English at Work
Communication expert KEN TAYLOR answers your questions about business English. Here, he looks at the difference between “unless” and “except”, and has advice on using open and closed questions.
Ken Taylor answers your questions
Dear Ken
Could you explain the difference between “unless” and “except”? Thanks a lot. I am looking forward to your reply.
Kerstin D.
Dear Kerstin
“Unless” is like “if not” or “except if”. You could, for ⋅ example, say:
I’ll go there unless it rains. (= if it doesn’t rain; except if it rains; as long as it doesn’t ⋅ rain)
We could eat at the cafe unless it is closed. (= if it isn’t closed; provided it’s open)
“Except” or “except for” means “not including” or “excluding”. It means the same as “apart from”. You could say, for example: ⋅
I work every day except Sunday. (= apart from Sunday; ⋅ excluding Sunday) We’re all going to the party except for John. (= apart from John; with the exception of John) Best wishes
Ken
Dear Ken
I work in an industry where networking is very important. I have to attend meetings and social events with all sorts of people. This means that I need to be very good at small talk and social conversation.
A colleague recently mentioned that it is important to use open questions rather than closed questions when talking to people. I’m not entirely sure what she meant. Could you explain this to me, please?
Regards
Carina M.
Dear Carina
Both open and closed questions are useful in social conversation. If you ask a closed question, you expect “yes” or “no” as an answer: ⋅ ⋅
Did you come by taxi?
Are you staying at the Grand ⋅ Hotel?
Do you like the venue? Closed questions are good if you want to check that you have understood what has been said or when you want to check specific details. But closed questions do not help move the conversation along or help you get inside the mind of your conversation partner.
Open questions, on the other hand, give your conversation partner the chance to answer at more length and in more detail. You might use question words such as “what”, “when”, “how”, “where” and “who” to encourage the other person to engage in conversation: ⋅ ⋅
How did you get here today? ⋅ Where are you staying?
What do you think about the venue?
You can also use the question word “why” to introduce an open question. In a business context, for example, you could ask: ⋅
Why is there a delay in the delivery?
This a reasonable question. But you need to be careful if you ask for a rational explanation of someone’s behaviour. Then “why”-questions can easily be interpreted ⋅ as hostile or critical:
Why did you do that?
Both closed and open questions are useful conversational tools when used at the right time. But their usefulness also depends on how and when you ask which question and on the rapport you have built with the person you are asking.
All the best
Ken