English @ work Ausgabe 11/2014

Professionelles Know-how & mehr Kompetenz für Assistenz und Sekretariat
Down to Business
EDITORIAL
11/2014
September
English@work
Test Your Knowledge:
“Corporate Compliance”
Maureen Brown (GB)
Ulrike Rudolph (USA)
Regeln erleichtern das Leben,
liebe Leserin, lieber Leser,
zumindest das Zusammenleben. Und
das Lernen einer Fremdsprache erleichtern sie allemal. Auch wenn es immer Ausnahmen gibt, die eine erhoffte Sicherheit zerstören.
Das werden Sie in der Sammlung lustiger Grammatikregeln feststellen, die
sich teilweise selbst ad absurdum führen. Dennoch haben sie Gültigkeit, nur
eben nicht immer und in allen Fällen.
Bei aller Regeltreue ist die individuelle
Einschätzung des Einzelnen von Situationen, Zielgruppen und angemessenem Umgang miteinander entscheidend.
Wie immer finden Sie auch in dieser
Ausgabe Regeln. Sie finden aber auch
eine Ausnahme, die Spaß macht: Wir
setzen die im letzten Sonderheft begonnene Story fort, weil Ihre Rückmeldungen so rundweg positiv waren.
Viel Spaß bei Lesen!
An dieser Stelle geht es oft um Begriffe, denen Sie immer wieder im Berufsalltag begegnen, die viele wie selbstverständlich benutzen, unter denen
man sich auch vage etwas vorstellen kann. Doch eine genaue Definition
kann einem nicht jeder geben. Damit Ihnen das nicht passiert, beschäftigen
wir uns heute einmal mit dem schönen Begriff „Corporate Compliance“.
Möchten Sie sich an einer Definition
versuchen? Nur zu!
und woher kommt der Begriff?
_______________________________
Exercise: “Corporate Compliance“
Bitte definieren Sie – natürlich in ganzen
Sätzen und auf Englisch!
1. Was bedeutet „Corporate“?
_______________________________
_______________________________
Wenn Sie mehr über Betriebswirtschaftslehre und ihre Relevanz für die
Assistenz erfahren möchten, damit
Sie und Ihr Chef nie mehr aneinander vorbeireden, dann könnte das Seminar „Betriebswirtschaftslehre kompakt“ genau das Richtige für Sie sein.
Nähere Infos zu Inhalten und Terminen finden Sie unter www.officeakademie.com.
_______________________________
_______________________________
2. Was bedeutet „Compliance“ allgemein?
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
3. Was versteht man unter der Kombination „Corporate Compliance“
Maureen Brown ist in London aufgewachsen. Sie
hat viele Jahre als Assistentin und Sekretärin im Ma­
nagement eines Unternehmens gearbeitet. Heute
ist sie für eine Bezirksregierung in England aktiv.
Ulrike Rudolph war nach dem Amerikanistik­
studium lange in den USA und ist heute in der Er­
wachsenenbildung, Bereich Fremdsprachen, tätig.
Sie ist Fachbuchautorin für Kommunikations­
themen und schreibt englische Lernkrimis.
Kostenfrei! Nutzen Sie Ihren Login auf
www.english-work.com
ABenutzername: english
APasswort September: professionell14
Heftarchiv, Arbeitshilfen und vieles mehr!
_______________________________
Answer key on page 8
Warum ein Verhaltenskodex
­wichtig ist
Now let us take a closer look why employees should be concerned
about corporate compliance.
Let us assume a corporate compliance guideline.
Exercise: Corporate
­Compliance Guideline
Please translate into German
this ­introduction to a compliance guideline:
1. XY’s distinct strengths over
many years contribute to a
reputation which could be
2 PO Box
Kommen Sie positiv rüber: Schreiben Sie im
Aktiv
4 Fortsetzungsstory
Ein überraschender Gast
5 Speaker´s Corner
Füllwörter im Englischen
6 If in doubt – cut it out
So bilden Sie den Plural von
­„Compound Nouns“
INHALT
71703
1
English@work
damaged in the blink of an eye
through the careless or improper
actions of just one single employee.
2. To prevent this we have formulated
the following guidelines to influence
all employees’ activities.
3. We are committed to:
• f air competition,
• i ntegrity,
• t he principle of sustainability,
•n
ational and foreign trade laws,
• e qual opportunities, …
4. These guidelines will be modified as
necessary by local and international
laws and standards.
5. They will be developed by the changing legal and economic environments
that affect our business globally.
Answer key on page 8
Ausgabe 11 | 2014
Jokebox Integrity
A lady went into the pharmacy and said to the pharmacist, “I would like to
buy some cyanide”. The pharmacist asked, “Why in the world do you need cyanide?”
The lady replied, “To poison my husband.”
“Lord have mercy!”, the pharmacist replied, “I can’t give you cyanide to kill your husband. That’s against the law!”
The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband holding hands
with the pharmacist’s wife. The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, “Well,
that’s different. You didn’t tell me you had a prescription.”
Quote
“Success or failure depends
more upon attitude than upon capacity. Successful men act as though they
have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act,
look, feel successful, conduct yourself
accordingly, and you will be amazed at
the positive results.”
William James
PO Box
Kommen Sie positiv rüber:
Schreiben Sie im Aktiv!
Aus Korrespondenzseminaren in Ihrer Muttersprache kennen Sie den
Grundsatz, dass Sie mit aktiven Formulierungen Ihre Texte lebhafter und
direkter gestalten können. Das Passiv wird häufig benutzt, wenn Texte förmlich klingen sollen, wobei diese Absicht einer Verschleierung nahekommt
und immer unpopulärer wird. Natürlich gilt dies auch für Ihre Fremdsprache
Nummer 1. Bitte lösen Sie als Erstes die Übung ganz unten auf der Seite.
Did you find this exercise difficult?
Compare our answers to yours.
1. This is passive. The alternative would
be: “Celia Heath wrote this letter.”
Celia is the subject who did something. This sentence is direct and
positive.
2. Passive voice again. In this case the
sentence does not convey any urgency to the reader. The alternative asks
him or her for action: “Please hand
in comments on this presentation by
next Friday.” Now everybody knows
what to do.
3. This sentence is in the active voice.
4. Passive meaning again, what a pity:
the speech was great and convincing,
the speaker did a great job, but the
sentence does not identify this. In
the active voice the speaker emerges:
This translation was not so easy? You are
right. There are some technical terms
in it which you have to learn by heart if
you want to be able to write such texts
yourself. You would like some more examples? Many global players, such as
Bayer and Henkel, publish their “Corporate Compliance Policy” or “Code of
Conduct”, which you can look up on the
internet for further details.
“The speaker made a very convincing
speech at the conference.”
5. This one is not so easy. It is active in
the beginning and ends in a passive
voice. We do not know who has to
finish the report. The alternative is:
“Mr Jones wants you to finish this report by tonight.” This is very firm, no
escape, no choice: you know what is
expected.
6. This sentence is passive again. In
this case “the problems” are the subject and seem to be the most important part of the sentence. In reality
the I.T. department is more important, because they solved the problems. So why not express this in an
active voice? “Our I.T. department
has solved some computer problems.”
As you have seen the active voice is better
in most of our cases. So try to avoid passive constructions in your business letters.
This will make them more direct, interesting and lead to the result you intend.
Can you figure out which is the passive voice and which the active? Please change the passive sentences into active.
passive sentences
1
The letter was written by Celia Heath.
2
Comments on this presentation can be handed in up until
next Friday.
3
Our boss set up a meeting for 5 p.m.
4
The speech at the conference was very convincing.
5
Mr Jones wants this report to be finished by tonight.
6
Some computer problems have been solved by our I.T. department.
2
active sentences
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English@work
Ausgabe 11 | 2014
PO Box
You can change the importance of the object by transforming an active sentence into a passive one:
Wo das Passiv besser ist
Gerade haben Sie gelesen, dass es wichtig ist, aktiv zu schreiben, um Texte
lebendiger und direkter zu gestalten und eine unmittelbare Handlung auszulösen. Und jetzt nehmen wir das schon zurück? Nein, der Grundsatz, eher
aktiv zu schreiben, ist richtig und wichtig. Allerdings gibt es auch Fälle, in
denen das Passiv besser ist, z. B. wenn Sie besonders förmlich klingen oder
das Subjekt verschweigen möchten.
“The mistake was made during the development of the project.” This sentence
does not say who actually made the mistake. You could argue that it is better to
write “I apologise for misunderstanding
your question. We would like to offer
our help in solving this problem as soon
as possible.” In most cases we would
agree, but in some instances it might be
better to avoid taking any blame.
On the occasions when you really do
not know the subject, you would have to
use the passive voice, for example: “The
document was stolen last night!”. “The
document” is the most important word
in this sentence, so the passive construction is better than the active one. “Somebody stole the document last night”
would put the stress on “somebody”,
but in this case it is unimportant who
the thief was.
2. Einladung
3. Verabredung
4. Beileid
1
2
3
4
5. Bestätigung
5
6. Glückwunsch
6
7. Anfrage
7
8. Börsengeschäft
8
9. Gute Gelegenheit
9
Can you find out the key word for a satisfying day at work?
Die Briten sind konservativer als die Amerikaner, das ist allgemein bekannt.
Das macht sich nicht nur in den traditionellen Bowler Hats und Regenschirmen im Vereinigten Königreich bemerkbar, die keine Entsprechung in den
USA haben, sondern auch im sprachlichen Umgang miteinander. Die folgende Anekdote belegt dies.
acquisition
– Erwerb
be committed to sth. – von etw. über
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As we have seen you should consider
very carefully whether to use the passive construction instead of the active
one. If in doubt, use the active form.
1. Dank
Der britisch-amerikanische
Unterschied am Telefon
Vocabulary Box
Passive: The merger is planned for next
year.
Exercise: Fill in the words and find the key word!
You can say you to me
Derek Smith, the top authority on mergers and acquisitions in the London division of an international accounting firm,
receives a phone call from Robert Jones
in New York:
Jones: Hi Derek, this is Bob Jones from
Active: We are planning the merger for
next year.
Answer key on page 8
Jones: Hm. Look, could you please connect me to someone who knows a lot
about it? This is concerning our most
important client.
Derek Smith told me this story at a conference. He said it took him a lot of persuading to finally convince Bob Jones
that he really was the person Jones
needed to talk to.
New York. I’ve been told you’re the expert in Britain when it comes to mergers
and acquisitions.
Smith: Well, I do know a little bit about
it.
Pause.
What had happened? Derek made an understatement (“I do know a little bit about
it”) although he was the expert, but Jones
took his words literally. The result was a
misunderstanding: the US caller thought
that the British speaker was not the expert
he needed to talk to.
zeugt sein
be concerned
– betroffen sein
blink of an eye
– Augenblick
convey
– vermitteln
emerge
improper
merger
prevent
– auftauchen
– missbräuchlich
– Fusionierung
– verhindern
3
English@work
Ausgabe 11 | 2014
Fortsetzungsstory
Ein überraschender Gast
In der Schwerpunktausgabe „Learning by Reading“ im Juni 8-2014 haben
wir das Experiment gewagt, Übungen in eine spannende Office-Story zu
verpacken. Ihre Rückmeldungen dazu waren so begeistert, dass wir die Story um Dedda und Thilo in den folgenden Ausgaben fortsetzen. So bleiben
Sie thematisch am Ball und lernen noch spielerischer.
D
abei verlassen Sie das Terrain
„Unternehmen & Kommunikation“ nicht einmal, sondern
Sie begeben sich mit uns lediglich in das Reich der Fiktion. Sie erkennen aber ein paar der Charaktere in
der Story? Das ist schön. Und gewollt.
Doch hier sind alle Figuren frei erfunden. Allerdings mögen sich Typen ähneln. Aber das ist doch immer so, wenn
wir Storys lesen.
Die Rückkehr des Bosses
Six months after their return from Durango, Dedda Ritter still works as PA
for Thilo Carstensen, Chief Engineer
and Head of Development at “Autoroll”,
a company specialising in household
technology in Hamburg. He had kept
his promise to support her on her career ladder and agreed that she can take
an online course in intercultural competence. Dedda had chosen this course
as she had been surprised about the cultural differences of their US American
business partners, which was different
from what Dedda had experienced
with British partners. Thilo had also
given Dedda more responsibility for the
company’s travel management and care
of visiting guests.
Frühe Planung sichert Ihnen
­gelungene Weihnachten
Fortsetzungsstory
Eine böse Überraschung
Speaker´s Corner
So trainieren Sie Ihre Schlagfertigkeit im Englischen
If in doubt – cut it out
Setzen Sie im Englischen die
richtigen Zeichen: Punkt &
­Fragezeichen
4
VORSCHAU
PO Box
lowed and felt her face turn red.
“Exactly, that guy. Do you remember
how he made us sweat when he came
here after Durango?” Thilo gave a wry
smile.
Dedda nodded. “He walked into the office like God. Do you remember how
he asked if I could assist him in interviewing you?”
Earlier that morning Dedda had looked
out of her bedroom window. The trees
in the garden behind her apartment had
bowed under the heavy gusts and the
sky had been as grey (BE)/gray (AE) as
pencil lead. So Dedda had decided to
take the car instead of cycling. Now in
the office she looked up from the report
she was working on. The strip (BE)/neon (AE) light was switched on and rain
poured down the outside of the window
panes like a veil. Dedda sighed. Her tennis match that evening would have to
take place indoors again. She leaned
back in her chair and closed her eyes.
Why couldn’t she be in Durango? She
had enjoyed the warm but crisp air, the
environment and the casual, friendly
way people interacted there.
“Yes, I thought that was all about our
trip to Durango instead of Italy, you
remember?”
“Ms Ritter,” Thilo cleared his throat, and
Dedda opened her eyes and sat upright
like a school girl, “Dr Perry called. He
is on his way to Paris and would like to
stop over here. Could you book an hotel for him and his PA? For two nights?
And organise (BE)/organize (AE) a local dinner? A Hamburg speciality by the
harbour or in the ‘Speicherstadt’?”
3. You asked me to tell our office manager, we would travel to Italy.
_______________________________
Thilo combed his fingers through his
thick hair. It had dull coloured (BE)/
colored (AE) streaks among the shiny
Robert Redford blonde haircut. He had
changed over the last months, looked
older and exhausted and Dedda thought
his wife’s health was probably not improving, although she was at home again
after her cancer treatment. Dedda didn’t
dare to ask her boss and he didn’t talk
about his wife – apart from the small
success the visual aid had brought.
Eine unangenehme Erinnerung
“Mr Perry? You mean the CEO from our
parent group in Boston?” Dedda swal-
“You had asked me to tell our office
manager we would be travelling to Italy, hadn’t you?” Dedda stared into Thilo’s eyes, but her boss only shrugged his
shoulders, as if it was normal behaviour
(BE)/behavior (AE) for bosses to ask
their secretary to lie for them.
Exercise: Verwandeln Sie die
­indirekte in direkte Rede
1. He asked if I could assist him in interviewing you/Mr. Carstensen.
_______________________________
2. I thought that was all about our trip.
_______________________________
4. Können Sie auch sagen, was typisch
amerikanisch in einem der Sätze ist?
_______________________________
Dedda felt ill the next morning as she
stood waiting at the airport. Last time
Mr Perry visited she had only taken the
minutes at his meeting with Thilo regarding some staff information he had
wanted. So their lie about Italy had remained undetected. Up until now. Did
he intend to come back to this matter
right now?
When the CEO walked out of the terminal it was not the sight of him which
made Dedda gasp. It was his companion, his PA. The heart-shaped face with
the remarkable prominent, rectangular
chin was something that had been imprinted on Dedda’s memory like a frozen screen.
To be continued
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English@work
Ausgabe 11 | 2014
Speaker’s Corner
Füllwörter im Englischen
Sie wissen es längst: Im Deutschen sind Füllwörter im geschriebenen Text
absolut verpönt und auch im Gesprochenen nicht immer erwünscht. Wir alle
erinnern uns an Schulunterricht, wo wir die „Alsos“, die „Ähs“ und „Öhs“ von
Junglehrern gezählt haben. Aber wie ist es im gesprochenen Englisch? Wir
zeigen Ihnen, wo „Filler“ sinnvoll sein können.
I
m Deutschen sind typischen Füllwörter: absolut, dahingehend, gewissermaßen, eigentlich, schlichtweg, um nur ein paar Beispiele zu
nennen. Aus Ihrer Korrespondenz können Sie solche Wörter meist ersatzlos
streichen.
In der gesprochenen Kommunikation
erfüllen sie dagegen oft einen Zweck,
wie das Beispiel der Junglehrer belegt:
Sie erzeugen Pausen, die man zum
Nachdenken nutzen kann. Allerdings
sind die Laute (äh, ähm, …) allein wenig aussagekräftig – und sie nerven
die Zuhörenden. Das ist im Englischen
nicht anders.
Englische „Sound Filler“
Typische reine Lautfüller sind hier –
wie im Deutschen auch:
• ahm,
• er,
• uhum,
• ahh.
Insider tip from your British
editor Maureen Brown
These sound fillers are also called
interjections and as far as possi­ble
should not be used in verbal communication. They make you look as
though you have forgotten what you
are talking about, or are searching for
the right word. Sound fillers make you
appear unprofessional.
Andere „Filler“ im Englischen
There are other kinds of fillers that are
real words and not just sounds (in alphabetical order if you search one):
• a ctually,
•b
asically,
•b
y all means,
•b
y the way,
• I mean,
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• I see,
• I ’m telling you,
• literally,
• r ight,
• s o,
• t ell me,
• y ou know what I mean?
• y ou know,
• y ou say so,
• y ou see.
Former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, was
famous for answering questions by starting with “Well, ...”
These fillers are just a small selection.
You can find many more. They are ­real
words with little meaning. Never­theless
they fulfil a purpose: an alternative
name for them is “gap fillers”!
„Gap Fillers” oder „ Hesitation
Form”
As this name suggests the purpose of
this kind of filler is to ensure there are no
gaps in communication. However, such
gaps are only normal as we sometimes
have or want to hesitate in the middle
of an evolving speech. We use an apparently meaningless word or phrase which
bridges a pause or hesitation.
Linguists have discovered that these fillers can play a strategic role in a developing dialogue, depending on the speaker’s intention.
Die Verlegenheitslösung
The role of the filler is one we have already mentioned: The speaker needs to
pause to find the appropriate word or
to think about how best to carry on. If
he fills the gap with one of the fillers the
pause will become less obvious. He fills
the gap and continues speaking, which
can only be more professional in the
eyes of many listeners.
The disadvantage is that they
are obvious to those listeners
who know about gap fillers
and that they are being used to cover up
a deficiency of words – or thoughts.
Bewusster Einsatz
It is quite a different matter if you use
such fillers consciously, as in the following examples:
•H
ey, come on, let’s try it again!
• Actually,
��������������������������������������
I wanted to attract your attention!
•R
ight, let us take a closer look to see
if I’m correct!
The only difference is in your attitude!
Insider tip from your American
editor Ulrike Rudolph
Try to focus on your language skills
and don’t use an abundance of fillers as a kind of spoken punctuation
in ­order to cover pauses. Just pause.
Many listeners welcome such pauses as it ­gives them a chance to think
about what they have already heard.
This is all about face-to-face communication. An official speech is a different
ballgame.
Keine Angst vor Pausen in Reden
The most important thing about fillers
is not to be afraid of pauses in your well
prepared speech. They can add meaning to your subject and give your audience a break. The relevant point is: you
as the speaker have to be well prepared
on your subject.
If you know what you want to say and
know your terminology well you don’t
need excessive pauses to search for
thoughts or words. Put keywords down
on index cards to give you confidence.
You will find a lot of funny
“gapfillers” of a different kind
on this website: www.gapfill-
ers.com/
“Knock knock
Who’s there?
Gladys
Gladys who?
Gladys the weekend at last!”
5
English@work
Ausgabe 11 | 2014
If in doubt – cut it out
So bilden Sie den Plural von
„Compound Nouns“
In der August-Ausgabe Ihrer English@work haben Sie gelesen, welche Arten
von Zusammensetzungen es gibt und welche Regeln bzw. Empfehlungen
für die Schreibweise: zusammen, getrennt oder mit Bindestrich. Hier geht es
nun um die Bildung des Plurals.
D
as kann so schwer nicht sein,
meinen Sie? Sind Sie sich
denn in allen Fällen ganz sicher, wie Sie die Mehrzahl bilden sollen?
Bekommen Sie schon,
was Sie verdienen?
7 2 3 0 6 11
Let’s put you to the test!
Exercise: Bilden Sie den Plural der
folgenden Wörter
1. handout ______________
2. housewife
______________
3. passer-by
______________
4. bypass
______________
5. sister-in-law
______________
6. motorway
______________
7. lieutenant general ______________
8. forget-me-not
______________
9. washing-up-liquid ______________
10. water bottle
______________
Answer key on page 8
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Erwerben Sie jetzt die Kompetenz,
die Anerkennung und das Gehalt
einer Managementassistentin.
Jetzt Lerninhalte testen –
gratis und unverbindlich!
• nur 2,5 Stunden Lernen
pro Woche
• keine Abwesenheit vom
Arbeitsplatz notwendig
• staatlich anerkannte Qualität
Infos anfordern unter:
www.managementassistentin.com
oder gleich anrufen
Telefon 08233/23-7850
Vocabulary Box
abundance
– Fülle, Überfluss
care of visiting guests – Kundenbetreu6
So did you find this little exercise easy?
Quote
“My other brother-in-law died. He was a
karate expert, then joined the army. The
first time he saluted, he killed himself.”
Henny Youngman
Regeln zur Pluralbildung
It would have been the mixture of different compound nouns which caused
you any problems if you found the exercise difficult at all. Because the rules
are quite simple.
1. Most compounds nouns, whether written in one word, hyphenated or even as two words, are pluralised (BE)/pluralized (AE) as all other
nouns by adding an “s” at the end:
suitcases, bluebirds, waterfalls, co
evolve
gasp
gusts
ung
– sich entwickeln
– nach Luft schnappen
– Böen
workers, showrooms, grown-ups
2. Compound nouns hypenated with an
additional “by” or “on” are pluralised
with an “s” added to the first word:
passers-by, hangers-on
3. It gets a bit tricky when we come to
three-part compound nouns. The defining word is pluralised: fathers-inlaw, washing-up-liquids, good-fornothings.
Insider tip from your British
editor Maureen Brown
Measurement units have undergone a
change in pluralisation over the ­years.
While old style plural of words with
“ful” used to pluralise the first part as
in teaspoonsful and bucketsful, ­today
many of them are pluralised on the
second part: teaspoonfuls, bucketfuls.
Humoristische Grammatikregeln
To cheer you up after these rules we have
put together some really funny ones.
Don’t take them too seriously, but take
your time to think about them.
1. N
ever use a preposition to end a sentence with. See the Winston Churchill quote in the next article for an example.
2. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
3. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
4. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They’re
old hat.)
5. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
6. Be more or less specific.
7. P
arenthetical remarks (however
­relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
8. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies endlessly over and over
again.
9. No sentence fragments.
10. Contractions aren’t always necessary and shouldn’t be used to excess
so don’t.
11. F
oreign words and phrases are not
always apropos.
parent group
pencil lead
wry
–M
uttergesellschaft
– Bleistiftmine
– schief
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English@work
Ausgabe 11 | 2014
12. Do not be redundant; do not use
more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous and can be excessive.
13. All generalizations are bad.
14. C
omparisons are as bad as clichés.
15. Don’t use no double negatives.
16. O
ne-word sentences? Eliminate.
17. Analogies in writing are like feathers
on a snake (unless they are as good
as gold).
18. The passive voice is to be ignored.
19. Eliminate commas, that are, not nec-
essary. Parenthetical words, how­
ever, should be enclosed in commas.
20. Don’t overuse exclamation points!!!
21. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earthshaking ideas.
22. Use the apostrophe in it’s proper
place and omit it when its not needed. Use it correctly with words’ that
show possession.
23. Who needs rhetorical questions?
However, what if there were no rhe-
Advanced Learner’s Corner
How to Use Popular English
Prepositions in Greetings
Prepositions in a foreign language are something to worry about. There are
always exceptions to rules – even if there are some rules. So it is your task as
a Personal Assistant to learn them by heart. Only by doing so you can be sure
to avoid mistakes in your every-day communication with business partners
from the English speaking part of the world.
So let us near the end of this issue of
English@work with an exercise around
prepositions you need almost every
day. Please fit them into the sentences.
Exercise: Popular Prepositions
Your selection: on, for, with, in.
1. Congratulations ________ your anniversary.
2. W
e wish you all the best __________
your party.
3. Wishing you great happiness _______
your birthday.
4. All the best _____ you and your team.
torical questions?
24. Exaggeration is a million times
worse than understatement.
25. Proofread your texts to see if you
any words out.
26. The dash – a sometimes useful punctuation mark – can often be overused – even though it’s a helpful tool
sometimes.
More such funny rules on www.creativeteachingsite.com, where the above
cited are from.
5. All the luck _______ the world _____
your wedding.
6. I congratulate you ________ passing
your exam.
7. I hope you will enjoy working ______
the new position ______ many years.
8. Good luck _________ the future.
9. We hope you will enjoy working
________ your new colleague.
10. Many congratulations _______ your
promotion.
Answer key on page 8
If you learn these combinations you or
your boss’s greeting cards or letters will
be correct and the recipient can enjoy
the message without getting irritated
by your incorrect use of grammar.
Impressum
Odds and Ends
Test Your Knowledge: Kleine,
feine Wissensfragen
Zum Abschluss dieser Ausgabe haben wir noch eine kleine Sammlung von
sprachlichen Herausforderungen zusammengestellt, eben „Odds and Ends“,
damit Sie sich noch einmal richtig austoben können in Ihrer Lieblingsfremdsprache.
Fangen wir gleich mit ein paar Begriffen
an, die verzwickt sein können.
Richtig oder falsch?
Bitte streichen Sie die falschen unterstrichenen Begriffe durch und tragen in
der Linie die deutsche Übersetzung ein:
1. I like the smell of those little blue flowers: don’t-forget-mes or forget me
nots.
www.english-work.com
_____________________________
2. Th
e new fragrance is our cash cow or
cash cat.
_____________________________
3. They said goodbye with a golden
wristwatch or a golden handshake.
_____________________________
4. She hit the glass ceiling or the glass
barrier.
_____________________________
Herausgeber: WEKA MEDIA GmbH & Co. KG
Postanschrift: Römerstraße 4,
86438 Kissing
Tel.: 0 82 33.23-78 50, Fax: 0 82 33.23-78 60
E-Mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.weka.de
Persönlich haftende Gesellschafterin: WEKA
MEDIA Beteiligungs-GmbH, Sitz in Kissing
Geschäftsführung: Stephan Behrens,
­Michael Bruns, Werner Pehland
Redaktion: Ulrike Rudolph (Chefredak­
teurin, V.i.S.d.P.), Anschrift siehe oben
Objektleitung: Michaela Timeus
Herausgeberinnen: Maureen Brown (GB),
Ulrike Rudolph (USA)
Satz & Layout: contentsign, Altenahr
Druck: DRUCK-Kultur GmbH, München
Erscheinungsweise: monatlich
Alle Angaben in „English@ work“ wurden mit
äußerster Sorgfalt ermittelt und überprüft.
Sie basieren jedoch auf der Richtigkeit uns
erteilter Auskünfte und unterliegen Veränderungen. Eine Gewähr kann deshalb nicht
übernommen werden, auch nicht für telefonisch erteilte Auskünfte. Wiedergabe – auch
auszugsweise – nur mit schriftlicher Einwilligung des Herausgebers. ISSN 1862-4316
7
English@work
Sagen Sie jetzt nicht, das war zu einfach!
Sonst legen wir noch einen drauf.
Exercise: Setzen Sie den richtigen
Begriff ein
1. Läuft die Aktion in Italien schon?
Has the __________ in Italy already
started?
Ausgabe 11 | 2014
2. Das Unternehmen muss den Kredit
bis zum 1. März zurückzahlen. The company has to pay the ______
back by 1st March.
3. Sein Konto war seit drei Monaten
nicht mehr im Plus.
His bank account hasn’t been in
_______ for three months.
4. Das Unternehmen hat große Summen
gespendet.
The company has _________ large
sums.
So, das war es für diese Ausgabe. Wir
hoffen, Sie hatten jede Menge Erfolgsund auch ein paar Aha-Erlebnisse.
Answer key exercises:
“Corporate Compliance“
1. “Corporate” means “together”, “common” and “connected with a company/corporation”, “involving or associated with a corporation”.
2. “Compliance“ means “the practice of
obeying rules or requests made by
people in authority”, “the act or process of doing what you have been
asked or ordered to do”.
3. “Corporate compliance“ is quite a
new expression used to define a
company’s agreement on how to deal
with legal rules and company ethics.
It is part of business economics.
Corporate Compliance Guideline
1. Die über viele Jahre erhaltenen herausragenden Stärken von YX tragen
bei zu einem Ansehen, das in einem
einzigen Augenblick durch sorgloses,
unkorrektes Verhalten eines einzelnen Angestellten beschädigt werden
könnte.
2. Um das zu verhindern, haben wir
diese Richtlinien formuliert, die alle
Aktivitäten der Beschäftigten leiten
sollen.
3. Wir verpflichten uns zu:
• fairem Wettbwerb
• Anstand
• Nachhaltigkeit
• Einhaltung nationalen und internationalen Handlesrechts
• Chancengleichheit, …
4. Diese Richtlinien werden durch nationale und internationale Rechtsprechung und Standards weiter modifiziert werden.
5. Sie werden entsprechend den sich
ändernden rechtlichen und wirtschaftlichen Gegebenheiten, die unser weltweites Geschäft berühren,
weiterentwickelt werden.
8
Verwandeln Sie
die indirekte in
­direkte Rede
Fill in the words
T 1H A N K S
I
N V
I
T 2A T I O N
1. He asked, “Could
A 3P P O I N T M E N T
you assist me in
S Y M 4P A T H Y
interviewing Mr.
C
O
N F 5I R M A T I O N
Carstensen?”
C O 6N G R A T U L A T I O N
2. I thought, “That is all
about our trip.”
E N Q U I R Y
7
3. You asked me to tell
T R A N 8S A C T I O N
our office managO C C A 9S I O N
er, “We are going to
The key word for a satisfying day at work is “happiness”.
travel to Italy.”
6. I congratulate you on passing your
4. Typisch amerikaexam.
nisch ist im Satz 1 der Punkt hinter Mr.,
im Englischen steht kein Punkt hinter 7. I hope you will enjoy working in your
den Anredeabkürzungen.
new position for many years.
8. Good luck for the future.
Bilden Sie den Plural der folgen9. We hope you enjoy working with your
den Wörter
new colleague.
1. handouts, 2. housewives, 3. passers-by,
4. bypasses, 5. brothers-in-law, 6. motorways, 10. Many congratulations on your pro7. lieutenant generals, 8. forget-me-nots,
motion.
9. washing-up-liquids, 10. water bottles
Richtig oder falsch?
Korrekt sind: 1. forget me nots – VergissPopular Prepositions
meinnicht, 2. cash cow – Goldesel oder
1. Congratulations on your anniversary.
Milchkuh, 3. golden handshake – golde2. We wish you all the best for your party.
3. Wishing you great happiness on your ner Handschlag, Abfindung, 4. glass ceiling – gläserne Barriere, die den Aufstieg
birthday.
4. All the best to you and your team.
von Frauen verhindert
5. All the luck in the world on your wed- Setzen Sie den richtigen Begriff ein
ding.
1. campaign, 2. loan, 3. credit, 4. donated
www.english-work.com