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Unit 3: English In A Minute
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Session 41

Welcome to English In A Minute. Give us a minute and we'll give you a hot tip about English vocabulary... there's so much to learn! And all taught by your favourite BBC Learning English staff!

Activity 1

4 Meanings of 'position'

Phil talks about uses of 'position'.

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Phil

Let's learn four meanings of the noun position.

One. Position refers to where a person or thing is – their location.

The singer took a central position on the stage.

Two. Position can refer to how a thing or person is placed, or to talk about the way a person's body is placed.

When I first tried yoga, some of the positions were very uncomfortable,

Three. Position can also mean 'situation'. It's often used when talking about a situation which either limits or increases someone's opportunity to do something.

The company is in a difficult position after their latest product received terrible reviews.

Four. Position can be used to talk about a person's job or rank they hold.

She holds a managerial position in the team.

4 Meanings of 'position'

Position refers to a person's or thing's location.

  • The singer took a central position on the stage.
  • She could see her house from her position at the top of the hill.

Position can refer to how a thing or person is placed, or to talk about the way a person's body is placed, for example, sitting, lying down, or standing.

  • When I first tried yoga, some of the positions were very uncomfortable.
  • The box was left in an upside-down position. The glass inside is broken!

Position can also mean 'situation'. Position is often used when talking about a situation which either limits or increases someone's opportunity to do something.

  • The company is in a difficult position after their latest product received terrible reviews.
  • My financial position is far better after I was promoted.

Position can be used to talk about a person’s job or rank they hold, for example, a person's place in a company.

  • She holds a managerial position in the team.
  • I applied for the vacant secretary position in the company.

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