Work and the office

What holds these lists together

Work, business, law and the press belong together because they produce the same kind of text: a factual, written one from which nothing may be left out. A job description, a balance sheet, a court report and a news item read differently and ask the same things — nouns where speech would use verbs, precision instead of emphasis, and every word in the sense it has in the trade. French leans further towards the noun than English does: where an English letter says «we will deliver next week», a French one writes la livraison interviendra la semaine prochaine. And some words mislead on sight: actuellement means «at present», never «actually».

For example: le compte rendu (the report), le chiffre d’affaires (the turnover), l’acquittement (the acquittal), le rédacteur en chef (the editor-in-chief), la résidence (the residential development), passer une commande (to place an order)

Spread across the levels

The category runs across the levels — it is an area, not a difficulty. If you practise it, you can also choose a level at the top of the practice page and then get only the part that sits there.