Obligations

Positive obligations for the present, future or in general:

Stronger:
You have to put on your seat belt. (US)
We are going to/will have to go through the customs when we arrive in New york. (future)
She must put on her seat belt. (UK)
Members shall follow the club rules. (formal/legal/religious/moral codes in writing)

Weaker:
You should take off your shoes in their house.
You ought to take off your shoes in their house. (UK)

Negative obligations for the present, future or in general: Stronger:
You cannot drive without your seat belt on. (US)
You must not drive without your set-belt on. (UK)
Thou shall not kill. (formal/legal/religious/moral codes in writing)

Weaker:
You should not enter their house with your shoes on.
You ought not to enter their house with your shoes on. (UK)

Positive obligations for the past:

Stronger:
We had to go through the customs when we came from the US to Belgium last week.

Weaker:
You should have taken off your shoes when you entered their house yesterday evening.
You ought to have taken off your shoes when you entered their house yesterday evening. (UK)

Negative obligations for the past:

Stronger: 
The waiter could not serve beer to my 17-year old cousin when we were in the US last year.  (US)

Weaker:
You should not have entered their house with your shoes on yesterday evening.
You ought not to have entered their house with your shoes on yesterday evening. (UK)

Lack of obligations for the present, future or in general:

You do not have to take off your shoes when you go through the security check at the airports in Europe.
You are not going to/will not have to take off your shoes at the security check in Zaventem airport when you arrive there. (future)

Lack of obligations for the present, future or in general:

We did not have to take off our shoes when we went through the security check at the airport last week.

I am hereby making some exercises on have to vs. must and should along with the key available.

Greetings and closers

Here is a list of greetings you can use in your formal emails depending on the recipient:

• Anonymous singular:

1. Dear Sir/Madam
2. Dear Madam/Sir
3. Dear Sir or Madam
4. Dear Madam or Sir

• Anonymous plural:

1. Dear Sirs/Ladies
2. Dear Ladies/Sirs
3. Dear Sirs and/or Ladies
4. Dear Ladies and/or Sirs

• With a given male name: Dear Mr Smith

• With a given female name:

1.  Dear Ms Smith (civil status irrelevant or unknown)
2.  Dear Mrs Smith (married)
3.  Dear Miss Smith (single and younger than fifty)

• With given names to a group of less than three people (male):  Dear Messrs Smith and Jones

• With given names to a group of less than three people (female):

1. Dear Mses Smith and Jones (civil statuses unknown, irrelevant or different)
2. Dear Mesdames Smith and Jones (both of them married)
3. Dear Misses Smith and Jones (both of them single and younger than fifty)

• With given names to a group of less than three people (mixed gender and not related to each other by marriage or blood): 

1. Dear Messrs Smith and Jones, and Ms Presley 
2. Dear Ms Presley, and Messrs Smith and Jones

• With a given name to a couple who use the same last name:

1. Dear Mr and Mrs Smith 
2. Dear Mrs and Mr Smith 

• With given names to a group of more than three people (mixed gender):

1. Dear Sirs/Ladies
2. Dear Ladies/Sirs
3. Dear Sirs and Ladies
4. Dear Ladies and Sirs

• With given names to a group of more than three people (all male): Dear Sirs

• With given names to a group of more than three people (all female): Dear Ladies 

• With a given first and last name and the gender is not clear:  Dear Alex Smith

Here is a list of closers which apply to all formal emails regardless of their content:

• With kind regards
• Kind regards
• Regards

You can hereby find a document on how to address various VIPs in different contexts.

Relative, -ed and -ing clauses

Here you can find some exercises on relative, -ed and -ing clauses along with the key.

Useful phrases and expressions for meetings

Here are the links for some lists of useful phrases and expressions we have covered so far:

- Agreements, disagreements and interruptions
- Opening and setting the agenda
- Moderating

Opinions, agreeing and disagreeing

Here you can find some phrases which can be used to express your opinions, agreements and disagreements along with some exercises.

Basic negotiation skills

Here you can find the handouts with some basic negotiation skills.

BBC on negotiations

Here you can have access to the BBC website on negotiations, where they have useful expressions and/or phrases contextualized in short dialogues available as audio streams with transcripts.

Here you can have access to the BBC website, where they provide some examples for interruptions contextualized in a short dialogue available as an audio stream with a transcript.

Here you can have access to the BBC website, where they provide some examples for agreements and disagreements contextualized in a short dialogue available as an audio stream with a transcript.