Business Language: 13 Words Ending in -ee

Learning objectives

In this article, you will

• learn how to make nouns from verb + -ee
• learn about the difference between the endings -er and -ee
• learn thirteen useful -ee words for business English.

Newsmart Level 2 (A2/B1, TOEIC 171–388, TOEFL iBT 30–40, IELTS 4)

Have you ever noticed how many nouns in business language end in the letters -ee? Most of them refer to people. Read this story to find 13 great business language -ee words.

Kaylee was looking for a job in the restaurant business, so she went on a training course to learn new skills. Lee was a great trainer and Kaylee was the best trainee on the course. At the end of the course, there was an examination, and Kaylee was the best examinee. Lee was so impressed with Kaylee’s skills that he agreed to be a referee on her resume, to recommend her to future employers.

So she went for a job interview at Ashlee’s company — a chain of fast-food restaurants. Ashlee is a very experienced interviewer, but Kaylee was the best interviewee she’s ever met. So Ashlee offered to employ Kaylee. Kaylee’s first job as an employee at Ashlee’s company was very simple. She checked the company’s payments, to make sure the company always paid the right payee. It was easy work, but very important, and she did it well.

Ashlee’s company didn’t own all its restaurants. Most of them were owned by smaller businesses, called franchisees, which paid Ashlee’s company for the right to use her brand and marketing. Ashlee’s brand was very valuable — customers saw it as a guarantee of quality, so the franchisees were happy to pay a lot of money to use it.

After a few years, Ashlee was looking for a new person to join her company’s Strategy and Growth Committee. Ashlee nominated Kaylee for a position on the committee. There were two other nominees for the position, but Kaylee was the best candidate, so the committee appointed her. As a new appointee, Kaylee started as just an attendee — she attended the meetings but didn’t make any decisions. But she became a full member soon.

After a few more years, it was time for Ashlee to retire, so she handed responsibility for the company and its money to a trust. She appointed three trustees — people that she trusted to manage the trust for her. And which employee do you think was her nominee to lead the committee of trustees? That’s right. It was Kaylee.

Photo credit: Jodie/flickr

Originally published at www.getnewsmart.com.