Business expressions

Learn the answer to the question, "What are some French business expressions?"

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Lesson Transcript

Hi everybody! Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I'll answer your most common French questions.

The question for this lesson is: What are some French business expressions?

Many French business expressions can also be used in casual settings, so it's good to know these standard phrases so you can communicate in both types of situations. In this lesson, we will go over some basic business expressions that you can use in French.

Je m’excuse du retard which means, “I am sorry for being late,” is a very useful phrase. You can use this for whatever reason you can’t manage to be on time for a meeting or just come in late to the office. You can also say, Désolé pour le retard which means the same thing but is a little more casual.

If you're asked to write a report and want to know when it’s due, you can ask Quand dois-je rendre le rapport? which literally means “When should I give the report?”

If you are a little busy at work and want to let your co-workers know, you can use this phrase: Je suis en train d’organiser un rendez-vous. Etre en train de means, “to be in the middle of” something. An example would be Je suis en train d’organiser un rendez-vous means “I’m in the middle of organizing a meeting.”

Se rendre compte is another great idiom to use in business. It literally means “realize” or “be aware.” Let’s go over how to use it. For example, if your team has a lot of work to do, but you will be out of town the next week, you can say, Rendez-vous compte que je suis en vacances la semaine prochaine, which means, “Take into consideration that I’m on vacation next week.”

If your boss needs something urgently and you have just finished your work, you can use the phrase venir de, which literally means “to come from.” It’s also an expression that means “just now.” If you want to say, “I just finished my project,” you can say Je viens de finir mon projet.

When everything is finished, you can use the phrase, C’est un plaisir de collaborer avec vous, which means “It’s a pleasure doing business with you.” You can also use travailler which means “work” instead of collaborer. With travailler the phrase would be, C’est un plaisir de travailler avec vous which means, “It is a pleasure working with you.”