REAL Business English

A useful phrase for a busy workday:

I’m swamped right now.

It means you have too much to do at the moment.

“Sorry, I’m swamped right now. Can we talk after lunch?”

More workplace phrases are in the Business English Phrasebook on my website: realbusinessenglish.com/phrasebook.

Business English quiz

______, we agreed to keep the project small.

Which answer sounds right to you?

A) By the time
B) As soon as
C) In the long run
D) At the outset

This is the kind of phrase you might use when you’re talking about what was agreed before a project changed direction.

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Business English Quiz: Project Updates
Try the quiz, check the answer, and learn more phrases for changing client requirements in the full lesson.

Can you complete these urgent workplace phrases?

These are common Business English phrases you can use when something needs to be handled today.

Practice all 10 phrases in the full lesson on RealBusinessEnglish.com.

Need to say something is urgent at work?

Practice 10 useful Business English phrases for urgent requests, including time crunch, make this a priority, and time-sensitive.

There’s a short workplace scenario and quiz in the full lesson on RealBusinessEnglish.com.

Quick Business English quiz.

This is urgent. Could you make this ___ today?

Which one sounds natural?
Drop your answer below.

Too much work and not enough time?

Here are better ways to say it at work:

We’re stretched thin right now.
We’ve got a backlog.
We’re starting to fall behind.
We’re behind schedule.
I’m behind on it.
I need to catch up.

Practice the full lesson on Real Business English.

Business English idioms quiz: can you complete these workplace phrases?

These are common idioms you may hear in meetings, emails, and everyday office conversations.
1. She’s hit the ground _____.
2. We’re back to _____ one.
3. He’s in _____ water.
4. It’s a blessing in _____.
5. Can we touch _____ sometime after 2?

Swipe through the carousel and test yourself.

Practice all 10 Business English idioms in the full lesson on Real Business English.

Sometimes a bad situation turns into something good later.

Learn the idiom “a blessing in disguise” and hear it in a short workplace dialogue.

Listen here: realbusinessenglish.com/phrasebook

Business English idioms for difficult situations at work

These 7 idioms help you talk about difficult work moments more naturally in English.

Which one do you already use?

Free lesson with workplace scenarios, audio, and a quiz on Real Business English.

www.realbusinessenglish.com