Man: Have you heard? The boss fancies his new assistant.
Woman: Really? How do you know?
Man: Last night I overheard them in the pub. They were planning to meet at the weekend.
Woman: Wow. Good for them. I’m not surprised. She seems to be a nice girl.
Man: A nice girl? Are you kidding? I can spot a gold digger a mile off.
Woman: I wouldn’t be so quick to judge people.
Man: She must be at least 20 years younger!
Woman: They are probably closer in age than you’d imagine. I happen to know that she is divorced with two big kids.
Man: No!
Woman: Yes, and whatever they do at the weekend is none of our business. Live and let live.
Man: You’re probably right. It’s just that I was really shocked. She looks so young. Do you think it’s plastic surgery?
Woman: Jim! She looks younger than she is but stop spreading rumours. You know what people are like, they blow up everything. Don’t you remember what happened after the Christmas party?
Man: How could I forget, with Donna trying to kill me the following day.
Woman: So you’d better drop the subject.

IMPORTANT PHRASES

Have you heard?–  Hallottad?  
How do you know? – Honnan tudod?
Good for them. – Jó nekik.
Are you kidding? – Viccelsz?
I can spot a gold digger a mile off. – Messziről észreveszem, ha valaki csak érdekkapcsolatot akar.
I happen to know …. . – Történetesen tudom, hogy … .
It’s none of our business.– Semmi közünk hozzá.
Live and let live.– Élni és élni hagyni.
You know what people are like. – Tudod, milyenek az emberek.
How could I forget! – Hogy is felejthetném el!
Drop the subject!– Ne foglalkozz vele! Ejtsd a témát!

‘Thanks for coming to the meeting today. I’m sorry that we had to put off the meeting until today. It would have been better to have had the meeting last week as was originally planned. As I told you before, the last meeting was postponed because something very urgent came up, which meant that I couldn’t attend.

Everybody is here today except Peter Jenkins, who is on holiday. So Roger Wilson is standing in for him today in the meeting. Welcome Roger.

You’ll be happy to hear that we don’t have a lot to get through today. There are only three items on the agenda. So I’ll start by just running through the items on the agenda. The first item is about the recent changes to the customer service telephone project. The second item is about the problems at the Dublin Call Centre. And the last item is an update on the new government legislation.

The meeting is scheduled to last two hours. I’m sure that it won’t run over today. I believe that we’ll be finished after one and half hours. Before we start talking about the first item, I just want to inform you that this Saturday’s company cricket match has been called off. It seems that the weather forecast says that it’s going to rain all weekend. So you can relax at home.

So Jane, do you want to update us on the changes in the customer services telephone project.’

Jane:

‘Thanks Steve. First of all, the project is still on schedule. We haven’t run into any major problems. There was a small issue in testing, about 10% of calls were being lost. I’m pleased to tell you that we identified the problem and this has been sorted out. There has been a development with the automatic customer answering system. The Managing Director told us earlier this week that he didn’t like having a northern accent on the answering system and has asked us to change it to a southern accent. So … ‘

Chair:

‘Sorry Jane, going back to the problem with the lost calls. What was the problem?’

Jane:

‘Well, it was … ‘

Ian:

‘Sorry Jane, do you mind if I answer this?’

Jane:

‘No, go ahead.’

Ian:

‘There was a simple problem with the routing of the calls, which just required a reconfiguration. It won’t cause any more problems.’

Chair:

‘Ok. So Jane, about the accent, go on.’

Jane:

‘As I was saying, we have to change the accent. We’ve already hired someone to re-record the messages in a southern accent.

The last change is about me. I’m leaving the project on the 12th of May to start another project with the finance department. So, my colleague Tim Berridge will be taking over the role of Project Manager for the project on that date.’

Chair:

‘Sorry to hear that you’re leaving us. I just need to take down the date when you’re leaving the project. I forget things if I haven’t written them down. So you’re leaving the project on the 12th of May?’

Jane:

‘Yes.’

Simon:

‘Although it’s not connected, do you mind if I bring up an issue there is with the misuse of the internet by staff, which I’d liked to discuss with you all?’

Chair:

‘Simon, you’ll have an opportunity to talk about this later, but there are other issues that we need to talk about first.’

PHRASAL VERBS FOR BUSINESS MEETINGS

Az alábbi interaktív teszttel az egyetértést és az egyet nem értést tudod gyakorolni.

Agreement

Yes, I agree completely.– Igen, teljesen egyetértek.
That’s exactly what I think. – Én is pont így gondolom.
In my opinion, you are right/correct. – Véleményem szerint igaza(d) van.
You can say that again! – Az már egyszer biztos!/Így van!
I couldn’t agree more. – Nem is egyezhetnék ezzel jobban.
There’s no doubt about it. – Nincs kétségem efelől.

Disagreement

I disagree with what you’re saying. – Nem értek egyet azzal, amit mond(asz).
I don’t agree with you./I don’t think so./I don’t see it like that. – Nem értek veled/Önnel egyet./Nem úgy gondolom. /Nem úgy látom.
I couldn’t disagree more./I couldn’t agree less. – Nem egyezhetnék kevésbé veled/Önnel.
You’ve got to be kidding/joking! – Ugye most viccelsz?
You can’t be serious! – Ezt nem gondolhatod/gondolhatja komolyan!

Polite expressions of disagreement                                                                        

I understand what you’re saying but… – Értem, amit mondasz, de…
I’m not sure I can agree with what you’re saying… – Nem biztos, hogy egyet tudok érteni azzal amit, mondasz…
You could also be right, but… – Lehet, hogy neked van igazad, de…
Everybody has a right to his or her opinion but I think… – Mindenkinek joga van a saját véleményéhez, de én úgy gondolom, hogy…
Yes, but … – Igen, de…

Polite expressions of agreement with a negative opinion

I have to agree with you on that. – Egyet kell, hogy értsek.
Unfortunately, I also have to say that… – Sajnos nekem is azt kell mondanom, hogy …
I must say I also think/thought so. – Azt kell, hogy mondjam, hogy én is így gondolom/gondoltam.
Yes, I’m afraid it is/was … – Igen, attól tartok, hogy …

If you want to speak more politely – mostly if you are using English at work – it is important to learn and know various ways of speaking to express your agreement or disagreement. You want to be able to express your judgment and opinion in a way that will be understood clearly by the listener, and you don’t want to seem impolite or rude when you are trying to question another person’s opinions concerning the topic you are discussing.

In this article you’ll find some phrases that you can use to express opinions. Some of these phrases are more appropriate for written English such as giving your opinion in an essay whereas some can also be used in spoken English.

Instructions to agree

1)     Nod your head and say “yes”.  This is the simplest way to acknowledge what someone says and that you agree in English.

2)     Wait until is your turn to speak, and use expressions such as “I agree with …,” “I think … is a good idea,” and “I think you’re right”.

3)     If you agree with everything that the other person says, you can say, “I completely agree” or “You’re totally correct/right”. If you do not completely agree with what another person has just said add a qualifier to agree, for instance “I agree with you, but …”, “That makes sense, however …” or “It’s a good idea, but …”.

Instructions to disagree

1)     Even if you disagree, remain calm! Keep any anger or disrespect under control. Calmly express your disagreement and respect the other person’s opinions.

2)     Notice that when you disagree with someone in English, you need to give a reason why you disagree. It is not enough to simply state that you think the other person is wrong. Explain your thoughts and opinions fully. Use phrases such as “I disagree because …”, “The problem with that is …”, “The way I see it …”, “I’m against it because …”, “Instead, I think that …” to give reason to your opinion.

3)     Before finishing your disagreement say “I’m afraid …”, for example “I’m afraid I don’t agree with you” or “I’m afraid I can’t agree” If you do not agree with anything the other person has said, you can say, “I am afraid I completely disagree with you”.

4)     Even if you disagree you should try to offer solutions to the problem. Use phrases such as “I think we should …”, “We could …”, “One solution may be …”.

sooner or later – előbb vagy utóbb
to express one’s opinion – kifejezni a véleményét
opinion  – vélemény
to nod – bólogatni
in approval  – egyetértésben
properly – megfelelően
common expression – bevett kifejezés
discussion – vita, tárgyalás, megbeszélés
debate – vita
politely – udvariasan
mostly – főként
various – különböző
agreement – egyetértés
disagreement – egyet nem értés
judgement – ítélet
impolite – udvariatlan
rude – durva, faragatlan
concerning – valamit illetően
appropriate – megfelelő, alkalmas
to acknowledge – elismerni
completely  – teljes mértékben
qualifier – jelző, minősítő
even if – még akkor is, ha
to remain  – megmaradni
calm – nyugodt
anger – düh
disrespect – tiszteletlenség
calmly – nyugodtan
to notice – észrevenni
to give a reason  – okot adni/érvelni
to state – állítani
fully – teljesen
to offer a solution – megoldást kínálni

Business is very largely based on trusting people, helping and being helped by people and persuading people to do things. How can you achieve any of those things if you don’t spend time getting to know each other?

When is this relationship-building supposed to happen? Outside of working hours? No, that’s not right if we accept that relationship building is real work. When we’re sitting at our computers or in our offices? No, that’s when we might need to avoid interruptions and stay focused. So, when, then? A lot of the best small talk happens accidentally: the classic situations are the queue for the photocopier, the coffee machine or the water cooler. But a much more systematic and effective way to build good relationships between people from different departments is to allow small talk to flourish in meetings.

Let’s get a few things straight about meetings: the whole point of bringing people together for meetings is to generate discussion, to resolve misunderstandings, and to find solutions to problems that people couldn’t find if they were working alone. If everything is carefully planned in advance, and the chair of the meeting sticks rigidly to the agenda, none of those things can take place. Of course, there’s a time when it’s appropriate for one person to talk and everyone else to listen and learn, but that’s a presentation, not a meeting.

If you’re serious about making your meetings more effective, you need to give the participants plenty of time to ask questions, take the conversation in new directions, say things which may or may not be relevant, and above all, get to know each other. Of course, you need to make sure things don’t get out of control, but that means finding a sensible balance between small talk and getting down to business.

A company which does not tolerate small talk may get things done more quickly, but that doesn’t mean it’ll do things the best way, making full use of the skills and ideas of its employees …and it may well find that it loses its best employees and its customers just as quickly.

Man: Hi, I just wanted to tell you I found your presentation very interesting.
Woman: Thank you. I’m glad you liked it.
Man: I was wondering if I could have a copy of the table on cost-cutting in the Human Resource Department. I’m planning to introduce something similar in our company and it would be a great starting point.
Woman: No problem, here you are. Which company do you work for?
Man: Sunshine Malt Factory. My name is George Smith, by the way.
Woman: Nice to meet you, George. So your company is planning to modernize HR?
Man: Yes, and I really liked your practical advice on how to introduce these changes. Do you think you could give me some tips where to start researching the topic?
Woman: Why don’t we discuss this in more detail over a coffee in a couple of minutes? I’ll just pack up here.
Man: Great. Shall I get you an espresso or a cappuccino?
Woman: An espresso, please. Thank you. I’ll catch up with you in a minute. Is the café on the first floor?
Man: Yes. See you there.

IMPORTANT PHRASES

I just wanted to tell you … .  – Csak el akartam mondani, hogy … .
I found your presentation very interesting. – Nagyon érdekesnek találtam az előadását.
I was wondering if … . – Azon gondolkodtam, vajon … .
No problem. – Semmi gond.
Here you are. – Tessék.
by the way – egyébként
Nice to meet you. – Örülök, hogy megismertem.
Do you think you could …? – Esetleg nem tudná … ?
Why don’t we discuss this? – Miért nem beszéljük ezt meg?
in a couple of minutes – pár percen belül, pár perc múlva
Shall I get you … ? – Hozzak Önnek,/Kérjek  … ?
See you there. – Ott találkozunk.