Money: costs, payments and debt

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Useful phrases for paymentsVocabulary
7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
8. 8Listen: Sun-hee's best yearListening comprehension
9. 9Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
10. 10What does it mean?Grammar exercise
11. 11Notice: Anton's updateGrammar exercise
12. 12QuantifiersGrammar rule
13. 13Choose the quantifierGrammar exercise
14. 14A note about the quarterGrammar exercise
15. 15Build the sentencesGrammar exercise
16. 16Say it naturallySpeaking practice
17. 17Role-play: the overdue invoiceSpeaking practice
18. 18Let's discussDiscussion
19. 19Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: a bookkeeper's tipsGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: a payment reminderDiscussion

Words

• invoice/ˈɪnvɔɪs/

  a document that lists what a customer bought, how much they must pay and by when (also a verb: to invoice someone)

• net 30/ˌnet ˈθɜːrti/

  payment terms: the full amount is due within 30 days of the invoice date (also net 60, net 90)

• overdue/ˌoʊvərˈduː/

  not paid, returned or done by the date it was due

• cash flow/ˈkæʃ floʊ/

  the money that comes into and goes out of a business, and when it does

• overhead/ˈoʊvərhed/

  the regular costs of running a business, such as rent, insurance and software, that don't depend on how much you sell

• interest/ˈɪntrəst/

  money that you pay for borrowing money, or that a bank pays you for saving it

• APR/ˌeɪ piː ˈɑːr/

  annual percentage rate: the yearly cost of borrowing money, shown as a percentage

• carry a balance/ˌkæri ə ˈbæləns/

  to not pay a credit card bill in full, so that you pay interest on what is left

• line of credit/ˌlaɪn əv ˈkredɪt/

  an agreement that lets you borrow money when you need it, up to a limit, and pay interest only on what you use

• collateral/kəˈlætərəl/

  something valuable, such as a building or a vehicle, that a borrower promises to a lender, who can take it if the loan isn't repaid

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about money at work.

1. In your job, who decides how money is spent, and who checks it?
2. Have you ever had to wait a long time to get paid for your work? What happened?
3. How do you usually pay at work and in your private life: by card, by phone, by bank transfer or in cash?

Grammar rule

Quantifiers

Quantifier	With	Meaning	Example
a few	plural nouns	some, a small number	We still have a few tickets for the trade show.
few	plural nouns	not many (a negative idea)	Our new product is expensive, so few stores stock it.
a little	uncountable nouns	some, a small amount	Could you give us a little more time?
little	uncountable nouns	not much (a negative idea)	The old system gets little use now.
hardly any	plural or uncountable	almost none	We get hardly any complaints about delivery.
none of	the / my / these… + plural or uncountable	not one, not any (three or more)	None of the applicants speaks Japanese.
each	a singular noun (each of + plural)	every one, seen one by one	Each candidate gets ten minutes. Each of the teams presents on Friday.
every	a singular noun	all of a group (three or more)	Every meeting starts at 9:05.
both	a plural noun (both of the…)	the two together	Both printers are broken.
either	a singular noun (either of + plural)	one or the other of two	You can sit at either end of the table.
neither	a singular noun (neither of + plural)	not one and not the other of two	Neither candidate has managed a team.
a great deal of	uncountable nouns	a lot of (formal)	The merger caused a great deal of stress.

Notes

a or no a? a few and a little sound positive (some, and that's something); few and little sound negative (not enough). In conversation, people often say only a few, very little, not many or not much.

each and every take a singular noun and a singular verb: Every meeting starts… Say each of the…, but not every of: say every one of the…

both, either, neither are for two things. For three or more, use all (of), any (of) and none of. After neither of, either of and none of + a plural, the verb is singular in careful writing (None of the applicants speaks…); in conversation, a plural verb is common too.

Not a few money or a little clients: few goes with plural nouns, little with uncountable nouns. a great deal of goes with uncountable nouns (time, money, stress); in everyday speech, a lot of is more common.