Office Tasks & Supplies — B1 Essential Words
Ten essential B1 words (Office English) with the complete apparatus: pronunciation, simple definitions, natural American examples, collocations, family, the common mistake and spoken usage — plus a 15-question practice quiz. Mark your status on every word.
paperwork /ˈpeɪpərwɜːrk/ noun B1 Office English
Meaning: The activity of filling in forms, writing reports, and handling the documents that are part of a job; the documents themselves.
Example: The job involves a lot of paperwork.
Another example: Finish the paperwork today.
Collocations: paperwork for · a lot of paperwork · do the paperwork
Synonyms: forms, documents, admin
Word family: paperwork (uncountable)
⚠ Common mistake: Nobody's favorite job part in any century — digital forms changed its paper, not its soul. Police shows use it as the hero's punishment.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its pile is the universal symbol of bureaucracy.
Register: Neutral — office essential.
photocopy /ˈfəʊtəʊkɒpi/ noun / verb B1 Office English
Meaning: A copy of a paper document made by a machine that photographs it; to make such a copy.
Example: Make a photocopy of your passport.
Another example: She photocopied the contract.
Collocations: a photocopy of · photocopy the page · photocopy machine
Synonyms: copy, xerox (brand word in US speech)
Word family: photocopies (n pl) · photocopy (v) · photocopier (n)
⚠ Common mistake: Americans often say XEROX for both the copy and the action (a brand that became a verb) — offices understand both words perfectly.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its warm smell is school-office nostalgia.
Register: Neutral — office essential.
filing /ˈfaɪlɪŋ/ noun B1 Office English
Meaning: The job of putting documents away in files and folders in an organized system; also officially submitting a document (filing a complaint, filing taxes).
Example: The filing took all afternoon.
Another example: Filing taxes is due in April.
Collocations: filing cabinet · do the filing · filing a complaint
Synonyms: organizing, archiving, submitting
Word family: file (v/n) · files (n pl) · filing (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Its cabinet is the office furniture icon of the last century. April in America runs on its tax sense.
🗣 In spoken American English: Good filing is invisible until the audit arrives.
Register: Neutral — office staple.
stamp /stæmp/ noun B1 Office English
Meaning: A small piece of paper with a picture and value that you stick on a letter or package to pay for sending it (postage stamp); also a tool that prints a date or mark on documents, and its mark.
Example: Put a stamp on the envelope.
Another example: The office stamp shows the date.
Collocations: a stamp on · postage stamp · the date stamp
Synonyms: seal, mark, postage
Word family: stamps (n pl) · stamp (v) · stamping (n)
⚠ Common mistake: Collectors chase its postal kind worldwide. Passports collect its official kind like travel tattoos. Feet do its third sense when impatient ('stamp your feet').
🗣 In spoken American English: Its albums were childhood's first investment portfolios.
Register: Neutral — office essential.
drawer /drɔːr/ noun B1 Office English
Meaning: A box-shaped container that slides in and out of a desk or piece of furniture, used for storing things.
Example: The pens are in the top drawer.
Another example: She opened the drawer slowly.
Collocations: in the drawer · top drawer · the drawer
Synonyms: compartment, box, tray
Word family: drawers (n pl)
⚠ Common mistake: Say DROR (one syllable squeezes two letters' worth). Underwear shares its name ('drawers', old-fashioned plural) — desks and dressers converge again.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its junk version exists in every kitchen on Earth.
Register: Neutral — office essential.
clip /klɪp/ noun B1 Office English
Meaning: A small metal or plastic object used to hold papers together (paper clip); also a short piece of film or video, and to cut or fasten quickly.
Example: Hold the pages with a clip.
Another example: Watch this clip from the movie.
Collocations: a paper clip · clip together · a video clip
Synonyms: fastener, extract, pin
Word family: clips (n pl) · clip (v) · clipping (n)
⚠ Common mistake: The paper clip's design is so perfect it never changed in a century. Video clips inherited its 'small cut piece' soul for the internet age.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its red Microsoft ancestor (Clippy) still haunts office nostalgia.
Register: Neutral — office essential.
envelope /ˈenvələʊp/ noun B1 Office English
Meaning: A flat paper container used for sending letters and documents in the mail.
Example: Write the address on the envelope.
Another example: The letter came in a blue envelope.
Collocations: the envelope · in an envelope · envelope, please
Synonyms: mailer, cover, packet
Word family: envelopes (n pl)
⚠ Common mistake: Say EN-vel-ope (the first vowel wins in the US; British EN or AHN both heard). 'Pushing the envelope' means testing limits — from aviation, not mail.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its red-carpet cousin announces award winners ('And the envelope, please...').
Register: Neutral — office essential.
calendar /ˈkælɪndər/ noun B1 Office English
Meaning: A system of organizing days, weeks, and months of the year; a printed table of them, or the app/schedule where you record appointments.
Example: Check the calendar for July.
Another example: Add it to my calendar.
Collocations: the calendar · on the calendar · calendar app
Synonyms: schedule, diary (UK), planner
Word family: calendars (n pl) · calendar (v)
⚠ Common mistake: Its wall kind once sold puppies and landscapes in December. Phones swallowed it whole — 'calendar invite' is the meeting's passport now.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its year (365 days) came from watching the sky, not the office.
Register: Neutral — office essential.
paycheck /ˈpeɪtʃek/ noun B1 Office English
Meaning: The check or payment a worker receives for their work, usually every week or two weeks (in American usage), and the amount itself.
Example: His paycheck arrives on Fridays.
Another example: Living paycheck to paycheck is hard.
Collocations: a paycheck · paycheck to paycheck · the paycheck
Synonyms: wages, salary payment, pay
Word family: paychecks (n pl) · pay (v/n)
⚠ Common mistake: 'Living paycheck to paycheck' is America's financial-tightrope phrase. Direct deposit killed the paper kind; the word kept the whole meaning.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its day (payday) is the calendar's favorite.
Register: Neutral — office essential.
cubicle /ˈkjuːbɪkəl/ noun B1 Office English
Meaning: A small workspace in a big office, separated from others by low walls on three sides, with a desk inside.
Example: Her cubicle is near the window.
Another example: Cubicles fill the whole floor.
Collocations: a cubicle · cubicle walls · in my cubicle
Synonyms: booth, workspace, pod
Word family: cubicles (n pl)
⚠ Common mistake: Office culture's most debated invention — Dilbert comics built an empire on its walls. Open-plan offices tried to kill it; focus quietly misses it.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its decorating (photos, plants) is personalization at three-wall scale.
Register: Neutral — office staple.
Practice — Office Tasks & Supplies
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