In most UAE workplaces, English is the language of meetings and emails, even when most of the team speaks Arabic. Many employees know English well but can’t find the right phrase at the right moment. Here are 30 practical phrases grouped by situation.
Opening a meeting
- Shall we get started?
- The purpose of today’s meeting is to…
- Let’s go through the agenda.
- Thank you all for coming at short notice.
Giving your opinion
- From my point of view, …
- I’d like to suggest that we…
- I see your point, but…
- I’m not sure I agree with that.
- That’s a good point.
Interrupting politely and asking for clarification
- Sorry to interrupt, but…
- Could you clarify what you mean by…?
- Could you go over that again?
- Just to make sure I understand, …
Tasks and deadlines
- Who will take care of this?
- What’s the deadline for this?
- I’ll follow up on that.
- Let’s set a timeline.
- Can we push this to next week?
Emails
- I hope this email finds you well.
- Please find attached…
- Just a quick reminder that…
- Please let me know if you have any questions.
- I look forward to hearing from you.
Read more: how to write a formal email in English.
Calls and video meetings
- Can everyone hear me?
- You’re on mute.
- Sorry, you broke up. Could you repeat that?
- I’ll share my screen.
Closing a meeting
- Let’s wrap up.
- To sum up, we agreed to…
- I’ll send the minutes after the meeting.
How to actually remember these phrases
- Pick only 5 phrases a week and use them at work.
- Keep them in your phone notes and review them before meetings.
- Say them out loud – pronunciation is part of confidence.
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