Book Review of Prepositions in Business English: A Guide for International Executives

The purpose of “Prepositions in Business English” is to explain the sometimes-idiomatic use of prepositions in English to non-native English speakers in the field of business. Waldmann, who is a financial journalist, writes this book from the point of view of a speaker of English as a second language who is still struggling with the preposition use that native English speakers often take for granted. For example, this book strives to teach ESL speakers the striking difference in meaning between interest in and interest on that is the result of a change in preposition. As Waldmann states in the introduction: "Sometimes the use of English prepositions is simple...Sometimes they are tricky." “Prepositions in Business English” works to make the use of English prepositions easier for speakers of English as a second language.

“Prepositions in Business English” begins with an introduction and a disclaimer for the reader. The introduction lays the foundation for the rest of the book by providing examples of some of the seemingly strange uses of prepositions in English. The disclaimer clarifies that this book is not an exhaustive source on the use of prepositions and should be used to supplement other information on the subject. Immediately following the disclaimer is a brief section about some of the most common phrases that contain prepositions found in business English. This introduction clearly outlines the purpose of this book.

The main portion of “Prepositions in Business English” is divided into six chapters. Each chapter focuses on one of the six most frequently used prepositions in English: at, for, in, on, to and with. Within each chapter is an alphabetical list of phrases that contain the target preposition. Each entry includes the phrase that contains a preposition and an example of use. For example, "Trade at: Our company trades at 16 times estimated profit" and "On the record: The president delivered his remarks on the record." For words that take multiple prepositions that result in different meanings, additional information such as a definition is also included; for example, "On pace to: The stock index is on pace to rise 3 percent today. On pace to and on pace for are expressions that mean "on the way." On pace with means "in a similar degree." At a pace indicates speed. There is also an index available at the end of the book for quickly looking up a specific word.

The only negative of the content of “Prepositions in Business English” is that this book focuses on only six prepositions of a language that contains over one hundred of these function words. However, as indicated in the disclaimer, this book is not supposed to be an exhaustive resource but rather a quick reference guide for the business professional. Overall, the format of this book makes the content easy to read and quick to access.

Although there are other books available on both English prepositions and business English for native and non-native English speakers, “Prepositions in Business English: A Guide for International Executives” is the only reference book currently available that focuses solely on the use of prepositions in business English. Even as the only book available on this topic, this book is a must-have for non-native speakers of English in the field of business who want to improve their competency with English prepositions.

“Prepositions in Business English: A Guide for International Executives” is the only book about the use of prepositions in business English for non-native speakers of English currently available on the market. Each chapter focuses on one of the six most common prepositions in the English language: at, for, in, on, to and with. Although somewhat limited in scope, the purpose of this book is not to be an exhaustive source on the English preposition but rather to make the use of prepositions in business English easier for speakers of English as a second language. The simple and clear format of the entries for each preposition makes the content of this book easy to read and quick to access. Therefore, “Prepositions in Business English” is highly recommended as a reference source on English prepositions for non-native English speaking business professionals as well as ESL and English-language students in general. Read on!