Talking About Jobs (Tasks)

This lesson focuses on the vocabulary used to describe tasks and responsibilities at work. You'll learn common nouns and verbs used to assign, manage and complete tasks in a professional context.

• Key terms: task, assignment, responsibility, deadline, deliverable
• Action verbs: delegate, prioritize, oversee, complete, submit
• Collocations: meet a deadline, assign a task, take responsibility

Certain verbs commonly pair with task-related nouns. Remember these patterns to sound natural in business English.

• assign/delegate a task (assign a task to someone)
• meet a deadline (finish on time)
• complete/finish a task or deliverable
• oversee/manage a project
• prioritize tasks (decide order of importance)

Use verbs like 'delegate' when you assign to others and 'take responsibility' when you accept ownership.

Learners often make predictable errors when talking about tasks. Watch out for these universal mistakes:

• Using the wrong verb: e.g., saying 'give' instead of 'delegate' when assigning tasks formally
• Incorrect prepositions: e.g., 'responsible of' instead of 'responsible for'
• Confusing noun forms: using 'assign' (verb) when you need 'assignment' (noun)
• Wrong word order in instructions: imperative verbs should come first (e.g., 'Please submit the report')

Focus on verb-noun collocations and correct prepositions for clarity.