Word combinations with "work"

If you work or have work, you have a job. But you don’t say that someone has ‘a work’. Work is also the place where you do your job. You don’t say for example, ‘at the work’ or ‘to the work’.

Here are some phrases with ‘work’:

The economy is growing fast and more people are in work – have a job – than ever before. The percentage of people out of work – without a job – has fallen to its lowest level for 30 years.

‘I work in a bank in New York City. I leave for work at 7.30 every morning. I go to work by train and subway. I get to / arrive at work at about 9. I’m usually at work till 6. Luckily, I don’t get ill very much so I don’t often take time off work – away from work due to illness.

‘I work for a large European car maker. I work on car design. In fact, I run the design department and I manage a team of designers: 20 people work under me. It’s very interesting. One of my main responsibilities is to make sure that new model designs are finished on time. I’m also in charge of design budgets.

‘I deal with a lot of different people in the company. I’m responsible for coordination between design and production: I work with managers at our manufacturing plants.

Types of job and types of work

A full-time job is one for the whole of the normal working week; a part-time job is for less 

time than that. You say that someone works full-time or part-time. 

A permanent job does not finish after a fixed period; a temporary job finishes after a fixed 

period. You talk about temporary work and permanent work.