What to Say When You Can’t Meet the Deadline: Business English Phrasal Verbs

Real Business English for meetings and workplace discussions.

In this article: Workplace scenario - Deadline

pull over

push back

move out

cut off

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Workplace scenario - Catering for a company event

Welcome to the Business English Phrasal Verbs Quiz! In this challenge, we’re focusing on a phrasal verb that professionals use when discussing schedule changes.

Today's Challenge:

You’re putting together a 20-page product catalog for a client. It’s due tomorrow at 12 p.m. 

At 4:50 p.m. today, the client sends changes: new prices on 12 items and 5 new photos to be added.

You still have to update the pages and double-check the numbers, and there isn’t enough time. You say:

We might have to _____ the deadline. There's too much to get done.

A) pull over

B) push back

C) move out

D) cut off

Choose the correct option and listen to the sentence.

Business English phrasal verbs: meaning and examples

Here’s a quick breakdown of the options

PULL OVER

phrasal verb

to move a vehicle to the side of the road and stop; to force a driver to stop their vehicle by someone in authority

• The police officer signaled for us to pull over to the side of the road.

• The driver had to pull over because a tire blew out.

PUSH BACK

phrasal verb

to move something to a later time or date

• The meeting got pushed back to next Tuesday because the manager is out of town.

• Can we push back the dinner time by an hour? Something came up.

MOVE OUT

phrasal verb

to leave your home or place of living

• We're finally moving out of our apartment next weekend.

• I’m moving out of my apartment next month to live closer to work.

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CUT OFF

phrasal verb

to stop something suddenly; to interrupt something

• I tried calling Alex, but my call got cut off halfway through.

• They cut off the power during the storm to prevent accidents.

That's right! The correct answer is B) push back.

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Download this week's Word Search worksheet (B1–C1)

Download Word Search B1/B2

Download Word Search C1

Workplace Scenario 2: Practice Business English Phrasal Verbs

Catering for a company event

You work for a catering company. On Friday morning, you’re delivering breakfast to a big office event (about 200 people). Today is Tuesday. Your team planned to finish packing everything tomorrow, so Thursday is just loading and final checks.

But there’s one problem: you’re still missing the small fuel cans that keep the hot food trays warm. The supplier promised delivery today, but they just messaged that it won’t arrive until Thursday.

Your coworker asks, Can we have everything packed by tomorrow?

What do you say? Use wrap this up by tomorrow.

Catering for a company event - Listen to the example answer

0:09

Transcript

No, we won’t be able to wrap this up by tomorrow. We’re still missing the fuel cans for the trays, and they won’t get here until Thursday. Everything else is ready.

Skip textbook phrases—get real workplace scenarios, full dialogues, and speaking practice in Pro Vocabulary Lab.

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Erin West is a Business English educator, writer, and founder of RealBusinessEnglish.com. She creates practical lessons, quizzes, and learning materials that help professionals use clear, natural, and confident English at work — with just the right amount of fun.