Work and the office

What holds these lists together

Work, business, law, the press, and the paperwork of renting, insuring and applying belong together because they produce the same kind of text: written, factual, with nothing left out. It prefers nouns to verbs and precision to emphasis, and it is more ceremonious than its English counterpart. A formal letter opens with Exmo. Senhor, short for «most excellent sir», where English makes do with «Dear Sir». Office life brings its own traps: a reunião is a meeting, not a reunion, and o ordenado is your pay. This vocabulary is rarely heard in conversation, which is why it tends to be learnt late and needed early.

For example: o relatório de reunião (the meeting report), o volume de negócios (the turnover), a absolvição (the acquittal), o chefe de redação (the editor-in-chief), o apartamento partilhado (the flat share), o relvado (the lawn)

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.