In the summer of 2021, I had the pleasure of attending a hybrid congress in Berlin: Die Grünen were kicking off their election campaign. The
It’s the end of summer, we’re back home from long days in the sun and on the water, and it’s back to classes and many
Managing your hybrid course with Cornelsen’s Basis for Business Summary This 30-minute talk aimed to give Business English trainers an overview of lessons learned in
Last Friday on the train in Erfurt there was a very ugly case of xenophobia and racism directed against a young Syrian. A German man
Saturday Night Live has picked up on current political events in the USA. The comedy series opens this week’s episode with a fictional Minnesota morning
This week’s question is one of business register.
From an order form: “Please note that payment for food platters ___________ be received in advance.”
How would you say the same thing to a customer?
9 Responses
I would say “must” here : “payment must be received in advance”
But to a customer, I would say “you have to pay in advance”? So I suppose the passive version goes better with “must”? don’t know really, “head’s a shed”! (learnt this phrase today, thanks to @amandalanguage!)
I’d say: “has got”, but I’m convinced that it is wrong 😀 It’s a lon time ago but I remember s.t. like “must” 😉
btw.: The plate looks delicious! Reminds me of my holidays at Rhode Island.
Hi Frank,
That’s the problem, exactly: We say “have to/ have got to/ need to” in conversation, because we don’t tell people what they “must” do.
But the more formal business phrase uses “must”.
“Payment must be received no later than 30 days from the date of invoice / before the order can be processed / by June 15 …”
The food looks good to me too. I love garlic. Makes me think of beautiful Italy. Or Spain.
What took you to Rhode Island?
Thanks for visiting!
Anne
Dear Anne,
that’s how I would have distinguished it. Using the speech form, it is “has got” imho, using written language it’s a “must” 😉
Well, what took me to R.I.? Mostly my beloved aunt who used to live there 😀 Also the facht that my family has over a 150 years tradition in the States also. My ancestors fought against slavery in the Civil War and my grand-grand-grand-father gave Abe Lincoln the last honors, when the dead president got buried as he was an aidee (eigentlich: Adjutant) to Lincoln.
We do have deep roots in your country, one of my relatives was a consultant for Bill Clinton and we still have a stronghold at the eastcoast 😉
Anyway, I won’t tell your my whole name ‘cept we’ll get more familiar 😀
Kind regards
Frank, mostly pronounced “Fränk”
Do you know about the English video lessons at http://www.engvid.com?
MUST, HAVE TO, HAVE GOT TO – Talking about Necessity
Sorry, Alice,
Your comment was hidden away in the backend. I agree, “must” goes with anything that is not connected to you, personally, but is a more general obligation, so it goes exceedingly well with the passive.
Haha, “me head’s a shed” must be from the UK. I’d say “I’m totally out of it today.”
14 people chose “must” – the correct business idiom
8 people chose “has got to” – more typical in spoken English.