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Useful Business Verbs and their Collocations

Below are some common business verbs along with their collocations. Also see these business nouns and their collocations.

 

accept
gladly accept
reluctantly accept
be glad/happy to accept
unable to accept
widely accepted

 

admit
freely admit
refuse to admit
prepared to admit
admit to (something)

 

advertise
advertise heavily
advertise nationally
advertise a product

 

afford
easily afford
barely afford
can/can’t afford

 

approve
approve of (something)
formally approve
officially approve

 

authorize
authorize + someone

 

avoid
avoid altogether
narrowly avoid
avoid at all costs
impossible to avoid
try to avoid

 

borrow
borrow heavily
borrow from (someone)
borrow money

 

calculate
carefully calculate
accurately calculate

 

cancel
cancel an order
cancel a shipment
cancel a meeting

 

change
change dramatically
change considerably
change radically
change significantly
gradually change
slowly change
change from (something)
change into (something)

 

charge
charge a fee
charge for (something)
be free to charge
have a right to charge

 

check
regularly check
carefully check
thoroughly check
check for (something)
be worth checking
check to see if/whether

 

complain
can’t complain
complain about (something)
complain to (someone)

 

complete
successfully complete
complete on time
complete on schedule

 

confirm
officially confirm
be able/unable to confirm

 

consider
carefully consider
seriously consider
consider (someone) for (something, e.g. a position, promotion, etc.)

 

control
carefully control
tightly control
properly control

 

convince
try to convince
manage to convince
hard to convince
somehow convince

 

coordinate
carefully coordinate
coordinate with (someone)

 

count
do a count
at the latest count
count on (someone) – idiomatic expression

 

decide
finally decide
decide on (something)
can’t decide/unable to decide
couldn’t decide
decide for yourself
to be decided

 

decrease
decrease dramatically
decrease significantly
decrease slightly
decrease gradually
decrease rapidly
decrease in size/number

 

deliver
deliver free of charge
deliver by hand
have something delivered

 

develop
develop a strategy
develop a plan

 

dismiss
quickly dismiss
wrongfully dismiss
dismiss from

 

distribute
distribute evenly/unevenly
distribute among
distribute to

 

divide
evenly divide
divide into (parts, groups, etc.)
divide among

 

employ
be fully employed
be gainfully employed
be regularly employed
be temporarily employed
be permanently employed

 

encourage
strongly encourage
try to encourage

 

establish
attempt to establish
try to establish
become established

 

estimate
accurately estimate
be hard/difficult to estimate
estimate (something) at

 

exchange
freely exchange
exchange (something) for (something)
exchange money
exchange ideas

 

extend
extend an invitation
extend an offer
extend from…to…

 

fund
well funded
fully funded

 

handle
handle with care
properly handle
be unable to handle
be designed to handle
be equipped to handle
be difficult to handle
learn how to handle

 

improve
considerably improve
dramatically improve
greatly improve
continue to improve
strive to improve
much improved

 

increase
significantly increase
slightly increase
be expected to increase
be likely to increase
increase by (percentage, number, etc.)
increase in size/number/price

 

inform
politely inform
be pleased to inform
regret to inform
inform (someone) about
inform (someone) of

 

install
properly install
safely install
easily install
be easy/simple to install

 

invest
heavily invest
carefully invest
wisely invest
invest in

 

join
want to join
refuse to join
be allowed to join
join forces
come and join (someone)
an invitation to join

 

lower
lower a price
lower expectations
lower standards

 

maintain
have to/need to maintain
difficult to maintain
able to maintain
properly maintained

 

manage
successfully manage
difficult to manage
manage without
learn how to manage
be easy to manage

 

measure
accurately measure
carefully measure
be difficult/hard to measure
be impossible to measure
measure by
measure in terms of

 

mention
casually mention
mention in passing
barely/hardly mention
fail to mention
forget to mention
mention (something) to (someone)

 

obtain
easily obtain
unlawfully obtain
be able/unable to obtain
easy to obtain
difficult to obtain
impossible to obtain
obtain (something) from (someone)

 

organize
effectively organize
efficiently organize
badly/poorly organized
well organized
organized according to
organized into (groups, teams, etc.)

 

owe
owe money
owe (someone) an apology
owe taxes

 

own
owned by (someone)
privately owned
publicly owned
jointly owned
own a business
own stock
own shares

 

participate
actively participate
be able to participate
be encouraged to participate
participate in (something)

 

plan
carefully plan
plan on (something)
plan ahead
plan in advance
go as planned

 

present
clearly present
present (someone) as

 

prevent
be able/unable to prevent
prevent (something) from (gerund)
aimed at preventing

 

process
quickly process
automatically process
process (something) into (something)
highly processed

 

produce
locally produce
commercially produce
produce (something) from (something)

 

promise
seem to promise
promise (something) to (someone)
as promised
can’t promise anything

 

promote
actively promote
aggressively promote
aimed at promoting
promote (something) as

 

provide
kindly provide
be expected to provide
provide (something) for (someone)
provide (someone) with (something)

 

purchase
agree to purchase
purchase (something) for (price)
purchase (something) from (person)

 

raise
raise taxes
raise money
raise funds
raise eyebrows
raise expectations

 

receive
gratefully receive
entitled to receive
well received
badly received

 

recruit
actively recruit
need to recruit
recruit for (something)
recruit (someone) for (something)
newly recruited

 

reduce
significantly reduce
drastically reduce
gradually reduce
try to reduce
reduce by (percent, number, etc.)
reduce (something) from…to…

 

refuse
adamantly refuse
politely refuse
can’t refuse
couldn’t refuse

 

reject
strongly reject
emphatically reject
vote to reject
have the right to reject

 

remind
constantly remind
gently remind
not have to remind (someone)
remind (someone) about
remind (someone) of
keep reminding (someone)

 

reply
reply directly
reply promptly
reply immediately
reply to (someone)

 

resign
formally resign
be forced to resign
resign as (position)
resign from (job, position, etc.)

 

respond
respond immediately
respond promptly
respond appropriately
respond effectively
respond accordingly
unable to respond
slow to respond
respond to (someone/something)

 

return
return shortly
return safely
expected to return
return from (place)
return (something) to (someone)

 

succeed
nearly succeed
succeed quite well
partially succeed
determined to succeed
succeed in (something)

 

suggest
strongly suggest
seem reasonable to suggest
seem to suggest
May/might I suggest…

 

vary
never vary
hardly vary
may/might vary
could vary
tend to vary
vary from…to…

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Index

  • Adjective or Adverb Practice Exercise
  • Adjective-Noun and Adverb-Adjective Collocations Practice Exercise
  • Advanced Collocations Exercises
  • Advanced English Grammar Test
  • American English Abbreviations and Acronyms
  • Business Collocations
  • Business Collocations Game
  • Business Email Closings: How to End an Email
  • Business Email Openings: How to Start an Email
  • Business English Game: Being Tactful and Polite
  • Business English Scattergories Lists
  • Business English Taboo Cards
  • Business Nouns Exercise 1
  • Business Nouns Exercise 2
  • Collocations Exercises
  • Collocations Game
  • Collocations with “do” and “make” Practice Exercise
  • Common English Mistakes – Error Correction Exercise 2C (intermediate)
  • Common English Mistakes – Error Correction Exercise 3A (Advanced)
  • Common Mistakes in Emails
  • Common Mistakes in Emails 2
  • Common Mistakes in Emails 3: Collocation Errors
  • Concise Writing Exercises
  • Connotation vs. Denotation
  • Contact/Submit a Lesson
  • Conversation Starters
  • Debate Topics for Business English
  • English Error Correction 2B: Intermediate (Interactive Version)
  • Error Correction 1A: Beginner (Interactive Version)
  • Error Correction 2A: Intermediate (Interactive Version)
  • Error Correction 2C: Intermediate (Interactive Version)
  • Error Correction 3A: Advanced (Interactive Version)
  • Error Correction Exercises
  • Error Correction for Spanish Speakers
  • Euphemisms in the Workplace
  • Even if/Even though Practice Exercise
  • Even though/Although/In spite of/Despite Practice Exercise
  • Expressions for Describing your Job/Company
  • Expressions for Starting, Continuing, and Ending a Conversation
  • False Friends (Spanish to English) Practice
  • First and Second Conditional Exercises
  • Fluency Activities for Business English Classes
  • Free Resources for Bussiness
    • Blog
    • Lessons For Students
      • Business English Practice Exercises
        • Business Collocations Practice Exercises
        • Common English Mistakes
        • Common English Mistakes – Error Correction Exercise 2A (Intermediate)
        • Common English Mistakes – Error Correction Exercise 2B (Intermediate)
        • Commonly Confused Words Practice
      • Business Vocabulary
        • Advertising Vocabulary
        • Air Travel Vocabulary
        • Business Collocations with Do and Make
        • Business Idioms
        • Business Vocabulary: Phrasal Verbs for Business
        • Commonly Confused Words for English Learners
        • Customer Service Vocabulary
        • Expressions for Agreeing, Disagreeing, Suggesting Alternatives, and Interrupting
        • Expressions for Making and Receiving Phone Calls at Work
        • Retail Vocabulary
      • Student Guides
        • Business English Abbreviations and Acronyms Guide
        • Conditional Forms: First, Second, Third, and Mixed Conditionals
        • Guide: Using Two Verbs Together
        • Past Modals for Degree of Certainty
        • Pronunciation Changes in Words that are both Nouns and Verbs
        • Signposts for Presentations
    • Plans For Teachers
      • Business English Conversation Lessons
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Advertising
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Brands
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Consumer Protection
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Corporate Crime
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Customer Service
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: English as a Global Language
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Good and Bad Managers
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Intellectual Property
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Perks
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Phrasal Verbs
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Teamwork
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Using Idioms
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work
        • Business English Conversation Lessons: Workplace Discrimination
        • Conditional Questions
      • Grammar and Vocabulary Lessons
        • Clauses Stating Reasons and Conditions
        • Forming Questions Part 1: “Wh” questions with “to be”
        • Infinitive vs. Gerund: Using Two Verbs Together
        • Prepositions at the End of Question Clauses
        • Talking about Past Abilities: could, was/were able to, and managed to
        • The First and Second Conditional
        • Using “used to” Correctly
        • Using Collocations
        • Using Collocations with Do and Make
      • Pronunciation Lessons
        • Common English Reductions
        • Commonly Mispronounced Words for English Language Learners
        • Minimal Pairs Practice Activity
        • Pronunciation Changes in Words that are Both Nouns and Verbs
        • Stress in Compound Nouns
      • Skills and Functions Lessons
        • Business English Lessons: Saying No Politely
        • Concise Writing Guide and Practice Activity
        • Job Interview Skills: Answering Behavioral Questions
        • Using Signposts in an Informal Presentation
        • Using Softening Phrases to Make Polite Requests
        • Writing Polite Emails: How to be Indirect and Polite
      • TEFL Warm Ups and Activities for Adults
      • Writing Lessons
  • General English
    • Phrasal Verbs with Multiple Meanings Answers
    • Phrasal Verbs with Multiple Meanings Practice Exercise
  • Grammar Practice Exercises
  • Home
  • Idioms Builder
  • Idioms Conversation Questions
  • Idioms Exercises: Idioms about Adversity, Challenges, and Failure
  • Idioms Exercises: Idioms for Describing People
  • Idioms Exercises: Idioms for Feelings and Moods
  • Idioms Exercises: Idioms about Conversation and Communication
  • Idioms Exercises: Idioms about Money
  • Idioms Exercises: Idioms about Success
  • Idioms Exercises: Idioms about Time
  • Idioms Exercises: Idioms Related to Negotiations and Disagreements
  • Idioms Game 1
  • Idioms Game 2
  • In and On Collocations Practice Exercise
  • in/on/at practice
  • Infinitive or Gerund Practice Exercise
  • Irregular Verbs Exercises: Simple Past
  • Irregular Verbs Practice – Simple Past
  • Learning Vocabulary through Videos: Top 10 Business Rivalries (Advanced)
  • Less/Fewer Exercise
  • Mistakes Spanish Speakers Make in English
  • Needs Analysis Questionnaire for Business English Students
  • Negative Adjectives for Describing People Exercise
  • Negative Prefixes
  • Odd-one-out Collocations Game
  • Past Modals Practice Exercise
  • Phrasal Verb Collocations Practice Exercise
  • Phrasal Verb Games and Activities
  • Phrasal Verbs for Business Practice Exercise
  • Polite Expressions
  • Positive Adjectives for Describing People Exercise
  • Preposition Collocations Practice Exercise
  • Prepositions in Emails
  • Shades of Meaning 1
  • Shades of Meaning 2
  • Some/Any Practice Exercise
  • Subjunctive Exercises
  • Taboo Cards (Beginner-Intermediate)
  • Taboo Cards (Intermediate-Advanced)
  • Third and Mixed Conditionals
  • Third Conditional Exercises
  • Useful Business Nouns and their Collocations
  • Useful Business Verbs and their Collocations
  • Verb-Noun Collocations Practice Exercise
  • Very/Really vs. Too Practice Exercise
  • Vocabulary Practice Exercises
  • Word Building Exercises
  • Word Order Exercises
  • Writing Practice Exercises

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