List #1-14 TOEIC

Focus (n), to focus on (v)

centre, être centré sur the centre of attention or interest; to concentrate attention on something Ex : The tv programme focused on the situation of unemployed people under the age of 25

Turnover (noun)

chiffre d'affaires Net sales income Ex : The group's turnover has fallen for the first time in ten years

Figures (noun)

chiffres statistics, numbers Ex : Sales figures are looking good this month

Unemployment (noun)

chômage the state of not having a job Ex : Unemployment climbed steadily throughout the eighties

Trade (n, v or adj)

commerce (niveau international) the activity of buying and selling goods, especially between countries Ex : Trade agreements have been signed between China and its neighbours

Retail (adj) retailer (noun), retailing (adj)

distribution/vente en détail/détaillant the part of the distribution chain where goods are sold to the public Ex : The food retailing industry is highly competitive

Split (split - split) (v or n)

diviser, partager, fendre to divide into two or more parts Ex : The teacher split the class into three groups

Customs (noun)

douane the place you have to go through when you go from a country to another Ex : When crossing the Swiss border, you have to go through customs

Draw (drew

drawn) (verb) - tirer, attirer to pull, to attract (other meaning: to make a picture with a pen or pencil) Ex : He drew my attention to a group of football supporters walking towards the stadium

Trigger (verb.)

déclencher To give rise (to), set off Ex : If you break the beam of light, you will trigger the alarm

Resign (verb) resignation (noun)

démissionner to leave a job voluntarily Ex : He disagreed with the changes in strategy and handed in his resignation

Clerk (n) clerical (adj)

employé a person who works in an office Ex : Just give the file to the clerk and he will make sure it gets to the right department

Borrow (v)

emprunter to take something from someone for a limited amount of time Ex : Can I borrow your pen?

Manufacture (v) manufacturer (n)

fabriquer, fabricant to produce goods in large numbers, usually in a factory Ex : He works for a company that manufactures car parts

Invoice (noun)

facture bill, official list of goods or services with the price to be paid Ex : Send the invoice to the above address

Bankrupt (adj) (to go bankrupt); bankruptcy (n)

faire faillite the situation of not being able to pay your debts Ex : If we don't find funds soon, we will go bankrupt

Launch (v) (a product)

lancer un produit to introduce a product, etc. on to a market Ex : We have launched the product on the English market

Headquarters, Head Office (n)

le siège Where the main offices and leaders of an organisation are located Ex : We will have to refer this proposal to Head Office

Premises (noun)

les locaux the buildings and land occupied by a business Ex : We are on the premises of the oldest company in the country

Dismiss (verb) dismissal (noun)

licencier (typiquement pour faute), licenciement to discharge someone from their job; 'fire' or 'sack' Ex : The dismissal of 30 workers has resulted in a strike by the company's workforce

Lay off (verb) lay-off (noun)

licencier, licenciement to make people redundant Ex : We are having to lay off a large part of our workforce due to the fall in sales

Goods (n pl)

marchandise, biens items for sale or things that you own Ex : There is a 25% discount on all electrical goods

Raw material (n)

matière première that can be converted by a process Ex : Cotton is a raw material which can be used for making clothes

Threat (n) threaten (v)

menace a suggestion that something unpleasant might happen Ex : Drunken drivers pose a serious threat to other road users

Currency (noun)

monnaie metal or paper medium of exchange that is in current use in a particular country Ex : The Euro is the currency of the European Union

Will you be present? Average (n or adj)

moyen(ne) the result obtained by adding a number of amounts and dividing the result by the number of amounts Ex : There has been an increase of 5% in average salary levels over the last five years

Appoint (verb)

nommer to nominate for a position Ex : He has been appointed CEO of the company

Bid (vb or noun)

offre, enchère; tentative i) offer to pay a particular price for something ii) an attempt to do something Ex : Their takeover bid was rejected by the shareholders; he failed in his bid to climb Everest

Retire (verb) retirement (noun)

(prendre) la retraite to stop working at the end of one's working life Ex : He's going to retire at the end of this year

Competitors/ the competition (noun)

un concurrent/ la concurrence the people trying to sell on the same market as you are Ex : The competition is particularly fierce in our sector

Trial (noun)

un procès formal inquiry to determine if someone is guilty of a criminal offense Ex : Several top businessmen have recently found themselves on trial for various offenses

Assignment (n)

un travail à rendre a piece of work given to someone as part of a course of studies Ex : You will have four assignments to do during the semester

Factory (n)

usine a place where goods are manufactured Ex : There have been fewer factories in the west since the migration of manufacturing to low-wage countries

Takeover (n) / to take over (v)

absorption, rachat the acquisition of one company by another Ex : Since the takeover, there have been hundreds of job cuts

Emphasis (n) emphasize (v)

accent, souligner special attention given to something because it is important Ex : We need to put the emphasis on achieving our basic goals

Purchase (n) purchasing (adj.)

acheter to buy Ex : Tickets must be purchased from the official site

Lawsuit (n)

action en justice the action of taking a person or an organisation to court (see 'sue) Ex : The two directors have filed a lawsuit against their former employers

Shares, shareholders (n)

actions, actionnaires the parts of the capital of a company, owned by the shareholders Ex : Shareholders of Tiptop Corp. have been trying to sell their shares on the Stock market following disastrous results

Improve (v), improvement (n)

améliorer, amélioration to make better Ex : Our performance is still not good enough, but it has improved significantly since last year

Cancel (v) cancellation (n)

annuler, annulation to decide that an organized event will not happen; to stop an order for goods or services that you no longer want Ex : The training session has been cancelled due to lack of participants

Item (noun)

article article, thing Ex : Please send us the following items

Attend (a meeting etc) (verb) attendance (noun)

assister à une reunion to be present Ex : I don't want to attend this meeting tomorrow morning

Insurance (noun)

assurance financial protection against certain things happening Ex : The cost of employers' liability insurance was high for the contract

Afford (verb) affordable (adj)

avoir les moyens; se permettre to have enough money or time to do something Ex : We can't afford the time to deal with such insignificant problems now

Gross profit/salary, etc

brut The total amount before deductions Ex : He earns more than £20,000 gross

Profit (noun)

bénéfice positive difference between money spent and money received Ex : In spite of the big turnover, profits were low

Executive (noun or adj)

cadre, directorial someone in a high position who makes decisions and acts according to them Ex : She is now a senior executive having worked her way up through the ranks of the company

Feature (n or v)

caractéristique, aspect; figurer; présenter a typical quality or an important part of something; to include someone or something as an important part Ex : One of the most interesting features of this watch is its device for showing the phases of the moon; The film features Tom Cruise as a pool player

Rely on, reliable (adj)

compter sur, se fier de to need or to depend on someone or something; dependable Ex : We're relying on you to send us the finished document on time

Skill (n) skilled (adj)

compétence a special ability to do something Ex : It is the function of business schools to allow students to acquire marketable skills

Board (of Directors) (noun)

conseil d'administration group of people who officially administer a company, a trust, etc Ex : The CEO isn't supposed to take an important decision without referring it to the board of directors

Advice (n) advise (v) advisable (adj) advisor (n) Note: always singular!

conseil, conseiller, conseillé an opinion someone gives you about what you should do or how you should act in a particular situation Ex : I need your advice about which car I should buy

Consumer (n) consume (v), consumption (n)

consommateur a person who buys goods or services for their own use Ex : American consumers are increasingly concerned about the price they are paying for gasoline

Growth (n) grow (grew - grown) (v)

croissance the process of increasing in size Ex : The growth in inflation is worrying many analysts

Deadline (noun)

date limite, date butoir, échéance the final date possible for completing something Ex : The deadline for this report is next Tuesday

Deal (dealt

dealt) with (verb) - traiter, s'occuper de, gérer to handle, to do what is necessary with Ex : I'll deal with other business after we have finished dealing with this point

Lower (the price, etc) (v)

diminuer reduce (opposite of 'raise') Ex : Owing to the competition we are lowering prices

CEO (Chief Executive Officer) (n)

directeur général The person who directs the day-to-day running of a company Ex : The CEO and Chairman are two functions often occupied by the same person

Available (adj) availability (n)

disponible able to be bought, used or reached Ex : I'm phoning to check on your availability for next week's launch

Subsidiary (n)

filiale a company which belongs to a group or parent company Ex : Reebok has been a subsidiary of Adidas since 2005

Found (v)

fonder to establish or set up, particularly related to institutions or businesses Ex : My great-grandfather founded the company in 1895

Train (v) training (n)

former, formation, entraînement the process of learning the skills necessary to do a particular job; a training course: a period of study for learning these skills Ex : I am going on a week's training course to learn how to use the new computer software

Supply (verb or noun) supplier (n)

fourniture, fournir to provide Ex : Our suppliers sell us the office supplies we need to do our job

Leak (v or n)

fuir, fuite (for gases or liquids) to escape from a hole or a crack; to allow secret information to be generally known Ex : The radiator is leaking, we need to repair it; an employee leaked the information to the press

Merger (noun) merge (verb)

fusion combination of two or more companies either by the creation of a new organization or by absorption by one of the others Ex : The French company Essilor merged with the Italian Luxottica group in 2017

Range (n) (of products, etc)

gamme the complete group Ex : I'm sure you will like our product range

Waste (n or verb)

gaspiller, perdre to spend badly (time or money) Ex : Don't waste your time, she's already married!

Strike (n or v), striker (n)

grève, gréviste to refuse to continue working because of a disagreement with an employer Ex : Yesterday's trains strike was followed by the vast majority of railway workers and caused big disruptions

Issue (v or n)

i) faire paraître, distribuer, émettre ii) une question, un problème i) publish, emit; ii) a problem or question for debate Ex : i) The company is going to issue new shares which should raise capital for investment in equipment ii) We must discuss the issue of discipline

Involve (v) involvement (n)

impliquer, mêler, participer to include someone or something in something, to make them a part of something Ex : I was involved in a serious automobile accident when I was young and I'm still frightened of cars

I.T. (n: information technology)

informatique the aspect of business connected with the electronic processing of data Ex : Recent developments in computer technology have led to major changes in our IT department

Ban (verb or noun)

interdire to stop, in an official way, something from being done, carried out, sold, etc Ex : British beef was banned from French shops for several years during the mad cow crisis

Agenda (noun)

ordre du jour list of subjects to be discussed at a meeting Ex : This issue should be put at the top of the agenda

Stake (n), stakeholder (n)

participation, un intérêt particulier having an interest in something, often a financial one. Stakeholder - person or entity having an interest in something Ex : The government has a 45% stake in the automobile company

Loss (n)

perte negative difference between money received and money spent Ex : The company made a £2m loss last year

Schedule (n or verb)

planifier, planning, emploi du temps organize an event, choose the date, time, duration, etc. Ex : This operation has been scheduled to last 5 days

Outlet (retail outlet) (noun)

point de vente a place where goods are sold to the public Ex : They plan to open a new outlet every month for the next three years

Apply for (verb) application (n)

postuler to make a formal request for something (especially a job) Ex : I would like to apply for the post of junior manager

Sue (verb); lawsuit (noun)

poursuivre en justice to start a legal case against someone; a problem taken to the civil court Ex : She is suing her employer for unfair dismissal

Previous (adj)

précédent happening or existing before something else Ex : The previous owner of the car was an old lady; "Previously on House of Cards."

Forecast (for sales, weather, etc) (verb or noun)

prévision to calculate or predict what will happen Ex : According to our sales forecasts, sales should be stronger next year

Loan (n)

prêt money which is lent Ex : The directors have asked the bank for a loan

Lend (lent-lent) (v)

prêter to give something for a period of time, expecting that it will be given back Ex : The bank lent me £3,000 to buy a new car

Match (v or n)

qqchose qui va bien ou est l'égal de qqchose; aller bien avec, avoir la même force que to be as good as or equal to someone or something else ; a thing or person that is the equal of something else Ex : The carpet and the curtains go together well - they are a perfect match; Nadal matched Federer stroke for stroke until the final game

Draft (v or n)

ébauche, brouillon, avant-projet; rédiger to write down a document for the first time ; a piece of text, a formal suggestion or a drawing giving the main points but not all the details Ex : This is only a rough draft The finished document will be much more complete

Facilities (noun)

équipements buildings or equipment provided for a particular purpose (toilets, bus stations, playgrounds, etc) Ex : The new offices will be located near to excellent facilities

Income (noun)

revenus Money earned Ex : Income from sales was very low

Wealth (n) wealthy (adj)

richesse, riche a large amount of money that a person or a nation has Ex : Adam Smith was a Scottish economist who wrote "The Wealth of Nations"

Wages (noun) wage (adj)

salaire, salarial money earned in a job, salary Ex : The company's wages policy needs to be changed

Health (n) healthy (adj)

santé, en bonne santé the condition of something or someone and the degree to which it is free of illness or malfunction Ex : We must act to ensure the continuing financial health of the company

Internship (n) intern or trainee (n)

stage, stagiaire a period of training by obtaining practical experience in a company, etc Ex : I carried out an internship of 6 months in my fourth year of studies

Union (or Trade Union)

syndicat association of workers to defend common interests in a professional sector Ex : The unions are negotiating the changes with management

Rate (noun)

taux ratio between variables Ex : The interest rate was up eight per cent from last year

Trend (noun)

tendance a general direction in which something is developing Ex : The recent trend in the car industry has been towards outsourcing

Foreign (adj)

étranger belonging to another country Ex : New laws will make it harder for foreign nationals to work here

Avoid (v) avoidance (n) avoidable (adj)

éviter to stay away from, to prevent something happening Ex : Apple, Amazon and Google have been criticized because they avoid paying taxes in the UK

Court (n)

tribunal the place where trials or other legal cases happen Ex : He has been charged with dangerous driving and will appear in court tomorrow

Quarter (noun); quarterly (adv)

trimestre, trimestriel a period of three months; every three-months Ex : In the USA, company results are usually published every quarter

Asset (noun)

un atout/l'actif thing, esp property, owned by a person, company, etc that has value and can be used or sold to pay debts On a balance sheet, the assets are what the company owns Ex : His assets included shares in the company and the house in London

Account (noun)

un compte record of money received and spent by a person or firm Ex : Mr Jones opened an account in our bank last week