module

Module 1
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Basic Technical Vocabulary
At the beginning of the technical English course it is necessary to introduce some basic vocabulary
and grammar. Technical English is different from the English taught at secondary schools. For this
reason, the following module provides the basic tools for every student of mechanical engineering
to enlarge their knowledge and to work in an international surrounding.

1.1 Tools in the Workshop

The first and important thing to know is what all the tools and
machines in the workshop are called. This enables an engineer to
give precise instructions to the trained workers about what to do
and how. Therefore, the exercises will provide an overview of the
content of a toolbox, useful verbs, measurement tools and the
most common units that are needed in during daily working
processes.

1.2 Measuring
When it comes to measuring work pieces, there are various
methods and many tools available for this task. The first differen-
tiation has to be made between gauges and measurement
equipment.
The first represent either a measurement or a form that refers
to limit dimensions of tolerances. These have to be fulfilled in fits
and usually just provide information about whether a fit is within
the limit of tolerances or not. This group includes gauging tools,
e. g. slip gauges and accidences, straightedge, square and limit
gauges, cylindrical plug gauges, gauging rings and calliper gauges.
The latter can be used for acquiring information on the
measurements of a work piece and provide information on the
length, width and depth of the outer or inner edges of a work
piece, hole or slot. The most common instruments in mechanical
engineering are vernier callipers or calliper rules which can
be used universally in the workshop. They provide information
on lengths and are precise to 0.1 mm. If it comes to smaller
tolerances, micrometers are usually used. They measure
accurately to within 0.001 mm.

1.3 Common Units

For a very long time every country has used its own measurement
system and units which led to a lot of problems, as the measure-
ments of a work piece were not comparable to each other. In an
internationally operating industry, a standardized measurement
system is absolutely essential and for this reason the International
System of Units (SI-units) has been developed from the metric
system. Engineers in the United Kingdom still often use the
imperial system instead of the metric one, which is now the
international standard system. Therefore, every engineer should
at least have basic knowledge of the units of the imperial system
and how the conversion between the two systems works.
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 Basic Technical Vocabulary
module

1. The Content of a Toolbox

1 a) Look at the picture with the tools that belong to the basic equipment of a toolbox. Use the words
from the box to label the tools.

ring spanner | open-ended spanner | file | chisel | ratchet | sockets | side cutter | screw-
driver | Allen keys | pliers | socket wrench | electric drill | metal saw | torque wrench | strap
wrench (oil filter wrench) | grip vice pliers | centre punch | combination pliers | hammer |
rim wrench | soldering iron | vernier callipers

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12.

13. 14. 15. 16.

17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22.

8 Picture 1/1: Contents of a toolbox

 Basic Technical Vocabulary

b) Choose one of the tools and describe it in terms of its material, its appearance and what it is used

module
for. Your text should be between 60 and 80 words long.
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2. Working in a Workshop

Have a look at the sentences and match the correct verb from the box with its definition and then
find an appropriate tool from exercise 1a) for each task.

draw | drill | saw | grind | mill | screw | loosen | tighten | solder | measure | shape | sharpen

Verb Definition Tool

give a certain form to
1 something, e.g. with a
hammer
fix the look and the exact
2 measurement of a work
piece on paper
to become or make s.th.
3
loose
to join two materials to
4 each other by melting their
surface
to fasten s.th. or make it
5 tight with the help of
screws
to polish a work piece or
6 sharpen s.th. by rubbing it
on a rough, hard surface
remove a certain amount of
7 material from a work piece
with the help of machinery
find out the dimensions of
8
a work piece

9 the opposite of ’to loosen‘

to make s.th. sharp, e.g. by

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grinding it

to make a hole in a piece of

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metal or other material

separate a piece of material

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from a whole block

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 Basic Technical Vocabulary
module

3. Quality Assurance
1 a) Have a look at the pictures of the various measuring tools and label them with the words from
the box.

accidence | straightedge | cylindrical plug gauge | gauging tool | calliper gauge | gauging ring

R1 – 7 mm 0 45H7 + 25

1. 2. 3.

60h6
–19
0

4. 5. 6.

Picture 1/2: Measuring tools

b) Use the expressions from the box and label the parts of the vernier calliper with the appropriate
words.

fixed jaw | movable jaw | depth bar | vernier scale | slider | inside jaws | main beam (bar) |
scale | clamp screw | outside jaws

2 10 3 1

0 4 8

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

0 2 4 6 8 10

5 6 4 7 8 9

Picture 1/3: Parts of a vernier calliper

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 Basic Technical Vocabulary

c) Fill in the gaps in the following text about the vernier calliper with the words from exercise b).

module
When it comes to using a vernier calliper, the first thing a worker has to do is to decide where to 1
measure – he/she can either use the (1) for the outer edges of the work piece or
the (2) for the inner diameter of a hole, etc. For both kinds of measuring he/she
has to press the (3) against one side of the work piece and then move the
(4) along the (5) until it reaches the opposite corner. Afterwards,
he/she can either read the measurement directly or use the (6) to ensure that the
vernier calliper can be taken away from the work piece without moving the jaws and thus changing
the result. The worker can subsequently read the precise measurement from the (7) .
In order to take measurements which need to be more accurate than 1 mm, the
(8) can be used. The (9) also contains a (10) which
enables the worker to measure, e.g., the depth of a hole.

4. Common Units

a) The following table provides an overview about the basic units and their symbols. Fill in the right
units and the symbols.

Basic quantity Symbol Unit Abbreviation

1 current I A

2 voltage U V

3 thermodynamic temperature T K

4 length l m

5 mass m kg

6 time t s

7 luminous intensity Iv cd

8 molecular weight M kg/mol

9 electric resistance R Ω

10 temperature T °C

11 force F N

12 speed v m/s

13 electric capacity C F

14 pressure p Pa

15 frequency f Hz

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 Basic Technical Vocabulary

b) Find the right numbers for the definitions given in order to convert measurements from the
module

imperial to the metric system and from °C to °F and vice versa.

1
30.5 | 0.57 | (°F – 32) · 5/9 | 25.4 | 32 + °C · 9/5

Imperial
system Metric system

1 1 inch mm one inch equals twenty-five point four millimetres

2 1 foot cm one foot equals thirty point five centimetres

3 1 pint L one pint equals zero point five seven litres

degrees Celsius equals open bracket degrees Fahren-

4 1 °C
heit minus thirty-two close bracket times five ninths
degrees Fahrenheit equals thirty-two plus degrees
5 1 °F
Celsius times nine fifth

Vocabulary
accidence Formenlehre milling tool Fräser
Allen keys Innensechskantschlüssel movable jaw verstellbarer Schenkel
calliper gauge Grenzrachenlehre open-ended spanner Maulschlüssel
centre punch Körner outside jaws Außenmessschenkel
chisel Meißel ratchet Ratsche
clamp screw Feststellschraube rim wrench Radkreuz
combination pliers Kombizange ring spanner Ringschlüssel
cylindrical plug gauge Grenzlehrdorn to saw sägen
depth bar Tiefenmaß to screw schrauben
to draw zeichnen screwdriver Schraubenzieher
to drill bohren secondary school weiterführende Schule
electric drill elektrische Bohrmaschine to shape formen
to enlarge erweitern to sharpen schärfen
essential wichtig, entscheidend sidecutter Seitenschneider
file Feile slider Schieber, Gleitstück
fixed jaw fester Schenkel socket wrench Steckschlüssel
gauge block, slip gauge Parallelendmaß to solder löten
gauging ring Lehrring soldering iron Lötkolben
gauging tool Maßlehre square Haarwinkel
to grind schleifen straightedge Haarlineal
grip vice pliers Gripzange strap wrench Bandschlüssel
hammer Hammer to tighten befestigen, festziehen
inside jaws Innenmessschenkel tool Werkzeug
to loosen lockern toolbox Werkzeugkiste
to measure messen torque wrench Drehmomentschlüssel
metal saw Metallsäge vernier calliper,
micrometer Bügelmessschraube calliper rule Mess-Schieber
to mill fräsen vernier scale Skala

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