Read the first pages of Business Grammar in Real Life C1–C2

Before you start

Welcome

Your English already works. You chair meetings, write reports and handle difficult conversations, often in a second or third language. The question at this level is no longer Is this correct? but Is this exactly what I mean, in exactly the right tone?

That’s what this book is about. It covers the 24 grammar points that make the biggest difference to how senior professionals sound at C1 and C2 level: hedging and precision, nominalisation, cleft sentences, inversion, advanced conditionals, concession, discourse markers and the structures that let you be direct without being blunt. Each point is shown in the kind of English you use every day: board papers, negotiation emails, interview answers, executive summaries and difficult conversations.

You’ll find no long theory here, and nothing you’d only ever meet in an exam. The book gives you clear rules, realistic texts and practice that makes these structures feel natural, plus honest notes on where even very proficient speakers go wrong.

How each chapter works

Every chapter follows the same six steps. After one or two chapters, you won’t need the instructions any more.

Step	What you do
1 · See it in action	Read a short, realistic workplace text (an email, a briefing, an interview answer) with the grammar in bold. Notice what it does before you study the rules.
2 · How it works	A table shows each use, its level, the form and an example, followed by a short tip on the trickiest point.
3 · Check your understanding	Three short exercises to make sure the distinctions are clear.
4 · Practise the form	Four exercises that move from controlled practice to rewriting real sentences.
5 · Say this, not that	Four mistakes that even very advanced speakers make, what to say instead, and a short exercise to fix similar mistakes.
6 · Your turn and quick check	Write a short text of your own, then see how much you remember.

Keeping score. The last exercise in each chapter is a quick check with ten items, worth one point each. Scored 7 or less? Come back to the chapter in a few days and try again.

Answers. All the answers are in the key at the back of the book. When more than one answer is possible, a slash (/) shows them all. Rewriting tasks often allow several good versions, so the key gives the most natural ones; if yours is different but keeps the meaning and the structure, it’s very likely right too. For the writing task, the key gives a model answer and an Even better tip.

Part reviews. After every six chapters there’s a review that mixes the grammar from the whole part. Each review has 41 points. Scored 30 or less? Look again at the chapters where you lost the most points.

Using this book with C1 and C2

This book works on its own. It also works very well next to Learn Real Business English C1, C2 or the C1–C2 Collection, and next to Business Vocabulary in Real Life C1–C2. Each chapter starts with a Goes with line, so you can see which units practise the same grammar.

Chapter	Goes with
1 · Narrative Tenses for Career Stories	C1 Unit 13 · C2 Unit 17
2 · Hedging and Degrees of Certainty	C1 Units 1 and 11 · C2 Unit 3
3 · Modals of Authority, Expectation and Past Deduction	C1 Unit 7 · C2 Unit 2
4 · Nominalisation	C1 Unit 4 · C2 Units 1 and 11
5 · The Passive for Distance and Accountability	C1 Unit 4 · C2 Units 11 and 15
6 · Softening Through Structure	C1 Unit 9 · C2 Units 8 and 9
7 · Cleft Sentences	C1 Unit 5 · C2 Unit 5
8 · Inversion for Emphasis	C1 Units 3 and 5
9 · Fronting and Information Structure	C2 Unit 10
10 · Participle Clauses	C1 Unit 2
11 · Advanced Relative Clauses	C1 Unit 10 · C2 Unit 11
12 · Ellipsis and Substitution	C1 Unit 12 · C2 Unit 4
13 · Advanced Conditionals	C1 Unit 3 · C2 Unit 6
14 · Conditionals in Negotiation	C1 Unit 6 · C2 Unit 7
15 · Hypothetical Language	C1 Unit 8 · C2 Unit 9
16 · Concession and Contrast	C1 Unit 8 · C2 Unit 13
17 · Cause, Effect and Hedged Causality	C1 Unit 11 · C2 Unit 12
18 · Comparison for Trade-Offs	C2 Unit 16
19 · Discourse Markers in Writing	C1 Units 2 and 10
20 · Discourse Markers in Conversation	C1 Unit 12 · C2 Unit 4
21 · Indirect and Hedged Questions	C2 Unit 14
22 · Formal Writing Without Stiffness	C1 Unit 10 · C2 Unit 10
23 · The Future Seen from the Past	C1 Unit 13 · C2 Unit 17
24 · Register: Neutral, Idiom-Free English	C1 Units 14 and 15 · C2 Units 14 and 18

A few things to know

C1 or C2? The rules tables give each use a level tag. C1 structures are the ones you’ll use most often in meetings and emails. C2 structures add the precision and control of very skilled professional writers and speakers. If you’re working with the C1 book, focus on the C1 rows first.

British or American? The book uses British spelling and usage. Where American English is different in a way that matters, a note tells you. Both are correct.

The people in this book. You’ll meet people working in many countries and sectors. They, their companies and their organisations are fictional.

Where you’ve come from. This book assumes you’re comfortable with the grammar in Business Grammar in Real Life B1–B2: all the tenses, the passive, conditionals, relative clauses and reported speech. If a chapter feels too difficult, the B1–B2 book is the place to check the basics.

Ready? Let’s begin.

Part 1 · Precision and Tone

Chapter 1 · Narrative Tenses for Career Stories

Goes with C1 Unit 13 · C2 Unit 17 · Your goal: You can tell a clear, well-ordered story about your experience in an interview, a review or a presentation, linking past events to where you are now.

Interviewers rarely ask “What do you know?” They ask “Tell me about a time when…”. A strong answer depends on more than good content. It depends on tense control: what was already happening, what had happened before, what you then did, and why it still matters now.

1.1 See it in action

Laleh Karimi is interviewing for a regional operations director role at Corvelle Logistics. The panel asks her about a time she turned around a failing project.

Interview answer · “Tell us about a project you turned around.”

When I joined Torvane Freight’s Rotterdam hub in 2021, the warehouse automation project had been running for eighteen months and had already gone €2 million over budget. The team was working long hours, but morale was falling, and two senior engineers had just resigned.

In my first month, I interviewed everyone on the project. It quickly became clear that the problem wasn’t technical. The supplier and our own IT team had been working to two different specifications, and nobody had noticed until testing began.

I brought both teams into one room, and we rewrote the specification together. Every Friday, we would review progress against a single shared plan.

The system went live four months later. Since then, it has handled over 30 million parcels, and the approach we developed has become the standard for every new site. It’s also the reason I’ve become so interested in cross-functional delivery, which is what this role is about.

Notice. Find a verb that describes the situation before Laleh arrived. Which tense shows an action that continued up to that earlier point? Which tense does she use to connect the story to the present?

1.2 How it works

Use	Level	Form	Example
Main events in sequence	C1	past simple	I interviewed everyone. We rewrote the specification.
Background in progress	C1	past continuous	The team was working long hours.
Earlier completed action	C1	past perfect	The project had already gone over budget.
Earlier situation with duration	C1	past perfect continuous	It had been running for eighteen months.
Repeated past action	C1	would / used to + verb	Every Friday, we would review progress.
Linking the past to now	C1	present perfect (+ since then, ever since)	Since then, it has handled 30 million parcels.

Would or used to? Both describe past habits: We would / used to meet every Friday. Only used to works for past states: I used to be (not would be) responsible for budgets. Would also needs a clear time frame first, so don’t start a story with it.

Keep the past perfect light. Use it to establish what happened before your story’s main timeline. Once that’s clear, switch back to the past simple. Too many past perfects make a story heavy and hard to follow.

Tip · Watch out: ending in the present. A career story should land in the present: Since then, I’ve led three similar projects. Don’t use the present perfect for the story itself: In 2021 I have joined the team. A finished time (in 2021, last year) always takes the past simple.

1.3 Check your understanding

Exercise 1 · Match. Match the sentence halves (1–5) with (a–e).

1. By the time the auditors arrived,
2. While we were preparing the launch,
3. When I took over the account,
4. For the first two years, we would
5. Since that project,

1. the client had been threatening to leave for months.
2. we had already corrected most of the errors.
3. I’ve always insisted on a single shared plan.
4. the competitor announced a lower price.
5. hold a quarterly review with every distributor.

Exercise 2 · True or false? Read Laleh’s answer again. Is each sentence true or false?

1. The automation project started when Laleh joined.
2. The supplier and the IT team had been using different specifications.
3. The weekly reviews took place on Mondays.
4. Laleh’s approach is now used at other sites.

Exercise 3 · Choose the right form. Choose the more natural option.

1. When I arrived, the team worked / had been working without a manager for six months.
2. I used to / would be the only woman on the engineering board.
3. We have signed / signed the contract in March 2022.
4. Since then, the division grew / has grown by 40%.

1.4 Practise the form

Exercise 4 · Complete the story. Use the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

In 2019 I (1) ______ (move) to our Nairobi office. The office (2) ______ (lose) money for three years, and the previous manager (3) ______ (just / leave). While I (4) ______ (review) the accounts, I (5) ______ (discover) that two major clients (6) ______ (not / pay) for over a year.

Exercise 5 · Combine the sentences. Use the word in brackets. Change the tenses where necessary.

1. The board met. The CFO had already resigned. (by the time)
2. I was analysing the data. I noticed a pattern. (while)
3. The team worked from home for two years. Then the office reopened. (had been)
4. We introduced the new process in 2022. We haven’t missed a deadline since. (Since then)

Exercise 6 · Would, used to or past simple? Choose the best form. Sometimes more than one is possible.

1. Every Monday, the regional managers ______ (send) me their figures.
2. I ______ (have) a team of 40 people at my previous company.
3. In June 2020, we ______ (close) the Lyon factory.
4. When I was a trainee, I ______ (spend) every Friday at a different site.

Exercise 7 · Right or wrong? Are these sentences right or wrong? Correct the wrong ones.

1. When I joined the company in 2018, I have been responsible for two markets.
2. We had been negotiating for three months when the client finally agreed.
3. I would be the head of the Asia team before I moved to London.
4. Since that day, I’ve never approved a budget without seeing the raw data.

1.5 Say this, not that

Even very advanced speakers make these mistakes, so don’t worry if you recognise a few. Here’s what to say instead.

Not this	Say this	Why
In 2020 I have led the merger.	In 2020 I led the merger.	A finished time needs the past simple.
At my last company, I would be responsible for the EMEA budget.	I used to be responsible for the EMEA budget.	Would can’t describe past states.
When I arrived, the project was already running for a year.	When I arrived, the project had already been running for a year.	Duration before a past point: past perfect continuous.
Since then, I led three similar projects.	Since then, I’ve led three similar projects.	Since then links to now: present perfect.

Exercise 8 · Fix the mistakes. Each sentence has one mistake. Can you find it and fix it?

1. I have started my career at a small consultancy in 2012.
2. When the new CEO arrived, the company was losing market share for five years.
3. I would own a small business before I joined the bank.
4. Since that review, the team met every deadline.