English collocations Brazilians get wrong at work

Collocations are words that naturally go together. Most mistakes Brazilian professionals make here come from translating directly from Portuguese: “fazer uma pergunta” becomes “make a question”. Your listener will understand you, but it immediately sounds non-native. These are the ones I correct most often in class.

Make, do, have and take

• make a question→ instead, say ask a questionFrom “fazer uma pergunta”.
• do a mistake→ instead, say make a mistakeIn English, mistakes are always “made”.
• make a meeting→ instead, say have a meeting / hold a meetingFrom “fazer uma reunião”.
• do a call→ instead, say make a call / have a call“I’ll make a call” or “We had a call this morning.”
• make a course→ instead, say take a course / do a courseFrom “fazer um curso”.

Win, lose and attend

• win money→ instead, say earn moneyYou “win” a prize, but you “earn” a salary.
• win a promotion→ instead, say get a promotionFrom “ganhar uma promoção”.
• lose the meeting→ instead, say miss the meetingFrom “perder a reunião”. You “lose” a game, but you “miss” a meeting.
• assist a meeting→ instead, say attend a meeting“Assist” means to help. To be present is “attend”.

Everyday work phrases

• put attention→ instead, say pay attentionFrom “prestar atenção”.
• give a feedback→ instead, say give feedback“Feedback” is uncountable, so no “a”.
• arrive at a conclusion→ instead, say reach a conclusion / come to a conclusionFrom “chegar a uma conclusão”.
• realise a project→ instead, say carry out a projectFrom “realizar um projeto”. “Realise” means to understand.
• accomplish the deadline→ instead, say meet the deadlineFrom “cumprir o prazo”.