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What to Say When Equipment Breaks Down at Work: Business English Phrases
- 9 hours ago
- 5 min read
When equipment breaks down at work, it usually creates more than just a technical problem. It can delay production, frustrate the team, and make simple tasks harder than they need to be. In this lesson, I’ll show you useful Business English phrases for talking about equipment problems at work clearly and professionally. You’ll learn natural language for describing machine problems at work, explaining production delays, and giving clear updates when something is not working the way it should.
For more useful phrases for problems, delays, and difficult situations at work, see our full guide to Business English for problems at work.
When Equipment Breaks Down at Work: Workplace Scenario Quiz
You work at a chocolate factory. The machine that wraps and packs the chocolate bars keeps stopping and causing delays. You’re talking to your manager about why production has been slow. You say:
The packing machine has been _____ all week.
A) showing up
B) settling in
C) catching on
D) acting up
Using Business English Naturally at Work
Many learners understand a phrase when they read it. The harder part is using it naturally in a real conversation at work.
That’s what you practice in Pro Vocabulary Lab.
Inside the program, you’ll work with:
realistic workplace situations
short dialogues based on real work conversations
speaking practice with natural Business English
Business English Phrases: Meanings and Examples
Here’s a quick breakdown of the options.
show up
phrasal verb
to arrive somewhere
He still hasn’t shown up, and the meeting started ten minutes ago.
A few clients showed up early, so we had to get the room ready fast.
She said she’d help, but she never showed up.
We weren’t expecting that many people to show up.
He just showed up at my office without warning.
settle in
phrasal verb
to start feeling comfortable in a new place, job, or situation
It took me a couple of weeks to settle in at the new job.
Give her some time - she’s still settling in.
He moved to Chicago last month and is just starting to settle in.
Once the team got to know him, he settled in pretty quickly.
The first few days were stressful, but things are starting to settle in now.
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catch on
phrasal verb
1) to understand something
Don’t worry - you’ll catch on after a few days.
It took me a while to catch on, but now I know how the system works.
She catches on fast, so you won’t need to explain it twice.
He didn’t catch on right away.
Once I saw one example, I started to catch on.
2) to become popular
That expression really caught on in the office.
Remote work tools caught on quickly after the pandemic.
The idea didn’t catch on at first, but now everyone’s using it.
That style of training is starting to catch on.
The product never really caught on with customers.
act up
phrasal verb
to not work properly, to start causing problems
The printer’s acting up again.
My laptop started acting up in the middle of the presentation.
The packing machine has been acting up all week.
One of the doors is acting up, so maintenance is coming to look at it.
The system was acting up this morning, and nobody could log in.
That's right! The correct answer is D) acting up.
More Business English Phrases for Equipment Problems at Work
If you want to sound more natural and professional when something goes wrong at work, it helps to know more than just one phrase. In this part of the lesson, you’ll learn more real Business English phrases for equipment problems, machine breakdowns, production delays, and giving updates clearly at work. These are the kinds of natural English expressions people use in real workplace situations when a machine is not working properly or production is falling behind.
break down
phrasal verb
to stop working
The machine broke down again this morning.
It broke down in the middle of production.
If it breaks down again, we’re going to fall even further behind.
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be down
phrase
to not be working
The printer’s down right now.
The conveyor belt is down until maintenance looks at it.
That machine’s still down.
not working properly
phrase
not working the way it should
The machine isn’t working properly.
It’s running, but it’s not working properly.
The system’s up, but it’s not working properly.
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get jammed
phrasal verb
to get stuck and stop working properly
The machine got jammed again.
The paper got jammed in the printer.
It got jammed right in the middle of the order.
fall behind
phrasal verb
to become late or slower than planned
We started falling behind as soon as the machine went down.
We’re already behind because of the equipment issue.
If this keeps up, we’re going to fall behind on orders.
run into a problem
phrase
to have a problem unexpectedly
We ran into a problem with the packing machine.
We’ve run into a problem on the line.
We ran into a problem during production this morning.
there’s an issue with...
phrase
something is wrong with it
There’s an issue with the wrapping machine.
We’re having an issue with one of the scanners.
There seems to be an issue with the system.
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we’re having trouble with...
phrase
something is not working well or is difficult to deal with
We’re having trouble with the packaging line.
We’ve been having trouble with that machine all week.
We’re having trouble getting it to run normally.
it’s been giving us trouble
phrase
it has been causing problems
That machine’s been giving us trouble lately.
The printer’s been giving us trouble all morning.
This system has been giving us trouble for days.
Workplace Scenario and Speaking Practice: System Problems and Delays
Read the scenario. What would you say in this situation? Say your answer out loud.
Scenario: The payment system keeps freezing
You work in the accounting department of a large company.
This morning, your team is trying to process invoices and send out payments, but the payment system is not working properly. Every time someone uploads an invoice, the system freezes.
Your manager comes over and asks what’s going on.
Your Turn
What would you say to your manager?
Say your answer out loud.
Try using: We’re having trouble with... .
Check Your Answer in Pro Vocabulary Lab
Inside Pro Vocabulary Lab, you can see a natural example answer and practice more workplace situations like this one.
Practice Real Workplace English Inside Pro Vocabulary Lab
workplace scenarios based on real job conversations
short dialogues and model answers
speaking practice with natural Business English
more situations focused on problems, delays, and clear workplace updates
This article gives you one example. The full program gives you repeated practice across many workplace situations.
Erin West is a Business English coach, writer, and founder of RealBusinessEnglish.com. She creates practical lessons and quizzes based on real workplace English.
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