At the Office
Meetings, status updates, and the emails that fill your inbox — this is the English your colleagues actually use. Master 8 workplace phrasal verbs and the tense that describes ongoing work: the present perfect continuous.
Phrasal Verb Explorer
Eight phrasal verbs that will appear in nearly every meeting you attend. Tap to reveal each meaning.
Dialogue Practice
A real Monday morning status meeting. Tap any line for the Spanish translation.
Diana (Manager)
Good morning, everyone. Let's get started. Carlos, can you bring us up to speed on the client project?
Tap to translate
Carlos
Sure. We've been working on the prototype for two weeks now. I've been following up with the client every Friday.
Tap to translate
Diana (Manager)
Great. And the testing phase? We need to carry that out before the demo.
Tap to translate
Carlos
I've set up a testing environment, but we had to put off the security review until next week.
Tap to translate
Diana (Manager)
Understood. By the way, I came across a tool that could help us automate this. I'll send you the link.
Tap to translate
Carlos
Perfect. One more thing — Maria has been asking to take over the documentation. Is that okay?
Tap to translate
Diana (Manager)
Absolutely. Just make sure she hands in the first draft by next Wednesday.
Tap to translate
Key Phrases
Can you bring us up to speed on...?
¿Puedes ponernos al día sobre...?
Standard meeting opener for asking for a status update
I've been working on...
He estado trabajando en...
Present perfect continuous — the tense for describing ongoing work
Just following up on...
Solo dando seguimiento sobre...
The most common opening line in business emails
Structure Builder
Present perfect continuous — the tense for talking about ongoing work and effort.
I have been working here since 2022.
He estado trabajando aquí desde 2022.
She has been managing the team for six months.
Ella ha estado gestionando al equipo durante seis meses.
We have been waiting for your reply all week.
Hemos estado esperando tu respuesta toda la semana.
Have you been following up with the new clients?
¿Has estado dando seguimiento a los nuevos clientes?
Error Correction
Six errors that sneak into office emails. Can you catch them before your manager does?
Pronunciation Lab
Weak forms — the secret to sounding natural in fast professional speech.
have been
Spanish stress pattern
HAVE BEEN
English stress pattern
həv bin (weak)
In present perfect continuous, 'have been' is almost always reduced to /həv bin/ — both words are unstressed. 'I've been working' sounds like 'aiv-bin-WORK-ing'.
Self-Test
Test yourself on everything from this unit — phrasal verbs, grammar, and office vocabulary.
mencionar / sacar a colación
phrasal-verb