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Understanding Time Frames in Business Communication
Using Techniques to Use to Avoid Misunderstandings
Iain Shirlaw
July 31, 2024
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Welcome to Business Fluency - a newsletter designed to enhance your understanding of essential business terms and concepts and provide you with practical strategies to boost your business and career prospects.
In today’s newsletter:
Understanding Time Frames in Business Communication
Hockey Player’s Desperate Bid for Olympic Glory
Reminder: Financial Fluency and App
Idiom of the day: Go to Great Lengths
Understanding Time Frames in Business Communication
Effective communication is the cornerstone of business communication. However, something seemingly so simple as time frames can often lead to confusion. Let’s look at some examples and measures that we can take to avoid misunderstandings.
Tuesday vs. Thursday
This tends to be a problem of pronunciation. You have to pronounce Thursday like you would the word ‘the’ with your tongue between your teeth at the start of the word.
Until you are fully confident, get into the habit of adding a date.
“Our next meeting is on Tuesday 6th of August”
Friday and Next Friday
Today is Wednesday 31st July. When is ‘next Friday’?
Next Friday normally refers to the Friday of next week - not the Friday of the current week.
Therefore, ‘see you on Friday’ will be this Friday 2nd August while ‘see you next Friday’ will be 9th August. Again, if in doubt, mention the date.
‘In the Last Year’ and ‘Last Year’
Firstly notice the important difference between these two expressions and the importance of the definite article ‘the’. So, today is Wednesday 31st July 2024. When is the period ‘in the last year’?
This is a very common cause of confusion. ‘In the last year’ means the period counting back 365 days from the moment of speaking. ‘Last year’ means the previous calendar year.
Example - say I visited Sicily on the following dates:
1st March 2023
15th April 2023
10th November 2023
14th June 2024
How many times did I visit Sicily in the last year?
2 - i.e. 10th November 2023 and 14th June 2024
How many times did I visit Sicily last year?
3 - i.e. 1st March, 15th April & 10th November (all 2023)
If we are speaking on 31st July 2024, ‘Sales increased by 20% in the last year’ means from 1st August 2023 until today (31st July 2024). ‘Sales increased by 20% last year’ means from 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023 and we can say this at any time in 2024.
‘Last Month’ and ‘In the Last Month’
In these cases, the same principle applies. If we are speaking today, 31st July 2024, ‘last month’ refers to June 2024 and ‘in the last month’ effectively refers to July 2024 because we are speaking on the last day of the month.
‘Last Week’ and ‘In the Last Week’
You will not be surprised to learn that ‘last week’ will usually refer to Monday to Friday of the previous week (for a business week) while ‘in the last week’ will be from Thursday to today if we are speaking on a Wednesday.
Don’t be Frightened to Clarify
As a final tip do not be frightened to clarify by asking the speaker to be specific. Look at these two questions, as examples:
“Do you mean Wednesday 7th August?”
“Do you mean the whole of 2023?”
Use the Present Simple for Timetabled Events
Remember that we use the present simple for scheduled or timetable events. We would not normally use ‘will’ or ‘going to’.
“The conference starts at 9 am on Wednesday 11th September”
Hockey Player’s Desperate Bid for Olympic Glory
Matt Dawson, an Australian hockey player (field hockey - not ice hockey!) was in the news last week. Matt has already competed for Australia in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games and he had been selected for the 2024 Games. Unfortunately, Matt suffered a serious injury to his finger just 2 weeks before the start of the Olympics. The injury to his finger would take at least 6 months to heal and it looked like his Olympic dreams were over for 2024.
His Drastic Solution?
Matt decided that if the finger was not there, it would not need to heal. And so he had his finger amputated and got back to training and competing immediately.
Would I have done the same? Almost certainly not. Matt’s choice does raise questions about the nature of athletic dedication and the lengths individuals will go to to achieve their goals. While his determination is undeniably admirable, such choices have serious implications for physical and mental health.
What Lengths Will You Go To Fulfil Your Dreams?
What dreams do you have and what lengths will you go to to fulfil them? Achieving professional dreams does require dedication but does not require sacrifices of the sort that Matt Dawson made.
Simply attending lessons is all you need to do to learn Business English and enhance your career or business prospects. No amputations are necessary!
Please note that in English ‘hockey’ always refers to the sport played on grass with a stick and a ball while ‘ice hockey’ is the sport played on an ice rink with ice skates, a stick and a puck.
Reminder: Financial Fluency Newsletter & App
Since we changed to two distinct newsletters, some of you have given us feedback that you have not received the Financial Fluency newsletter. Please look for it in your Junk/Spam folders.
As a Reminder:
Business Fluency (i.e. this newsletter on Wednesdays) will focus on Business English, relevant business news and motivational content previously covered on Mondays. We will include some Cambridge Exam techniques that will be useful for all English learners.
Financial Fluency (every Friday) will continue to focus on financial terminology, investing ideas, financial news, overviews of market conditions and motivational insights from the Motivational Monday newsletters.
Remember the App
The best way to read our newsletters is through our new apps - one for each newsletter. To download the app:
Open this newsletter on your phone (iPhone or Android)
Press ‘Read online’ at the top right corner of the newsletter.
Follow the instructions to download the app
Idiom of the Day: Go to Great Lengths
Go to great lengths - Idiom - to try very hard or use a lot of effort to achieve something
“They went to great lengths to make sure their business was successful”
What did you think of this newsletter?Please give us your feedback so that we can improve. You can also suggest topics for future newsletters. |
Do you have any Business English Questions?
Please email me and I will do my best to answer them in future newsletters.
Until next Wednesday - have a great week!
Iain.
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Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The information contained herein is generic and does not take into account your individual financial circumstances. You should always consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment or financial decisions.
Additionally, the authors and/or publishers of this newsletter may hold investments in securities or other financial instruments mentioned herein. These are included for illustrative purposes only and should not be taken as a recommendation to buy or sell such securities or financial instruments.