English Vocabulary and Grammar for Professional Development

Posted on Sep 8, 2025 in English

Key Vocabulary for Social and Economic Topics

  • Gender inequality: Desigualdad de género.
  • Gender gaps: Diferencias entre sexos, brecha entre géneros.
  • Literacy skills: Nivel de alfabetización.
  • Workforce: Personal, empleados.
  • Glass ceiling: Techo de cristal (limitación velada del ascenso laboral de las mujeres al interior de las organizaciones).
  • Wage gap: Diferencias salariales, brecha salarial.
  • Child care: Cuidado infantil.
  • Average: Promedio, media.
  • Role models: Modelos de comportamiento.

Family Vocabulary

  • Verb, Noun, Adjective Forms:
  • No hay, poverty, poor
  • To lack, a lack, no hay
  • Employ, employment, employed
  • No hay, disability, disabled

Vocabulary with Prepositions

  • Discriminate against: Discriminar a.
  • Prevent from: Excluir de, privar de.
  • Participate in: Participar en.
  • Benefit from: Beneficiarse de.
  • Refer to: Referirse a.
  • Exclude from: Excluir de.
  • Responsible for: Responsable de.

GRAMMAR


UNIT 3: Expressing Contrast and Comparisons

1. Expressing Contrast

  • Whereas (beginning of sentence), while (middle): mientras que.
  • However (middle, after semicolon), nevertheless (middle, after period), nonetheless (middle, after period): sin embargo.
  • Although (beginning), even though (middle, stronger), though (end of second clause, separated by period): aunque.
  • Despite (beginning), in spite of (beginning or middle): a pesar de.

2. Comparisons

  • Countable nouns: more and fewer.
  • Uncountable nouns: more and less.
  • Degrees of difference with countable nouns: far/much/significantly more, far/much/significantly less.
  • Degrees of difference with uncountable nouns: far/many/significantly more, far/much/significantly fewer (not many).
  • Small difference with countable nouns: slightly/marginally more, slightly/marginally less.
  • Small difference with uncountable nouns: slightly/marginally more, slightly/marginally fewer.

3. Transition Words

  • Instead of “And”: In addition / Additionally / Furthermore / Moreover / Plus.
  • Instead of “But”: However / Nevertheless / Still / Despite that / Nonetheless / Even so.

UNIT 4: Past Modals and Passive Reporting

1. Past Modals

  • To make guesses or deductions about past actions or states, use a past modal of deduction: modal verb + have + past participle (also called the perfect infinitive).
  • Example: A: Where’s my phone? B: You could have left it in your office.
  • To make deductions about continuous actions or states: modal verb + have + been + -ing form.
  • Example: A: Why didn’t Sarah come to the party last night? B: She must have been feeling ill.
  • To make deductions using the passive: modal verb + have + been + past participle.
  • Example: Your phone could have been stolen from your jacket.

2. Reporting with Passive Voice

  • Many people think Messi is the best player ever. → Messi is thought to be the best player ever.
  • Experts think that Van Gogh painted the painting in 1888. → Van Gogh is thought to have painted the painting in 1888.
  • The prosecutor is very good at questioning eyewitnesses. → The prosecutor is known to be good at questioning eyewitnesses.