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KEY INFORMATION:
- “Vocabulary over grammar” is the guiding principle in the English training that ECSC Thailand provides.
- Employees in Thai companies receive “English Plus” training that combines English with business soft-skills.
- The English that we teach is multi-words vocabulary; for example, a phrase like “I’m in a meeting.”
- You learn the whole phrase – as opposed to learning grammar and individual words to insert.
- Our workshops focus on multi-words for specific tasks, like giving presentations. See all of our services here.
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Talking to my friend K. Bank last week, he mentioned that he had an English communication problem at work.
His boss urgently approached him at the office on Thursday afternoon and said, “Bank, I’ll be in a meeting from 2pm to 4pm, so I have to leave here in a bit. I’m really in a bind, so I need you to finish this report.”
Bank said his boss handed him a USB drive and walked away. But since Bank is not a native English speaker, he felt embarrassed that he didn’t understand some of the English phrases his boss used.
Native English speakers often use phrases with the two common English words ‘in a’, and this article will help you understand three phrases with ‘in a’ that Bank’s boss used.
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In a Meeting
The first English phrase with ‘in a’ we will look at is ‘in a meeting’. When we use ‘in a’ + an activity (such as a meeting), it refers to participating in that activity. This can mean just attending the meeting or leading the meeting as the main speaker or presenter. It is what Bank’s boss said: “I’ll be in a meeting from…”
Some other common multi-words using ‘in a’ that you might hear at work are ‘in a seminar’ and ‘in an interview’. They can be used in the following ways: “She was in a seminar yesterday” and “The HR Manager is in an interview with a candidate now”.
In a Bit
The next ‘in a’ phrase to know is ‘in a bit’. This English phrase refers to a small or short amount of time, but it is not an exact amount of time (it is not specific).
Banks boss says, “I have to leave here in a bit”, which means she has to leave in a short amount of time. In other words, she means she has to leave soon.
When communicating in English at work, you might hear your boss say, “The meeting will start in a bit” which means it will start soon. Or your coworker might say, “I will email you the project details in a bit” meaning they will send you an email soon.
In a Bind
Finally, let’s look at the three-word English phrase ‘in a bind’. We can use this when we are in a difficult situation or when we have a problem to deal with, usually when there is no easy solution.
In our example above, Bank’s boss told him she was ‘in a bind’ because of her difficult situation: She had to be in a meeting in a bit, but also had an urgent report to complete. So she gave Bank the USB drive and asked him to do it.
You can use ‘in a bind’ to refer to problems at work, such as not having enough time to do something or when something happens because of someone else’s mistake: “Nok didn’t complete her report, which has really put me in a bind.”
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After reading this article, you should now have a better understanding of these common multi-words that use ‘in a’. It is important to understand their meaning and how to pronounce them, because they are often used in the workplace.
So the next time your boss or coworker tells you “I’m in a bind,” you can say, “Can I help you?”
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Further Reading:
See more of the kinds of multi-words you might learn in our workshop for Business Meetings in English in our previous article Business English Phrases Using “as far as.”
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Visit our Contact Us page to inquire about English communication skills training for professionals in Thailand. Or, schedule a discovery call with our Founder, Don Gorr.
