Everyday office vocabulary

Look around your office. Can you name the everyday objects you use in your work? Here's a guide to some of the more familiar things in English.

Writing materials

You can use a pen to write with. Some people prefer to use a biro (disposable pen), and you might have to fill out an official form with a ballpoint pen (a pen where the writing end is in the form of a small ball). It's becoming rarer to see a fountain pen (a pen which you need to fill up with ink).

There are also more specialist pens, such as an OHP pen (a pen you use to write on overhead projector transparencies) and

a highlighter pen (to highlight parts of a text).

Teachers use

board markers to write on whiteboards, and the writing can be easily erased.

If you make a mistake with a biro, you can easily use tippex to “white out” what you have written. However, if you write with a pencil, you can rub out your mistakes with an eraser (American English) or a rubber (British English).

You need to keep your pencil sharp (sharpen a pencil) with a pencil sharpener.

When you're in a meeting, you'll probably take notes in a note book. If you want to remind yourself to do something, you can write yourself a note on a post-it note. (A yellow piece of paper with a sticky part that you can attach to your computer or desk.)

Presentation materials

Teachers often write on whiteboards.

(Some schools still use blackboards where teachers need to use chalk.) You might also have a whiteboard in your office.

If you are giving a presentation, you can also use a flip chart, which is a metal stand that supports large sheets of paper. When you have finished writing on one sheet, you can flip it over and use the sheet underneath.

There may be a noticeboard in your office or company where you can pin up notices. To do this, you'll need a drawing pin (small metal pin with a round head).

Attaching things

You can use a paperclip

to keep pieces of paper together.

Or you can use a stapler

to staple pieces of paper together. (A stapler uses metal staples.)

To stick things together, you can use glue, or sellotape.

This sellotape is in a sellotape dispenser, which makes it easier to find the end of the tape.

To keep lots of larger pieces of paper together, you can use a rubber band / an elastic band (a circular piece of elastic that stretches).

Cutting things

Use a hole punch

to make holes in the margins of your paper, so that you can file it in a file.

Use a pair of scissors

to cut paper, and a stanley knife (a blade that you can push out of a protective casing) to cut tougher objects such as cardboard.

Measuring things

Use a ruler

to mark out straight lines.

Use a calculator to calculate amounts.

Storing things

Filing (putting things into files) is an inevitable task unless you have a paperless office.

Files come in all sizes, shapes and materials. There are ringbinder files, which have metal hoops that you can open and close. Some files are made of thick card, while others are plastic. Some plastic files are ringbinder files, while others are more like plastic briefcases.

In some offices you can find a filing cabinet (a large metal cupboard with deep drawers where you can store your files.) Other people keep their files in a drawer of their desk.

On your desk you might have a desk tidy to keep your pens and pencils together. There might be different compartments to put paperclips and rubber bands.

Miscellaneous objects and equipment

You can put your rubbish into a wastepaper basket.

You can make a copy of a piece of paper using a photocopier.You can also print directly from your computer using a printer.