Business English:
Requesting and Offering
Lesson
Offers and requests are
staples of the the EFL world
as well as in Business
English.
In
addition we will cover how
to gracefully decline a
request or offer.
The
basic language structure for
requests and offers as
well as for acceptance or
rejection of the offer or
request are like this:
|
Making Offers
and Requests |
|
Offering:
formal* |
Requesting:
formal |
|
Would you like .
. . [me] to
calculate the
costs for the
project? |
May I . . . |
|
Shall I . . .
ask them to come
in? |
Would you mind
if . . . |
|
May I . . .
get you another
coffee?
|
Would it be
possible . . .
|
|
Offering:
informal |
Requesting:
informal |
|
How about . . .
getting
together after
the meeting? |
Can I . . .
|
|
Do you want . .
. another
opinion? |
Would you . . . |
|
Can I . . .
get you some
more coffee?
|
|
|
Accepting Offers |
|
Yes, please |
Please! (less
formal) |
|
Yes, that's kind
of you |
You bet! (less
formal) |
|
Yes, that would
be very nice |
That sounds
great! (less
formal) |
|
Rejecting Offers** |
|
No, thank you. |
I'm fine, thank
you. |
|
That's very
kind, but no,
thank you |
No thank you,
I'm fine. |
|
Accepting
Requests |
|
Of course! |
Certainly. |
|
Yes, that's no
problem at all. |
No problem!
(informal) |
|
Refusing
Requests** |
|
I'm sorry,
that's not
possible. |
I'm afraid not. |
|
I'm sorry, I
can't. |
|
|
* of course,
until we know
someone well,
language in the
business
environment
should remain
formal
**
when refusing an
offer or request
it is always
more polite to
give a short
simple reason.
If your reason
is too long and
detailed, people
may not believe
it. |
Dialog
Practice:
Work with a
partner and create short
dialogs from the table
above. Make requests
and offers and accept and
reject them. Remember
to play the role on both
sides of the dialog.
When you are
finished with
this lesson go
to
the
Requesting and Offering
Activity
page
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