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Learn Business English Phrases: superficial analysis
- Erin
- Feb 10
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 17
Learn Business English phrases with our Phrase of the Week!
Each week, we introduce a new phrase to help you sound more natural and confident in your professional communication.
For extra practice, you can download the flashcards—just scroll down to the bottom of the page.
This Week's Phrase:
SUPERFICIAL ANALYSIS
phrase
looking at something quickly and not deeply, missing important details
The company made a bad decision because they only did a superficial analysis of the market.
His superficial analysis of the problem led to the wrong solution.
We need a deeper report. This superficial analysis is not enough.
A superficial analysis of customer feedback won’t help us improve.
Listen to the example sentences below. Click on each picture to hear the audio.
Learn more Business English phrases related to research and analysis
Let’s take a look at more Business English expressions related to research and analysis.
Choose the correct option to complete the sentence.
KEY
CRUNCH THE NUMBERS
to carefully calculate or analyze numbers
Before we invest, let's crunch the numbers to see if it's profitable.
He spent all night crunching the numbers for the business proposal.
Let's crunch the numbers again to make sure we’re not overspending.
DO RESEARCH/ CONDUCT RESEARCH
to gather information about something in a detailed and organized way
She conducted research on market trends before starting her business.
I always do research before buying expensive gadgets.
The company conducted research to understand why sales were dropping.
Before writing the report, he did a lot of research on the topic.
LOOK INTO THE REASONS
to investigate or try to understand why something happened
The manager is looking into the reasons behind the delays.
She promised to look into the reasons for the sudden drop in performance.
They are looking into the reasons why employee satisfaction has decreased.
BENCHMARK AGAINST
to compare something, like a business or product, with other businesses or products of similar or better quality to see how good it is. It helps to understand if it is doing well or needs improvement
We should benchmark our sales against competitors to see how we’re doing.
The company benchmarked its customer service against top brands.
They benchmarked their prices against industry standards.
IDENTIFY TRENDS
to find patterns or changes that show what is becoming popular or important
The marketing team is trying to identify trends in customer behavior.
By analyzing sales data, we can identify trends in demand.
Social media analysts identify trends to predict what will be popular next.
Let's Chat!
In what situations might a superficial analysis be more useful than a deep analysis?
A superficial analysis is useful when you need to decide quickly. For example, if you have many options and no time, you can check only the most important things. But for big decisions, deep analysis is better. (Sylvia, B1-level learner)
Join the conversation! Share your answer and get it published here.
Flashcards
Here are the expressions we've published over the last five weeks. Read the definition, say the phrase out loud, and then flip the card to check your answer!
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