Business English Collocations: 35 Work Phrases Taiwan Pros Use Daily (2026) | 商業英文搭配詞

本文重點：台灣上班族 (台灣上班族) 必學的 35 個商業英文 (商業英文) 搭配詞 (英文搭配詞)，涵蓋會議、電子郵件、專案管理、商務談判與職涯發展五大職場情境。掌握這些 collocations 能讓你的英文聽起來更道地、提升多益 (多益) 分數，並在跨國公司溝通中展現專業。適合所有想加強職場英文學習 (英文學習) 的台灣上班族。

You know all the individual words. You can say “meeting,” “deadline,” and “decision.” So why does your English still sound a little off in business contexts? The answer is collocations (英文搭配詞) — the specific word combinations native speakers use without thinking. You don’t “do” a decision. You don’t “catch” a deadline. You don’t “have” a meeting in quite the same way you “hold” one. For Taiwan professionals (台灣上班族) working in multinational companies or preparing for the TOEIC test (多益), mastering business collocations is the fastest path from textbook English to professional fluency.

This guide gives you 35 of the highest-frequency business English (商業英文) collocations used in Taiwan workplaces, organized by situation: meetings, emails, projects, negotiations, and career growth. Each one comes with a real example sentence you can copy into your next email or stand-up.

What Are Business Collocations? | 什麼是商業英文搭配詞

A collocation is a pair or group of words that naturally belong together. “Heavy rain” sounds right; “strong rain” sounds strange — even though the adjectives mean roughly the same thing. Business English is packed with these fixed combinations, and they don’t follow logical rules. You simply have to learn the pairs.

Why do collocations matter so much for Taiwan professionals?

1. Native speakers expect them. Wrong collocations make your English sound translated rather than fluent.
2. TOEIC tests them heavily. Listening Parts 3-4 and Reading Part 5 both reward students who recognize natural word pairings.
3. They speed up communication. When you use the expected phrase, your listener processes the message faster — and trusts you more.

Direct translation from Chinese is the number-one source of collocation errors. “做一個決定” feels like it should be “do a decision” — but in English we “make a decision.” There is no rule that predicts which verb fits. This is why a private English tutor (英文家教) usually focuses on collocation drills before grammar drills for intermediate learners.

Meeting Collocations | 會議英文搭配詞

Meetings are where Taiwan professionals most often lose face when their English breaks down. These seven collocations cover roughly 90% of meeting situations.

• Hold a meeting (not “open” or “do”) — We’ll hold a meeting at 3 p.m. to review the proposal.
• Attend a meeting — Three department heads will attend the meeting on Thursday.
• Chair a meeting — Sarah will chair the meeting while the CEO is in Tokyo.
• Cancel a meeting (not “close”) — We need to cancel the meeting due to a client emergency.
• Postpone a meeting — Can we postpone the meeting to next Tuesday?
• Take minutes — Who’s taking minutes today?
• Reach a consensus — After two hours, we finally reached a consensus on the timeline.

Quick Tip | 小提醒

Many Taiwan learners say “make a meeting.” This is a direct translation from “開會” but it sounds wrong to native ears. Stick with hold, have, or schedule. “Set up a meeting” is also natural and slightly more casual.

Email Collocations | 電子郵件英文搭配詞

Business email collocations are tested constantly in the TOEIC Reading section and judged silently in real workplace inboxes. Get these seven right and your written English will instantly read as professional.

• Attach a file (not “send a file with”) — I’ve attached the revised contract for your reference.
• Send a reminder — Let me send a quick reminder about Friday’s deadline.
• Follow up on — I’m following up on the proposal I sent last week.
• Get back to (someone) — I’ll get back to you by Thursday with the figures.
• Reply to an email (not “answer” in formal writing) — Please reply to this email by EOD.
• CC someone — Could you CC me on your response to the client?
• Mark as urgent — I’ve marked this thread as urgent — please prioritize.

Bonus: Email Opener Collocations | 開場白搭配詞

• Touch base (informal) — Just touching base about Monday’s call.
• Circle back — Let’s circle back on this next week once we have the data.
• Loop in — I’m looping in Jenny from legal so she can weigh in.

Project Management Collocations | 專案管理英文搭配詞

If you work in tech, consulting, or any project-based role at a Taiwan multinational, these collocations are non-negotiable. They appear in every status update, Slack thread, and quarterly review.

• Meet a deadline (not “catch”) — We can’t compromise on quality just to meet a deadline.
• Miss a deadline — If we miss this deadline, the client will void the contract.
• Set a deadline — Let’s set a hard deadline of June 30.
• Launch a product (not “start”) — We’ll launch the product in Q3.
• Hit a milestone — The team hit every milestone this quarter.
• Allocate resources — We need to allocate more resources to QA.
• Streamline a process — This software will streamline our approval process.
• Run behind schedule — We’re running behind schedule on the Taipei office build-out.

Negotiation Collocations | 商務談判搭配詞

Whether you’re negotiating with a vendor in Shenzhen, a client in San Francisco, or your own boss for a raise in Xinyi, these collocations carry weight. Misuse one and you sound junior; nail them and you sound senior.

• Reach an agreement (not “arrive at”) — We finally reached an agreement on pricing.
• Drive a hard bargain — Their procurement team drives a hard bargain.
• Close a deal — The Singapore team closed a $2 million deal yesterday.
• Make a counteroffer — They rejected our terms, so we’ll make a counteroffer on Friday.
• Sign a contract — Once both parties sign the contract, work begins immediately.
• Break off negotiations — If they push back again, we’ll break off negotiations.
• Build rapport — Take time to build rapport before discussing numbers.

Performance & Career Collocations | 績效與職涯搭配詞

These come up in performance reviews, promotion discussions, and TOEIC prep materials on workplace topics. Memorize the six below and you can talk about your own career in fluent English at any networking event.

• Meet expectations — Her work consistently meets expectations.
• Exceed expectations — He exceeded expectations on the Q1 launch.
• Receive a promotion (formal) / get promoted (informal) — She received a promotion to senior manager.
• Take on responsibility — I’m ready to take on more responsibility.
• Develop skills — The training program helped me develop leadership skills.
• Build a career — He built his career at three different multinationals.

Common Collocation Mistakes Taiwan Pros Make | 台灣上班族常犯的錯誤

After more than a decade teaching business English in Taipei, I see the same seven mistakes nearly every week. Fix these and your English will jump a level overnight.

1. “Do a meeting” → Have / Hold a meeting

Chinese uses 開 for both “open” and “hold” a meeting. English does not.

2. “Give me a file” → Send me a file

You give physical objects in person; you send digital files.

3. “Catch a deadline” → Meet a deadline

You catch a train. You meet a deadline. The verbs are not interchangeable.

4. “Tell a decision” → Make / Announce a decision

You make the decision internally, then announce it to the team.

5. “Take a salary” → Earn a salary

You take a break. You earn a salary. The connotation is completely different.

6. “Win an agreement” → Reach an agreement

Negotiation is collaborative in English collocations, not adversarial.

7. “Pay attention on” → Pay attention to

The preposition is fixed. There is no logic — just memorize to.

How to Practice Business Collocations | 如何練習商業搭配詞

Knowing 35 collocations and using them naturally are different skills. Here is the practice routine that gets the fastest results for Taiwan professionals.

1. Read business news daily. Bloomberg, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal use these collocations constantly. Highlight any pair that looks unfamiliar.
2. Keep a collocation notebook. When you encounter a new pair, write the full sentence — never the two words in isolation. Context is what locks them in memory.
3. Shadow business podcasts. HBR IdeaCast and The Economist’s Money Talks repeat the same patterns in spoken form. Repeat aloud while you commute.
4. Use spaced repetition. Anki flashcards with the collocation on one side and an example sentence on the other beat any textbook drill.
5. Force usage in your next email. Aim for two new collocations per business email this week. Quantity becomes quality.

Quick Reference: All 35 Business Collocations | 快速查詢表

Bookmark this section. When you’re about to write a tricky email or prepare for a meeting in English, scan the list first.

• Meetings: hold a meeting, attend a meeting, chair a meeting, cancel a meeting, postpone a meeting, take minutes, reach a consensus
• Email: attach a file, send a reminder, follow up on, get back to, reply to an email, CC someone, mark as urgent, touch base, circle back, loop in
• Projects: meet a deadline, miss a deadline, set a deadline, launch a product, hit a milestone, allocate resources, streamline a process, run behind schedule
• Negotiation: reach an agreement, drive a hard bargain, close a deal, make a counteroffer, sign a contract, break off negotiations, build rapport
• Career: meet expectations, exceed expectations, receive a promotion, take on responsibility, develop skills, build a career

Final Thoughts | 結語

Business collocations are the difference between sounding like a textbook and sounding like a colleague. You don’t need to memorize 500 — you need the 35 that come up daily in Taiwan workplaces, plus the discipline to use them in real emails and meetings this week. Start with one category, master it across five business days, then move to the next. By the time you cycle through all five categories, your TOEIC score and your weekly stand-ups will both feel different. Your colleagues will notice before you do.

Sources & Further Reading | 延伸閱讀

• Cambridge Dictionary — search any pair to confirm it’s a real collocation
• British Council — free business English lessons
• Wikipedia: Collocation — the linguistic theory behind word pairings
• ETS TOEIC — official test information and sample questions