International Negotiations

7 

 2.38 

Trainees work alone to transform the sentences and then compare their answers in 

pairs. Play the recording and then go through the answers with the class.

International Negotiations Trainer’s Notes © Cambridge University Press 2012

www.cambridge.org/elt/internationalnegotiations

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9A Handling breakdowns

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Language note

Note that the adverbial phrases in exercise 6 (with respect, to be honest, etc.) usually 

come at the beginning of a sentence. The restrictive phrases in exercise 7 (at this stage, 

at this time, etc.) usually come at the end.

8 

 2.39 

Trainees work alone to transform the sentences and then compare their answers in 

pairs. Play the recording and then go through the answers with the class. You could also elicit 

any rules: Which verbs work in this way? Why does changing the tense make them less direct? 

Language note

•  As a general rule, English speakers often use past tenses to express their wants and 

expectations to make them sound as if the idea has not just occurred, even though the 

meaning is still present. For example, So next, I wanted to discuss the delivery times 

implies that I want to discuss them now but I have been thinking about this for some 

time. Other verbs to express wants include: plan, hope, think, wonder, expect, assume.

•  Use of continuous forms suggests something that is an ongoing process and is not 

something the speaker has just thought about. Using both techniques together in a 

continuous past form distances the speaker from the thought and increases the sense of 

being less direct, e.g. So next, we had been hoping to discuss the delivery times.