Meaning & use
business clerical
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounbusiness
Relating to routine office work such as filing, typing, and keeping records in a company.
Grammar: Comes directly before a noun: business clerical duties. It is not used after a verb, so you would not say 'the work is business clerical'.
Patterns
- business clerical work
- business clerical duties
- business clerical staff
- business clerical role
She moved from the shop floor into business clerical work last year.
Most business clerical duties, like filing and data entry, are now done on a computer.
The agency was hiring business clerical staff for the busy season.
adjectivebefore a nounbusiness
Describing a person whose job is routine office work in a company.
Grammar: Used before a job noun such as worker, assistant, or employee: a business clerical assistant.
Patterns
- business clerical worker
- business clerical assistant
- business clerical employee
He started as a business clerical assistant and later trained as an accountant.
Business clerical employees often handle invoices, letters, and appointment diaries.
Common combinations
- business clerical work
- Business clerical work suited her because she likes organizing details.
- business clerical duties
- His business clerical duties include answering calls and updating the client list.
- business clerical staff
- The firm hired extra business clerical staff before the audit.
- business clerical role
- A business clerical role is a common first job in an office.
- routine business clerical tasks
- Software now handles many routine business clerical tasks automatically.
Synonyms and how they differ
- administrative
- A broader, more formal word for office and management support work; it covers planning and supervising, not just routine tasks.
- secretarial
- Refers specifically to the work of a secretary, such as typing letters and managing a manager's diary, so it is narrower than business clerical.
- office
- A general word used before nouns like office work or office staff; it does not by itself say that the work is routine.
Word family
- clerk noun
- A person who does routine office, records, or sales work.
- clerical adjective
- Connected with office work, records, or (in a religious sense) clergy.
- clerical work noun
- The tasks themselves, such as filing, typing, and copying.
Commonly confused: business clerical or clerk? business clerical or business critical?
business clerical vs clerk
Clerk is the person; clerical is the adjective describing the work or the person's role. Business clerical describes the type of work, not the worker by itself.
business clerical vs business critical
Business critical means 'essential for the company to keep running' and sounds almost the same, so learners sometimes mix the two up.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'business clerical' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Business clerical' is an adjective phrase used before a noun, so 'business clerical work' fits. Option A wrongly uses it after the verb 'is' as a complement, option C treats it as a verb, and option D uses it as a description of personal style, which is not its meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “business clerical”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.