
competitively

9. The decision to sell cheap TVs put the supermarket in direct

____________
competition with the major suppliers of electrical goods.
10. The retail group outbid all three _____________for
competitors space in the
shopping centre.
11. Sometimes it is difficult for corporations to differentiate their
products and gain a ____________advantage.
competitive

12. It is not true there is a crisis in the country’s scientific or

technological _______________.
competitiveness
13. We live in a toughly ____________
competitive world.
14. Foreign ____________ had reduced their sales.
competition

15. He was irritated for years by the bank’s ____________rates

uncompetitive of
interest.