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…
