do business — work commercially
collocationB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
to buy, sell, or trade goods or services with other people or companies, usually to make money.
Say it like a native
Textbook Our company conducts commercial transactions with several Asian firms.
Native We do business with several firms in Asia.
'Do business with' is the natural phrase; 'conducts commercial transactions' is a press release.
Pattern: do business (with someone/in somewhere)
In use
- Many companies prefer to do business with partners they trust.work
- In my opinion, it’s important to do business honestly if you want to build a good reputation.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ We do business to many countries.
✓ We do business with many countries. / in many countries.
You do business WITH a partner or IN a place — not 'to'.
Common collocations
do business (with/in)— with them, in China, together, online
Don't confuse it
'Do business' is about commercial activity, not starting a company (which is 'start a business').