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English for work and meetings

Practice expressions used to talk about work, projects and other people. Try each recording before opening the explanation.

Showing 73–76 of 76 lessons

  • Video · 8 min

    B2 Idiom

    Crossed wires

    Get your wires crossed means to experience a misunderstanding because two or more people have different information, expectations, or interpretations of the same situation.

  • Video · 8 min

    B2 Idiom

    Backlog

    A backlog is a substantial quantity of work, cases, or orders that has accumulated over time and remains unprocessed. It does not describe a single delayed chore; it describes a collection of pending duties that have gathered into an ongoing burden.

  • B1 Grammar

    Third conditional: explanation and examples

    The third conditional looks back at completed past events and imagines how changing one condition would have produced a different outcome. Both the condition and the result refer entirely to the past, describing an imaginary version of events that never actually took place.

  • B1 Grammar

    Gerunds and infinitives with stop, try, remember and need

    Some English verbs can be followed by either an -ing form or a to-infinitive, but the choice creates two completely different meanings. With stop, the -ing form ends an activity, while the to-infinitive states a purpose for pausing. With try, the -ing form tests a possible solution, while the to-infinitive focuses on making an effort at a difficult task. With remember, the -ing form recalls a past experience, while the to-infinitive focuses on completing a necessary chore. With need, the to-infinitive indicates that the subject performs an action, while the -ing form expresses a passive meaning showing what requires maintenance.

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