Vocabulary list

Introduction to the Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Wordlist

The Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Wordlist gives teachers a guide to the vocabulary needed when preparing students for the Cambridge English: Business Preliminary examination.

Background to the list

The Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Vocabulary list was originally developed by Cambridge English in consultation with external consultants to guide item writers who produce materials for the Cambridge English: Business Preliminary examination. It includes vocabulary from the Council of Europe's Threshold (1990) specification and business-related vocabulary which corpus evidence shows is high frequency.

The list covers vocabulary appropriate to this level of English and includes receptive vocabulary (words that the candidate is expected to understand but which is not the focus of a question), and productive vocabulary (words that the candidate needs to know to answer a question).

The list does not provide an exhaustive list of all words which appear on Cambridge English: Business Preliminary question papers and candidates should not confine their study of vocabulary to the list alone.

How the list is updated

Usage of business language can change rapidly, as shown by the growth of email correspondence and associated vocabulary in the last ten years. In order to maintain its currency, the wordlist is updated on an annual basis by the addition and removal of words, using a corpus-based approach. Suggested additions to the wordlist are collated and the frequency of these words is obtained by reference to established corpora (electronic databases). The corpora in question represent receptive and productive language in business and general contexts. The main corpora used for the validation of the Cambridge English: Business Preliminary wordlist are:

• the Cambridge Learner Corpus (CLC) which includes over 20 million words of written learner English at six levels; • the British National Corpus (BNC) which incl udes 100 million words of written and spoken native speaker data, including four million business-oriented words; • a web-derived corpus of business-related articles which includes 120,000 words from US and UK business articles.

How the list is organised

• Word sets Some categories of words which a learner at this level might be expected to know are not included in the alphabetical list but appear separately in Appendix 1. These include word sets such as numbers; days of the week; months of the year; countries and languages.

• Exemplification

Example phrases and sentences are given only where words which can be used with different meanings have been restricted in the extent of their usage at Cambridge English: Business Preliminary level. For example, trust is exemplified as it will only be used on a Cambridge English: Business Preliminary paper with the meaning of having confidence in someone or something, and not with the meaning of a financial arrangement (such as trust fund or trust unit).

• Prefixes and suffixes

A list of possible prefixes and suffixes is provided in Appendix 2 and these may be combined with the vocabulary items in the list as appropriate. Unemployment, for example, is not included on the alphabetical list, as it is formed from a word on the list -employ -in combination with two of the allowable affixes -un and ment. A a.m. (before noon) (adv) abbreviation (n) ability (n) able (adj)

• able to go about (adj & prep)

• The company has about 500 employees. (adj) • The report is about share prices.

(prep) above (adj & prep) abroad (adv) absence (n) absent (adj) accept (v) access (n & v) accident (n) accommodation (n) accompany (v) according to (prep) account (n)

• I'd like to open a bank account.

• Our company has an account at Transport Solutions. accountancy (n) accountant (n) accounting (n) accounts (n) accuracy (n) accurate (adj) achieve (v) acknowledge (v) acquaintance (n) acquire (v) acquisition (n) across (prep) act (v) action (n)

• The company has reasons for its actions. • Industrial action has affected production. • We need to develop an action plan. active (adj) activity (n) actor (n) actual (adj) ad (abbrev) (advertisement or advert) adapt (v) add (v) addition (n)

• In addition, I'd like to order a new printer.

• With his experience, he will be a useful addition to the team. additional (adj) address (n & v)

• Could I have your email address? (n) • The MD addressed the conference.

(v) adjust (v) administration (n) administrative (adj) administrator (n) admire (v) admission (n)

• Admission to the conference is by ticket only. admit (v)

• He admitted there were production problems. • This ticket admits two people to the exhibition. adult (adj & n) advance (n)

• Could you let me know in advance? • I'd like to make an advance booking. advanced (adj)

• We need someone with advancedlevel word-processing skills. advantage (n) advert (n) advertise (v) advertising (n) advice (n) advice note (n) advise (v) aeroplane (n) affair (n)

• He had a lot of important affairs to take care of. affect (v) afford (v) afraid (adj) after (prep) after-sales service (n) afternoon (n) afterwards (adv) again (adv) against (prep) age (n) aged (adj) agency (n)

• Let's use an advertising agency. agenda (n) agent (n)

• I've been to the travel agent to book a flight to Hong Kong. • He's our agent in Japan. ago (adv) agree (v) agricultural (adj) agriculture (n) aim (n & v)

• His aim was to become MD. (n)

• We aim to increase turnover by 5% this year. (v) air (n)

• He's going by air instead of by train. air-conditioned (adj) air-conditioning (n) airline (n) airmail (n) airplane (n) airport (n) alarm (n)

• The bank installed a new security alarm. alike (adv & adj)

• They think alike. (adv)

• The two products are very alike.

(adj) all (adj, adv, det & pron) allow (v) allowance (n)

• holiday allowance almost (adv) alone (adv) along (adv & prep) aloud (adv) alphabet (n) already (adv) alright (adv/adj) also (adv) alternative (n & adj) although (conj) altogether (adv) always (adv) amazing (adj) ambassador (n) ambition (n) ambitious (adj) among (amongst) (prep) amount (n) amusing (adj) analyse (v) analysis (n) and (conj) anger (n) angry (adj) anniversary (n)

• The company celebrated its 50 th anniversary. announce (v) annoy (v) annual (adj) annual report (n) annual return (n) another (adj) answer (n & v) answer phone (n) antique (adj & n) anxious (adj) any (adj & pron) anybody (pron) anyhow (adv) anyone (pron) anything (pron) anyway (adv) anywhere (adv) AOB (abbrev) Any Other Business apart from (prep) apartment (n) (Am Eng)

• What approach are you going to take? (n) • We may approach the bank for a loan. (v) appropriate (adj) approval (n) approve (v) approx. (abbrev) approximate(ly) approximate (adj) architect (n) area (n)

• We're looking for extra warehousing in the Leeds area. • He became area manager after two years. argue (v)

• They argued about the marketing strategy.

• The company buys and sells work of art. article (n)

• The newspaper article criticised the company. as (adv & conj) ASAP (abbrev) as soon as possible ashamed (adj) ask (v) aspect (n)

• What aspect of your work do you like most? assembly (n) assembly line (n) assembly plant (n) assembly point (n)

at all (prep phr) at first (prep phr) at last (prep phr) at least (prep phr) at once (prep phr) at present (prep phr) at the same time (prep phr)

• Can you find the average of these three numbers? (n) • He's not a particularly effective rep.

-just average. (adj) avoid (v) awake (adj) award (n & v)

• The country's balance of payments is up this month because of increased exports. (n) • The balance is due within two weeks. (n) • She spent hours trying to balance the company's accounts.

• The bar chart shows sales from last

year. bargain (n & v)

• Did you get a bargain? (n)

• Bargain with him. (v) base (n & v)

• Our customer base is rather weak.

(n) • The base rate is low so more people are borrowing. (n) • My new job is based in central Europe.

(v) • What did you base the sales projections on? (v) basement (n) basic (adj) basis (n) basket (n) battle (n)

• There was a boardroom battle over strategy. bay (n)

• The factory needs another loading bay. be (v) beat (v) • We can beat our competitors on quality but not price. because (conj) because of (adv) become (v) before (prep) beg (v)

• I beg your pardon.

• I begged her not to resign. begin (v) behave (v)

• He always behaves in a professional manner. behaviour (n) behind (prep & adv) believe (v)

• I believe we'll win the contract.

• Do you believe in the product?

• What's her date of birth? (n) black (adj)

• The company ended the year in the black. (n) • The true size of the black economy cannot be known. (adj) blame (n & v) blank (adj & n)

• I need a blank piece of paper. (adj)

• Write the correct word in each blank. (n) blank cheque (n) blind (n)

• The blind needs repairing. block (n)

• It's opposite the office block on the corner. blow up (phr v)

The gas heater blew up. blue (adj)

• There's been a decline in the number of blue-collar workers. board (n & v)

• a noticeboard, a wooden board (n)

• on board a ship/aircraft (n)

• board a plane (v) • a board of directors (n) board meeting (n) boarding card (n) boarding pass (n) board room (n) boat (n) body (n) bold (adj) bonus (n)

• an annual bonus book (n & v)

• I'm reading a book on marketing at the moment. (n)

• My cases are in the boot of the car.

• at the bottom of the page (n)

• the bottom left-hand corner (adj) box (n)

• I ordered three boxes of floppy disks. • Tick the box. brain (n) branch (n)

• The bank has a network of branches in the North. brand (n)

• own brand (n)

• during the (lunch) break (n)

• • This software has a bug in it. build (v) building (n) bulk (n)

• Bulk purchasing has allowed us to cut costs. bullet (n & v)

• a bullet point (n) • Bullet point this list for the meeting.

(v) bureau (n)

• I'll get some dollars from the foreign exchange bureau. burglar (n) burglary (n) bus (n) bus station (n) bus stop (n) business (n)

• He runs a business. (n)

• company business (n)

• do business (v)

• be in/on business (v)

• get down to business (phr v) • go into business (phr v)

• go out of business (phr v) • set up in business (phr v) business card (n) business hours (n) business plan (n) business school (n) busy (adj) but (conj) button (n)

• The on/off button isn't working properly. buy (n & v)

• We bought 300 files.

• be certain of something • a certain person certificate (n) chain (n)

• a chain of supermarkets chair (n & v)

• We need new chairs for the office. • check in to a hotel (phr v) check out (phr v)

• check out of a hotel checklist (n) cheerful (adj) chef (n) chemical (adj)

• the chemical industry chemist (n) cheque (n) cheque card (n) chief (adj & n)

• the chief problem (adj) • My house is close to my work place. cloth (n) clothes (n pl)

• Because of the railway strike, he went to York by coach. (n) • The company employs a coach.

(

• a television commercial (n) • a commercial organisation (adj) commission (n)

• to earn commission on a sale commit (v)

• committed to her work • commit resources to a project committee (n) common (adj)

• a common event

• The budget overspend is a matter of concern. (n) • It doesn't concern you. (v) concert (n) conclusion (n) condition (n)

• It's in good condition.

• under these conditions conference (n) confidence (n) confident (adj) confidential (adj) confirm (v)

• confirm an order confirmation (n)

• waiting for a confirmation of an order

• He is contracted to work 20 hours per week.

• He has lost control of the budget.

• Have you got a copy? (n)

• Copy this letter.

• Is this correct? (adj)

• correspond with someone correspondence (n) corridor (n) cost (n & v)

• We have to look at all the costs.

(n) • The new equipment cost more than we planned.

• courier service course (n)

• an English course • of course court (n)

• a law court cover (n & v)

• Put the cover on the keyboard. (n)

• My desk is covered with papers.

(v) • insurance cover (n) • The seminar covers various topics.

(

v) crash (n & v)

• My computer has crashed again.

(

• I'm very cross about the two-week delay. (adj) • Mark the box with a cross. (n) • If you cross the road, you'll see our office on the corner. (v) cross out (phr v) crossing (n)

• a pedestrian crossing crossroads (n)

• a cut in the number of jobs (n) • to cut some paper (v)

• to cut costs (v) cut back (n & phr v)

• Further financial cutbacks are expected next year. (n) • Now the project is finished, we have to cut back on the number of staff. (phr v) cut down (on) (phr v)

• We need to cut down on spending. cut up (phr v)

• The budget hasn't been cut up very fairly.

• There was a dip in profits last year. (n) • Productivity usually dips before lunch.

• walk in the wrong direction • read the directions on the box directory (n)

• a telephone directory disabled (adj & n)

• lifts for disabled people (adj)

• The next payment is due in five days. (adv) • due to rising costs (adj) • due date (adj) • The plane is due at… (adv) • The train is due to arrive. (adj) due to (prep phrase)

• The fall in sales was due to the difficult economic climate.

• The phone was engaged. engagement (n)

each (adj & pron)

• I have a business engagement on eager (adj) early (adj & adv)

• go to work early (adv) • in the early 1990s (adj) • the early stages of negotiation

• The estimate for repairs was low. (n)

• economic expansion expect (v) expectation (n)

• an expectation of high growth expenditure (n) expense(s) (n)

• the expense of hiring staff • to claim for travel expenses expensive (adj)

• Demand for our new product has • He couldn't even do that.

exploded

What is your extension number? external (adj) extra (adj & adv) extraordinary (adj) extremely (adv) eye (n) F ºF (abbrev) Farenheit facilities (n pl)

• Leisure facilities • The hotel has excellent facilities. • Could you get me the file on Unicorn Holdings? (n)

• Could you file the papers from this morning's meeting? (v) filing cabinet (n) fill (v)

• fill something to the top fill in (phr v)

• I must fill in this form. fill up (phr v) • We'll fill up the car with petrol before we leave.

• I must find out when Mr Tanaka is arriving.

• Fire completely destroyed an old warehouse. (n) • There was a small fire at the factory. (n) • The company has a 'hire and fire' approach. (n) • He was fired for not meeting sales targets. (v) fire alarm (n) firm (adj & n)

• a firm offer (adj) • a good firm to work for (n) first (adj, adv, n & pron)

• Fill in your first name. (adj) • first aid (n) • first of all (adv) • He was the first to draw attention to the mistake. (pron) • Could you do the filing first? (adv) fit (adj & v)

• He fitted into the team very well.

(v) • Her main business was a keep-fit centre. (adj) fitness (n & adj)

• fitness centre (n) • health and fitness sector (n) fix (v)

• Could you fix the shelf to the wall?

• She managed to fix the broken photocopier.

• My PA has fixed a date for the meeting. fixed cost (n) fixed-term contract (n) flag (

• The following people are needed at the presentation. (adj) • Following the meeting, he made changes to the report. (prep) fond (adj) food (n)

• Food is becoming more expensive.

• The fast-food sector is growing. foot/feet (n)

• six foot/feet tall • at the foot of the page for (prep)

• We forecast a growth in this sector.

(v) • The sales forecast is very positive.

(n) foreign (adj) foreign currency (n) foreign exchange (n) foreigner (n)

• an art gallery gallon (n) game (n) gap (n) garage (n) gas (n)

• She works as an engineer in the oil and gas industry. • Can visitors get in through the staff entrance? get into/out of (phr v)

• She got into/out of the taxi. get off (phr v) • We get off at the next stop. get on (phr v)

• How is the business getting on?

• Get your coat on and then we can leave. get on with (phr v)

• How are you getting on with the report? • Do you get on well with your colleagues? get rid of (phr v)

• Could you get rid of these old files? get up (phr v) • • Could you hand in your report tomorrow.

• Can you hand out the minutes of the last meeting? handbag (n) handbook (n) handle (n & v)

• The door handle is broken. (n) • The goods were damaged because they were handled roughly. (v) • She handles telephone enquiries.

(v) • He handled the situation badly. (v) handwriting (n) hang (v)

• He decided to hang the calendar on the wall. hang up (phr v)

• She hung up at the end of the phone call. happen (v) happy (adj) harbour (n)

• The harbour is being extended due to an increase in shipping. hard (adj & adv) hardly (adv)

• There was hardly any time.

• He could hardly wait. hardware (n)

• hardware store

• at the head of the company (n) • the head of marketing (n) • head a team/group (v) • headgear (n) head office (n) headline (n) headquarters (n) health (n) health and safety (n) hear (v) heart (n)

• in the heart of the city • the heart of the problem heat (n & v)

• Water retains heat longer than air.

steel industry inflation (n) influence (n & v)

• She was a bad influence on the other staff. (n) • Her first boss greatly influenced her.

• issue of a magazine (n) • issues about pay (n) • to issue a statement (v) IT (abbrev) Information Technology it (pron) item (n)

• Several items were damaged during transportation. • The first item will be a discussion of the recent sales figures. its • key to a lock (n)

• key to success (n) • This is a key post. (adj) key in (phr v)

• She keyed in the data very quickly. keyboard (n)

• computer keyboard kg (abbrev) kilogram kilo/kilogram/kilogramme (n) km (abbrev) kilometer/kilometre kilometre (n) kph (abbrev) kilometres per hour kind (adj & n)

• My boss is a very kind person.

(adj) • What kind of work do you do? (n) kiosk (n) kitchen (n) label (n & v) lab (abbrev) laboratory laboratory (n) labour (n)

• manual labour • the labour market lack (n & v) ladder (n)

• career ladder lady (n)

• Ladies and Gentlemen… lamp (n) land

• The company is holding a product launch for the XPL2. (n) • We are launching a new service.

(v) laundry (n)

• The hotel has a laundry service. lavatory (n) law (n) lawyer (n) lay (v) layout (n)

• office layout • page layout lazy (adj) lb (abbrev) pound weight lead (v)

• Where does this road lead?

• We lead the market in computer games. leader (n) • What do you mean?

• What does it mean? meaning (n) means (n)

• Use whatever means you like but sell the product. measure (v)

• measure the length of something mechanic (n) media (n) medicine (n) medium (adj) meet (v)

• Could we meet on Thursday morning? • Pleased to meet you! • Are we meeting the needs of consumers? member (n) membership (n) memo (abbrev) memorandum memorandum (n) memory (n)

• have a good/poor memory • computer memory mend (v)

• mend a faulty machine

• His mind was on other things.

• a particular problem partner (n) party (n) pass (n & v)

• security pass (n) passenger (n) passport (n) past (adj, n & prep) path (n) patient (adj) pattern (n) pause (n & v) pavement (n) pay (n & v) payroll (n) peace (n) peak (n & v) pen (n) pence (n) pencil (n) pension (n) people (n pl) per (prep) per annum (adv) per cent (%) (adj, adv & n) percentage (n) perfect (adj) perform (v)

• The company is performing well. performance (n)

• a strong performance on the stock market perhaps (adv) period (n)

• I will be away for the whole period of her visit. • The period before the break has been cancelled. • the beginning/middle/whole/end of the period permanent (adj)

• drawing pins (n) • pin something to the notice-board.

(v) pipe (n)

• What a pity! place (n & v) plain (adj)

• It's plain to me.

• of primary importance prime minister (n) principal (n & adj)

• college principal (n) • principal activity (adj) print (n & v) printout (n) priority (n) private (adj) prize (n) probable (adj) problem (n) procedure (n)

• We all listened to her proposal. propose (v)

• propose an idea protect (v) protection (n) proud (adj) prove (v) provide (v) PS (abbrev) postscript PTO (abbrev) please turn over public (adj & n) public holiday (n) public limited company (n) public opinion (n) public relations (PR) (n)

• Put the file away before you leave. put back (phr v)

• The meeting was put back until Wednesday. put down (phr v)

• She put her name down for the conference. put off (phr v)

• Let's put the meeting off until next week. put on (phr v)

• Could you put on the light? put out (phr v)

• He put out the light. put through (phr v)

• Could you put me through to the Finance Director? put up (phr v)

• Petrol companies are putting up their prices next week.

Q qualification (n) qualify (v) • qualify as an accountant • qualify for a discount quality (n) quality control (n) quality controller (n) quantity (n)

• The quotation is higher than expected. (n) quote (n & v)

• Could you quote me a price for printing 1,000 brochures? (v) • The quote hasn't come in yet. (n)

run out of (phr v) • We've run out of paper for the printer.