Guides

Shifting From General to Executive English

Beyond grammar: three key areas to refine for authoritative communication in international professional settings.

Anyone looking to improve their English for high-level professional contexts often faces three overlapping problems that tend to be treated as one. The first is register: the ability to calibrate language to context, from an informal video call to a board presentation. The second is familiarity with idioms and collocations typical of the Anglophone professional world: the set phrases that circulate in meetings and emails. The third is false friends: words that an Italian native speaker recognises because they sound familiar, but mean something different in English, sometimes the opposite. You can have an excellent command of register and still regularly trip over false friends, or know idioms inside out but apply them in the wrong context. This article aims to shed light on the most common mistakes.

The First Problem: Register

Register is the linguistic element concerning the appropriateness of words to their context. It is not a question of grammatical correctness or technical terminology: it is about choosing the right words for that room, that email, or that professional relationship.
A straightforward example: We need to sort out the budget stuff before the call is perfectly correct English and works well in a direct message between close colleagues or in an informal internal meeting. The same sentence in a board presentation or an email to a foreign partner inadvertently displays a level of informality that does not belong in that context and could potentially create friction.
The trap for many non-native speakers is that English acquired primarily through informal content (think comedy series, podcast conversations, etc.) is calibrated to everyday registers. It works well in the same communicative situation, but as soon as the context shifts, its limitations become apparent. In a meeting with international stakeholders or an email to a foreign partner, the expected register is higher and relies on lexical and cultural conventions that informal input rarely covers.
Taking the leap from general to professional English means learning to recognise when stuff works and when it doesn’t, and always having the right alternative to hand.

What does this look like in practice?

Informal Let’s sort out the money stuff before the call.
Formal We need to firm up the budget allocation before proceeding.

↳ The phrasal verb firm up means to consolidate something provisional into something definite. Read the definition: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/firm-up

Informal Can you check with the client and see what they think?
Formal Can you touch base with the client and get their read on this?

↳ The phrasal verb touch base means to make contact with someone to exchange updates.
Read the definition: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/touch-base

The Second Problem: Idioms

Business idioms are figurative expressions with well-established conventional meaning in the Anglophone professional world; knowing them is essential for understanding your interlocutors.
Some of these expressions carry a precise meaning that is difficult to replace.

A ballpark figure — a rough estimate

Comes from American baseball stadiums. Stadium dimensions vary, but they all fall within a recognisable range; in the ballpark means in the right order of magnitude. In a professional context, it is an explicit request for informed approximation, not imprecision.

To spearhead — to lead as a driving force

She led the initiative describes a role. It says she was in charge, that people reported to her. It says nothing about how central her position was.
She spearheaded the initiative says something more: that she drove it, initiated it. It implies that without her, the initiative probably would not have existed or would not have got off the ground when it did.

To go the extra mile — to do more than the minimum; to go above and beyond

The standard phrase in feedback and performance reviews for recognising effort that exceeds expectations. The image is of someone who walks a second mile when only one was required.
Other expressions are equally widespread but have lost their precision through overuse. On 26 February 2026, the Wall Street Journal asked its readers which corporate jargon terms they found most insufferable: the list explicitly included leverage (to use something to gain an advantage), circle back (to return to a matter at a later point), and deep dive (to examine a topic in depth).
Therefore, the secret with idioms is to choose them deliberately, avoiding phrases devoid of meaning or that add nothing of value to the conversation.

The Third Problem: False Friends

False friends are a different kettle of fish! The issue here is words that an Italian speaker recognises because they sound familiar, perhaps sharing Latin roots or appearing directly translatable, but which mean something different in English, sometimes the complete opposite.
In spoken communication, tone of voice and context can sometimes resolve the misunderstanding before any damage is done. In written communication (emails, reports, contracts, presentations, etc.), that safety net disappears and the risk of creating genuine ambiguity around deadlines, commitments, or assessments becomes real.

Examples

English word False friends for italian speakers Correct meaning Why it matters professional
Eventually Sounds like eventualmente — perhaps, possibly Sooner or later; at some point. Implies certainty, not possibility. We will eventually need more resources in an email means the company will certainly need more resources in the future.
Sensible Sounds like sensibile — emotional, sensitive Reasonable, sound — a positive intellectual quality. That’s a sensible approach is a direct compliment. It means the approach is well-reasoned, not emotionally driven.
Pretend Sounds like pretendere — to demand, to require To make believe, to feign, to simulate. In our company, we pretend to put the customer first does not mean we insist on prioritising customers — it means we only pretend to. A costly mistake in a company brochure translated into English.
Demand Sounds like domanda — a neutral or polite request A forceful request, often implying insistence or entitlement. I demand some information about your services is not a polite enquiry. An Anglophone partner will read it as a firm, pressing request.
Actually Sounds like attualmente — currently, at the present time In fact, as a matter of fact — introduces a correction or clarification. Actually, the figures show the opposite does not mean the figures show something different right now — it means they show the opposite, full stop.
In all of these cases, the error can go unnoticed because a native English speaker has no way of identifying it. The mistake originates in the Italian linguistic system, not in a grammatical rule the speaker has got wrong. The listener understands the sentence in its correct English meaning, unaware that the speaker intended something different. In a live conversation, things move on, no one corrects anything, and the misunderstanding remains invisible to both parties.

Three Problems, One Goal

Register, idioms, and false friends are three distinct areas that converge towards the same outcome when addressed together: the ability to use English as a precise professional tool, not merely as a comprehensible language.
Sometimes, “comprehensible” is not enough. Whether in a negotiation, a presentation to international stakeholders, or a legally binding document that someone will read without the opportunity to ask for clarification, every lexical choice communicates something about the person writing or speaking: their level of familiarity with that world, and their ability to navigate that language with confidence.
The goal is not to speak flawless English, but to use it with awareness; knowing when stuff works and when it does not, when leverage is the right tool and when it is an overworked cliché, when eventually says exactly what you mean and when, for an Italian speaker, it risks saying the opposite.

Get in touch to transform your English into the Executive English that your international counterparts expect in a professional setting.