Two Sides of the Workplace
The same desk from both sides — the one who pays, and the one who is paid.
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The -er does it. The -ee receives it. Same scene, opposite chairs.
Words for jobs and money, and the small words that always follow them.
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One pays. One is paid. Swapping them says the opposite.
______ pays me at the end of every month.
One ending does the action, the other receives it — plus the three prepositions after "work".
-er is the one who does it.
-ee is the one it is done to.
An employer employs people. An employee is employed.
Once you see it, the pair is fixed for good — and it works elsewhere too:
| does it | receives it |
|---|---|
| employer | employee |
| interviewer | interviewee |
| trainer | trainee |
| payer | payee |
So: the company has two hundred employees, and my employer pays me monthly. Getting them the wrong way round says the opposite of what you meant.
The same desk from both sides — the one who pays, and the one who is paid.
The -er does it. The -ee receives it. Same scene, opposite chairs.
Twelve words. Which end of the action is each one on?
Sort each item into the correct category
Three sentences, three prepositions after "work".
Chain 1
What follows: the name of the company that pays her — a construction firm.
The sentence: She works ___ a construction firm.
Candidates: for / as
The preposition:
Because:
Chain 2
What follows: her job title — a site engineer.
The sentence: She works ___ a site engineer.
Candidates: as / like
The preposition:
Because:
Chain 3
What follows: the field she works in — construction.
The sentence: She works ___ construction.
Candidates: for / in
The preposition:
Because:
A Speaking Part 1 answer about a job — with the words and prepositions removed.
Examiner: What do you do?
I work a small engineering firm in the north of the city, a site engineer. There are only about forty altogether, which I like — my knows everyone by name, which would not happen in a large company.
The is not especially high for the industry, but the company covers travel , and rents are cheaper here than in the capital, so my goes further than it would elsewhere.
I was to site engineer about a year ago, and I would like to move into project management eventually. I do not think of it as changing jobs so much as continuing the same .