TOEIC vocabulary by topic: 8 topics to learn first
TOEIC listening and reading tasks use words from situations such as meetings, hiring, ordering goods and business trips. Here you will learn basic words and phrases in 8 topics, see them in example sentences and check yourself with a short exercise.
The 8 topics in this post
- Office and meetings
- Hiring
- Staff and promotion
- Finance and accounting
- Marketing and sales
- Orders and delivery
- Airports and flights
- Hotels and booking
1. Office and meetings
Found in internal emails, meeting invitations and office notices.
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| meeting (n.) | a planned time when people meet to talk about work |
| schedule (n., v.) | a plan of times; to plan for a time |
| attend a meeting | go to a meeting |
| deadline (n.) | the latest time something must be done |
| document (n.) | a file or paper with information |
- The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m.
- Please send the document before the deadline.
Learn and practise workplace vocabulary (B1)
2. Hiring
Found in job adverts, interview invitations and cover letters.
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| vacancy (n.) | a job that is open |
| apply for a job | ask in writing to be given a job |
| applicant (n.) | a person who applies |
| interview (n., v.) | a meeting to question a candidate; to question one |
| recruit (v.) | find and hire new people |
- Applicants must send their CVs by Friday.
- The company is recruiting two new accountants.
Learn and practise job-application vocabulary (B2)
3. Staff and promotion
Found in HR notices, contracts and talks about pay.
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| employee (n.) | a person who works for a company |
| employer (n.) | a person or company that employs people |
| hire (v.) | give someone a job |
| promotion (n.) | a move to a higher job |
| salary (n.) | the fixed pay for a job |
- She received a promotion last month.
- The company hired ten new employees this year.
Learn and practise pay and progression vocabulary (B1)
4. Finance and accounting
Found in invoices, expense reports and emails from the accounts team.
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| invoice (n.) | a bill asking for payment |
| expense (n.) | money spent on something |
| revenue (n.) | money a business earns |
| budget (n.) | money planned for spending |
| payment (n.) | money paid |
- The invoice must be paid within 30 days.
- Our travel expenses were higher than the budget.
Learn and practise finance vocabulary (B1)
5. Marketing and sales
Found in adverts, special offers and sales reports.
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| campaign (n.) | a planned set of activities to promote something |
| customer (n.) | a person who buys |
| discount (n.) | an amount taken off the price |
| launch (v., n.) | bring out a new product; the event of doing so |
| sales (n.) | the number of things sold; the work of selling |
- The company will launch a new phone in May.
- Sales went up after the advertising campaign.
Learn and practise marketing and sales vocabulary (B1)
6. Orders and delivery
Found in order forms, delivery updates and warehouse notices.
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| place an order | ask a seller for goods |
| shipment (n.) | goods sent together |
| delivery (n.) | bringing goods to a place |
| warehouse (n.) | a large building for storing goods |
| inventory (n.) | the goods a business has in stock |
- I placed an order for 50 chairs yesterday.
- The shipment will arrive at the warehouse tomorrow.
Learn and practise supply-chain vocabulary (B1)
7. Airports and flights
Found in airport announcements, tickets and travel plans.
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| flight (n.) | a trip by plane |
| boarding pass (n.) | the card you show to get on a plane |
| delayed (adj.) | later than planned |
| connecting flight (n.) | the next flight you change to |
| departure lounge (n.) | the area where you wait to board |
- Your flight has been delayed by one hour.
- Please show your boarding pass at the gate.
Learn and practise air-travel vocabulary (B1)
8. Hotels and booking
Found in booking confirmations and at the front desk.
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| reservation (n.) | a room or seat kept for you |
| receptionist (n.) | the person at the front desk |
| check in (v.) | arrive and register at a hotel |
| check out (v.) | pay and leave a hotel |
| fully booked (adj.) | with no rooms or seats left |
- I have a reservation under the name Nguyen.
- Guests must check out before 12 p.m.
Learn and practise hotel and booking vocabulary (B1)
How to make topic vocabulary stick
- Learn phrases. Remember attend a meeting, meet a deadline and make a reservation rather than single words.
- Learn the word family. In hiring: apply (the verb), applicant (the person), application (the form). TOEIC sentence-completion questions often ask you to pick the right form like this.
- Test yourself with sentences. Cover the meaning column, read the examples and guess. Then do the check below and go back over the words you missed.
Words and phrases that are easy to mix up
attend a meeting: I will attend the meeting. When attend means "go to an event", the event comes straight after it, with no to. Attend to also exists, with a different meaning: deal with something.
fully booked: All rooms are fully booked. In this phrase, use fully before booked.
applicant and application: an applicant is a person; an application is the form or set of documents. The applicant sent her application yesterday.
Vocabulary check
Choose the right word:
The meeting will begin at 10 a.m., so please don't be late.
- A. meeting — Correct
- B. invoice
- C. baggage
Answer: A. meeting
Only a meeting can begin at 10 a.m. here. An invoice is a bill; baggage is what you travel with.
Choose the right word:
She applied for the job and was invited to an interview.
- A. interview — Correct
- B. inventory
- C. invoice
Answer: A. interview
An interview is the meeting where an employer asks a candidate questions.
Choose the right word:
After five years, Minh got a promotion and became a team manager.
- A. shipment
- B. promotion — Correct
- C. reservation
Answer: B. promotion
Becoming a team manager is a promotion.
Choose the right word:
Please send the invoice to the accounting team so they can pay it.
- A. invoice — Correct
- B. revenue
- C. budget
Answer: A. invoice
An invoice asks for payment. Revenue is money coming in; a budget is money planned for spending.
Choose the right word:
The store is offering a 20% discount on selected products.
- A. discount — Correct
- B. baggage
- C. deadline
Answer: A. discount
A discount is an amount taken off the normal price.
Choose the right word:
We are waiting for a shipment of 500 boxes from the supplier.
- A. discount
- B. shipment — Correct
- C. reservation
Answer: B. shipment
500 boxes coming from a supplier is one shipment.
Choose the right word:
Our flight to Singapore was delayed by two hours.
- A. flight — Correct
- B. invoice
- C. employee
Answer: A. flight
A flight is a trip by plane, and delays are announced at the airport.
Choose the right word:
Sorry, we have no rooms left tonight. The hotel is fully booked.
- A. hired
- B. booked — Correct
- C. shipped
Answer: B. booked
When every room is reserved, the hotel is fully booked.
Keep learning vocabulary by topic
Pick the topic you want to study next and practise with the sets on the site.