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Lesson 82 / Sales & budgeting
5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.
Prepare stock, plan costs and manage money for a class stall.
Match words to pictures →Play What is She/He doing? →
A randomly assigned, fixed male or female synthetic voice for each phrase or sentence · Slow playback at 0.7× preserves pitch.
We need to stock up on paper bags before the fair.
We need to stock up on paper bags before the fair.
They stocked up on pencils for the busy week.
They stocked up on pencils for the busy week.
Use “on” before the supplies: “stock up on paper”. This does not mean buying everything left in a shop.
Cambridge Dictionary · stock up
We marked down the notebooks at the end of the fair.
We marked down the notebooks at the end of the fair.
These cards were marked down from ten dollars to seven.
These cards were marked down from ten dollars to seven.
Here this means reducing a selling price, rather than writing a number in a notebook. With a pronoun, say “mark it down”.
Cambridge Dictionary · mark down
We sold off the remaining cards before closing.
We sold off the remaining cards before closing.
The club is selling off its old equipment.
The club is selling off its old equipment.
This often means selling remaining or unwanted items, sometimes cheaply. Do not confuse it with “sell out”, meaning to have no stock left; the past form is “sold”.
We paid the money into the school fund.
We paid the money into the school fund.
My father pays some money into his account each month.
My father pays some money into his account each month.
The money goes before “into” and the receiving account or fund after it. The past form of “pay” is “paid”.
We must budget for paper, paint and bags.
We must budget for paper, paint and bags.
Did you budget for the cost of printing?
Did you budget for the cost of printing?
Use “for” before the planned expense. “Budget for” focuses on allowing enough money, while “save up” means gradually collecting money.
The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 123, 87, 113, 95, 15. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.
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Drag a wire from the dot beside a phrase to the dot beside its matching picture. You can also tap a phrase, then a picture. Drag again to change a pair before checking.
Read the picture descriptions for more context. Similar expressions are accepted when they fit the particular scene.
Linh adds paper and supplies to storage boxes before the stall opens.
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Linh replaces a price tag showing 10 with one showing 7 on an item at the stall.
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Linh sells the stall’s remaining cards to a friend; the display tray is nearly empty.
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Linh and an adult pay the money raised into the fund’s account at a bank counter.
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Linh uses a calculator and picture cards to plan the stall’s costs for paper, pens and bags.
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Choose a phrase to begin.
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Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.
We should stock up on cups before the fair.
We should stock up on cups before the fair.
The shop has marked them down this week.
The shop has marked them down this week.
Good. Let us budget for the other supplies too.
Good. Let us budget for the other supplies too.
“Stock up” means obtain supplies for later; “mark down” means reduce a selling price. A lower price may prompt stocking up, but the actions differ.
Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.
The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.
A fair organiser buys extra labels for next month. A supplier has reduced their selling price this week.
Describe obtaining extra supplies.
The organiser stocks up on labels.
Buying extra labels for next month is “stocks up on labels”, beyond today’s immediate needs.
Replace “the prices” with “them”: Mark down the prices.
Mark them down.
“Them” replaces the prices being reduced, so use “mark them down”; “down” signals the reduction.
Write a budget reminder.
Budget for next month’s supplies before stocking up.
“Budget for” plans next month’s supply costs before stocking up, even while this week’s prices are lower.
The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.
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