How to....- Rephrase a concept in a business environment.

Using language diplomatically can be a challenge, even when speaking our mother tongue, but it is especially difficult when speaking a foreign language since we often lack the appropriate vocabulary, and a knowledge of alternative grammatical structures.

1. Softeners

‘I’m afraid’ is commonly referred to as a ‘softener’, a linguistic tool used to soften the tone of our content or convey politeness when we speak. Softeners often occur at the beginning of a sentence to prepare us for bad news: I’m afraid, so sorry, to be honest, unfortunately, with all respect

·         To be honest, I think we need to rethink our marketing strategy.

·         With all respect, I don’t agree with what you just said.

2. Modal Verbs

Modal verbs such as would, could, may or might are great for softening a request or giving a command:

- I want more time to finish this presentation.

·         I could use more time to finish this presentation.

·         It would be nice to have more time to finish this presentation.

- Hand me the telephone, please.

·         Would you hand me the telephone, please?

·         Could you hand me the telephone, please?

3. Rephrasing a Negative Sentence

Negative sentences can be rephrased in order to make them appear more positive. Our very first sentence can be made even more diplomatic in this way:

- I’m afraid I haven’t finished the report.

·         I’m afraid I haven’t been able to finish the report yet.

Using ‘be able to’ here places emphasis on your attempt to finish the report rather than your failure to do so.

The addition of ‘yet’ at the end of the sentence reinforces the idea that you are still working on the report and it is almost completed.

Negative sentences that are formed with can’t and won’t make the speaker sound particularly negative and unhelpful and can often be rephrased with be able to, or a similar expression:

 -  I can’t give you a better deal than that.

·         I am not able to give you a better deal than that.

·         I am unable to give you a better deal than that.

·         I am not in a position to give you a better deal than that.

Similarly, affirmative sentences containing words with a negative meaning can be rephrased in order to soften the message and achieve a more indirect effect:

- I am unhappy with this agreement.

·         I am not entirely happy with this agreement.

·         I am not totally happy with this agreement.

Here the negative adjective unhappy is replaced with its positive counterpart happy, modified with an adverb such as entirely, totally or completely, and the sentence is changed to the negative form.

Of course, to achieve the best results we’ll need to combine these techniques to make sentences that contain several of these elements.