Do all of the sentences below have the same meaning?
1. What business do you operate?
2. What business are you operating?
3. What business are you in?
4. What is the nature of your business?
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Hi, Tony,
@Tony C posted:Do all of the sentences below have the same meaning?
1. What business do you operate?
2. What business are you operating?
3. What business are you in?
4. What is the nature of your business?
They are similar but not exactly the same. Between (1) and (2) the difference in tenses might imply that the person is regularly involved in some business (sentence (1)) while in (2) the person's position is temporary.
(3) and (4) are indeed similar.
You should bear in mind that owning a business is not the same as operating it or even the same as working in it.
Hello Gustavo, supposedly you are an IT consultant and you have been approached by a new client to develop a program for their business and you wanted to ask them what business do they do so that you can better assist them. And you wanted to us in a formal way by email correspondence when gathering the information from the client.
Do I just say: Describe the nature of your business?
You could ask your potential client: Could you please describe the nature of your business?