British and American business etiquette Modals

Choose any modal verb to fill each of the gaps below. You might need to use verbs that haven’t been introduced yet like “need to” or adverbs like “probably” and “almost certainly”

You __________________________ call a Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish person “English”

You ___________________________ call the managing director of a company the “CEO”.

In America, you ____________________ mention your achievements in a job interview, but in the UK you ___________________________

In America, you _______________________ say how proud you are of your children’s achievements, but In the UK you ___________________

The British often make critical comments about their country. You ______________________ join in by making other negative comments about the UK.

In the UK, you ________________________ say sorry to someone who has bumped into you, even though it isn’t your fault at all

In the UK, you ______________________ pay for each round of drinks and take turns paying

You _________________________ smoke in a British pub

In the UK, you ________________________ bring humour into every meeting, presentation and conference speech

You ____________________ be exactly on time for a British business meeting, but you _____________________ arrive ten to twenty minutes late for a dinner party at someone’s house

You ____________________ use first names with all but the very top managers of your company in both America and the UK

What things above are different in your country?

What other differences do you know between Britain and the USA?

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