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Business English vocabulary · Negotiations

Common ground

Meaning in business english, with examples

/ˌkɑːmən ˈɡraʊnd/nounCommon term

In business english, common ground means: Interests, opinions or goals that two sides share, which can be used as a starting point for an agreement.

In Turkish: ortak nokta, ortak payda, uzlaşı zemini

How it is used

Usually with 'find', 'look for' or 'there is': 'Let's try to find some common ground'. Good negotiators often start with the common ground before moving on to the difficult points.

Example sentences

  1. We disagree on price, but there's common ground on delivery and quality.

  2. The mediator helped both sides find common ground.

Common collocations

  • find common ground
  • look for common ground
  • some common ground
  • common ground on something
  • compromiseAn agreement in which each side gives up part of what it wanted so that both can accept the result. Also used as a verb.
  • win-winDescribing a situation or agreement in which both sides gain something and nobody loses.
  • meet halfwayTo reach an agreement by each side accepting part of what the other wants, for example by splitting a price difference.
  • consensusGeneral agreement among all or most members of a group about a decision or an opinion.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Negotiations

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