Work Vocabulary: Idioms, Collocations, and Word Forms

Level: B2. Reading at B2. The word lists range from B1 to C1 on purpose; frequency scores show which words are common.

Printable: Student activity handout (PDF) | Teacher’s key (PDF)

Work: More Than a Paycheck

Work takes up a huge part of our lives. For many adults, it fills more waking hours than anything else. It pays the bills, of course, but it also shapes our routines, our friendships, and even how we introduce ourselves. Ask people what they do, and most will answer with their job. Work done well can give a real sense of purpose; work that never stops can take over everything else.

Most working lives move between these two sides. Some days you roll up your sleeves, get down to work, and feel proud of what you finish. Other days you are snowed under, working against the clock, or quietly worried about burning out. Good work-life balance does not mean working less every week. It means knowing when to put in the work and when to stop, because all work and no play rarely helps anyone.

This page explores the idea of work and the language we use to talk about it. You will find word forms, common mistakes, collocations, preposition patterns, expressions from “get down to work” to “all in a day’s work,” synonyms and antonyms, quotations, interactive activities, discussion questions, and a practice text for shadow reading and typing.

Word Family

work (2) (noun, uncountable) US /wɝk/, UK /wɜːk/: a job, or the tasks and effort needed to do something.
I have a lot of work to do this weekend.
Translations: 工作 | 仕事 | 일, 업무 | काम | عمل | работа | trabajo | travail

Common mistakes

Work is usually uncountable. Say a lot of work, not a lot of works. For one paid position, use job: She found a new job, not a new work. Plural works means things an artist or writer created.
No article in go to work. Say go to work, at work, and leave work, not go to the work.
Four prepositions, four meanings. You work for a company, at a place, in a field, and as a job title: I work for a bank, at its main office, in finance, as an analyst.
Work out has several meanings. I work out at the gym (exercise). We worked out the answer (solve). It all worked out (end well). The noun is one word: a workout.
Work, job, and career are different. Your job is the position you are paid for. Work is the activity. Your career is the series of jobs across your working life.

Collocations

Collocations are words that often go together. For a longer list, see work on OZDIC, a free collocation dictionary.

Verbs with work

Adjective + work

These describe the kind of work or how it is done.

Work + noun

Compound nouns

work-life balance: the right amount of time for work and for your personal life.
A shorter week could improve work-life balance.
Translations: 工作与生活的平衡 | ワークライフバランス | 일과 삶의 균형 | काम और जीवन का संतुलन | التوازن بين العمل والحياة | баланс работы и личной жизни | conciliación de la vida laboral y personal | équilibre vie professionnelle et vie privée

Preposition Patterns

These patterns show who you work for, where you work (at a place, in a field), what you work as, and what you work on.

Expressions: A Day at Work

These idioms and phrases follow a working day: getting started, working hard, feeling the pressure, solving problems, and talking about work in general.

Getting started

Beginning a task

Hard at work

Working very hard

Under pressure

When work feels like too much

Sorting it out

Solving problems and fitting things in

All in a day’s work

Talking about work in general

Synonyms and Antonyms

No synonym means exactly the same as work. The notes explain the differences.

Synonyms

Antonyms

play (noun): activity done for fun, especially by children.
The contrast in all work and no play. As a noun, it can also mean a performance in a theater.
Frequency: 5.61 | Rank: 220 (for all uses, including the verb)
Children learn a lot through play.
Translations: 玩耍 | 遊び | 놀이 | खेल | لعب | игра | juego | jeu

Activity Page

Five activities: Expressions, Collocations, Too Much or Manageable, Error Correction, and Fill in the Blank. Open the activity page in a new tab

Speed Challenge

Answer 12 questions against the clock. Every wrong answer adds 5 seconds, and the lowest score wins. Open the speed challenge in a new tab.

Shadow Reading and Typing: My First Real Job

This short story uses many of the expressions on this page. Use it for shadow reading (reading aloud along with a model) and for typing practice.

My first real job was at a busy bakery near my university. I needed work, so I applied the day I saw the sign. The owner offered me part-time work on weekends. On my first morning, she said, “Let’s get down to work,” and handed me an apron.

The work was harder than I expected. Saturdays were the worst. We worked against the clock to fill every order before nine. By noon, I was snowed under with dirty trays. One of the other workers never pulled his weight, and I sometimes got worked up about it. Still, the teamwork in the kitchen was amazing.

During exams, I also had to burn the midnight oil. My workload felt impossible, and I was close to burning out. My mother said, “All work and no play isn’t healthy.” She was right, so I asked the owner to change my work schedule. Together we worked out a plan with fewer hours in May.

That small change worked wonders. Looking back, the job gave me a strong work ethic. Spilling flour and calming angry customers was all in a day’s work. I don’t work there anymore, but my work-life balance is still a work in progress.

How to practice

Read the text silently once and check any expressions you are unsure of.
Read it aloud slowly, one sentence at a time. On the typing page, the Listen button reads each line with your device’s voice, so you can listen first and then repeat.
Shadow: read aloud again at a natural speed, trying to keep a steady rhythm without stopping.
Record yourself, listen back, and note one sentence to practice again.
Type it on the typing page below and check your speed and accuracy.

Open the typing practice in a new tab

Quotations

Use these as warm-ups. Read the quotation, then discuss the question.

“Our labour preserves us from three great evils: weariness, vice, and want.”

Voltaire, Candide, chapter 30 (1759), in a public-domain English translation

At the end of the novel, a farmer explains why he is content: work keeps away boredom, bad habits, and poverty. Here want means need, not desire.
Warm-up: Which of the three, boredom, bad habits, or need, does work protect you from most?
Translations: 劳动使我们远离三大不幸：烦闷、恶习和贫困。 | 労働は私たちを三つの大きな災い、つまり退屈、悪徳、貧困から遠ざける。 | 일은 우리를 세 가지 큰 악, 곧 권태와 악덕과 궁핍에서 지켜 준다. | श्रम हमें तीन बड़ी बुराइयों से बचाता है: ऊब, बुराई और अभाव। | العمل يقينا ثلاثة شرور عظيمة: الضجر والرذيلة والحاجة. | Труд избавляет нас от трёх великих зол: скуки, порока и нужды. | El trabajo nos aleja de tres grandes males: el aburrimiento, el vicio y la necesidad. | Le travail éloigne de nous trois grands maux : l’ennui, le vice et le besoin.

“Work is love made visible.”

Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, “On Work” (1923)

Gibran, a Lebanese-American poet, sees good work as a way of caring for other people.
Warm-up: Think of a job someone does for you. How does their work show care?
Translations: 工作是看得见的爱。 | 仕事とは目に見える愛である。 | 일은 눈에 보이는 사랑이다. | काम प्रेम का दिखाई देने वाला रूप है। | العمل هو الحبّ وقد صار مرئيًّا. | Труд есть зримая любовь. | El trabajo es el amor hecho visible. | Le travail est l’amour rendu visible.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Steve Jobs, Stanford University commencement speech (June 12, 2005)

Jobs told graduates to keep looking for work they love. Critics point out that many people cannot choose their job so freely.
Warm-up: Do you need to love a job to do it well? Why or why not?
Translations: 成就伟大工作的唯一途径，就是热爱你所做的事。 | 偉大な仕事をする唯一の方法は、自分のやっていることを愛することだ。 | 위대한 일을 하는 유일한 방법은 자신이 하는 일을 사랑하는 것이다. | महान काम करने का एकमात्र तरीक़ा है, जो आप करते हैं उससे प्रेम करना। | الطريقة الوحيدة لإنجاز عمل عظيم هي أن تحبّ ما تفعله. | Единственный способ делать великие дела: любить то, что ты делаешь. | La única forma de hacer un gran trabajo es amar lo que haces. | La seule façon de faire du bon travail, c’est d’aimer ce que vous faites.

Discussion Questions

Your own work

What jobs would you never want to do? Why?
What dream jobs did you have as a child? What are your dream jobs now?
What have been your best and worst work experiences so far?
Would you rather have a job that is social or solitary? Hectic or slow-paced? Varied or repetitive?
What matters most to you in a job: money, free time, travel, status, or something else?
Would you choose a job you enjoy that only just pays the bills, or a stressful job with a high salary?
If you had to work 40 hours a week, what would your ideal schedule look like?
What have you learned from your parents’ or relatives’ working lives?
What do older generations not understand about finding a job today?
How well has your education prepared you for work? What could have been better?
If you had enough money to live simply without a job, would you still work? What would you do with your time?
What differences might you expect between working for a local company and an international one?

Using the language of work

When did you last burn the midnight oil? What were you working on?
Do you know a workaholic? How does it affect their life?
Is all work and no play ever a good idea, for example before a big exam?
How do you get down to work when you don’t feel like it?
In group projects, what do you do when someone doesn’t pull their weight?
When were you last snowed under? How did you cope?
What signs show that someone is close to burning out?
What kinds of things make you get worked up?
What simple habit can work wonders for your energy or mood?
Which part of your life is still a work in progress?
What does good work-life balance look like to you?
Would you prefer remote work or a shared workplace? Why?
How important is a strong work ethic compared with talent?
Describe a job where something surprising is all in a day’s work.

AI Practice Prompt

Copy this prompt into an AI chat tool to practice.

I am a B2 English learner studying the word “work” and related expressions. Ask me one question at a time. Mix multiple-choice, true or false, and short sentence-writing tasks. Use these words and phrases: workable, workaholic, overworked, workload, workforce, work-life balance, work ethic, be out of work, work overtime, work for, work as, work on, get down to work, roll up your sleeves, pull your weight, burn the midnight oil, be snowed under, burn out, get worked up, work out, work wonders, all in a day’s work, have your work cut out. If I make a mistake, explain it briefly in [your language] and give a correct example in English. After ten questions, tell me which items I should review.

Online Resources

Working Time and Work-Life Balance Around the World (International Labour Organization). A global report on how many hours people work in different countries and how that affects their lives. Long, but the summary is readable.
Results from world’s largest 4 day week trial bring good news for the future of work (4 Day Week Global). What happened when dozens of British companies tried a four-day week. Written by the group that runs these trials.
Quote Origin: Choose a Job You Love, and You Will Never Have To Work a Day in Your Life (Quote Investigator). This famous saying is often credited to Confucius. This page shows why that is unlikely.
‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says (Stanford Report). The full text of the 2005 speech behind the third quotation.