Talking on the Phone in English - English Phone Vocabulary Lesson Hablar por teléfono en inglés - Lección de vocabulario telefónico en inglés Parler au téléphone en anglais - Leçon de vocabulaire sur le téléphone en anglais Parlare al telefono in inglese - Lezione di vocabolario telefonico in inglese 英語で電話で話す-英会話ボキャブラリーレッスン Telefoneren in het Engels - Engelse telefoonwoordenschatles Falar ao telefone em inglês - Lição de vocabulário para telefone em inglês Разговор по телефону на английском языке - English Phone Vocabulary Lesson İngilizce Telefonda Konuşmak - İngilizce Telefonda Kelime Bilgisi Dersi Розмова по телефону англійською мовою - урок англійської телефонної лексики 用英语讲电话 - 英语电话词汇课程 用英語打電話 - 英語電話詞彙課

Hello?

Hello, can I speak to Kasia, please?

Yes, speaking.

Hi, Kasia, it's Oli here.

Oh, hello!

I wanted to ask: I need some English phrases for talking on the phone.

Do you think you could help me with that?

Of course!

What do you need to learn?

Well, everything, I suppose. Nun, alles, nehme ich an.

No problem!

Shall we start?

Yeah, why not?

Hi, I'm Oli.

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

Let's learn how to speak English on the phone.

In this lesson, you can learn how to deal with common situations and problems when you're

talking on the phone in English.

You'll see four dialogues, and then we'll explain the vocabulary and phrases that we

use.

This way, you'll learn everything you need to make phone calls in English!

Let's start by showing you how to make an informal phone call, for example to a friend

or a colleague you know well.

Hello? Oli, hi! Hallo? Olli, hallo!

Sorry, who's this?

It's Kasia!

Oh, hi!

Sorry, didn't have your number saved. Sorry, hatte deine Nummer nicht gespeichert.

No worries. Keine Sorge.

Listen: some of us are going rafting this weekend. Hör zu: Einige von uns gehen dieses Wochenende raften.

Do you want to come?

Wow, that sounds great!

Yeah, sure.

Brilliant!

I'll text you the details. Ich schicke dir die Details per SMS.

Okay, cheers for the invite, see you then I guess. Okay, Prost auf die Einladung, bis dann, denke ich.

Bye!

Let's look at the whole dialogue.

What do you notice? Was fällt dir auf?

First, I answered with a simple hello.

This is common if you're answering the phone informally and you don't know who's calling.

I also used an informal way to ask who was calling.

And I used an informal way to give my name.

If you're calling your friend, don't say,

I'm Kasia Ich bin Kasia

Instead, say,

It's Kasia. Es ist Kasia.

Next, you can see that Kasia tells me why she's calling in a very simple way. Als nächstes können Sie sehen, dass Kasia mir auf sehr einfache Weise sagt, warum sie anruft.

Also, look at the whole dialogue.

It's quite short, right?

This is common in informal phone calls.

We don't ask how are you or anything like that.

It's not bad to ask how are you, of course! Es ist natürlich nicht schlecht zu fragen, wie es dir geht!

But, it's not necessary in an informal phone call if you know each other well. Bei einem informellen Telefonat ist es aber nicht nötig, wenn man sich gut kennt.

You can also see many examples of informal language that we both used, for example wow, Sie können auch viele Beispiele für informelle Sprache sehen, die wir beide verwendet haben, zum Beispiel wow,

yeah, cheers, I guess, or using invite as a noun instead of invitation. Ja, Prost, schätze ich, oder Einladung als Substantiv anstelle von Einladung verwenden.

Finally, we ended the conversation quickly and simply.

We used simple, informal goodbye words: see you and bye.

Next, let's look at how can you make a formal phone call, so you can see the difference.

Good afternoon, Oxford Online English, how can I help?

Hello, could I speak to Michael Hart, please?

Who's calling, please?

My name is Oli Redman and

I'm calling concerning a proposal which Mr Hart sent to me. Ich rufe wegen eines Vorschlags an, den Mr. Hart mir geschickt hat.

One moment, please…

I'm afraid he's not available right now. Ich fürchte, er ist gerade nicht verfügbar.

Would it be alright for him to call you back in about 30 minutes? Wäre es in Ordnung, wenn er Sie in etwa 30 Minuten zurückruft?

Yes, that would be fine.

And does he have your number?

Yes, he called me last week, so he must have it.

That's fine.

He'll call you in half an hour or so. Er ruft Sie in einer halben Stunde oder so an.

Is there anything else I can do for you?

No, that's all.

Thank you for your help. Danke für Ihre Hilfe.

You're welcome.

Thanks for calling, and have a nice day!

And to you. Und zu dir.

Goodbye!

Can you see the difference between this and the first dialogue you heard?

First, I answered the phone with a longer greeting.

Instead of just hello, I used a full phrase.

I also said the name of the company—this is common when answering the phone at work. Ich habe auch den Namen des Unternehmens genannt – das ist üblich, wenn man bei der Arbeit ans Telefon geht.

You could also say your full name, like this:

Hello, Kasia Warszynska.

Or, you could say the name of your manager, like this:

Good morning, Anna Gilbert's office.

You can also see that you use different phrases to ask who's calling, or to say who you

are:

Who's calling, please? Wer ruft an Bitte?

Or: My name is…

In this case, I used My name is... because I was introducing myself for the first time. In diesem Fall habe ich Mein Name ist... verwendet, weil ich mich zum ersten Mal vorgestellt habe.

If you're talking to someone who you've met before, you could use this is and give

your name.

For example, I could say:

This is Oli. Das ist Olli.

Oli also said why he was calling using a longer, more formal phrase: Oli sagte auch, warum er anrief, indem er einen längeren, formelleren Satz verwendete:

I'm calling concerning… Ich rufe an wegen …

You could also use something like:

I would like to ask about… Ich möchte fragen nach …

Or: I wanted to discuss … with you. Oder: Ich wollte … mit Ihnen diskutieren.

In general, you can see that the dialogue is much longer.

We spoke more, and also used longer sentences.

You can see many examples of formal language that we both used, like I'm afraid he's Sie können viele Beispiele formaler Sprache sehen, die wir beide verwendet haben, wie ich fürchte, er

not available, would it be alright to…, or that would be fine.

Finally, the goodbye is also much longer.

I started ending the call by asking: Ich begann das Gespräch zu beenden, indem ich fragte:

Is there anything else I can do for you?

Compare this to the first dialogue, where we ended the call very quickly and simply.

In this dialogue, ending the call took several sentences.

We also used more formal goodbye phrases, like:

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for calling. Danke für den Anruf.

Have a nice day!/And to you! Habt einen schönen Tag!/Und euch!

Or: Goodbye

So you can see two important differences here: the language is almost totally different,

and also the style is different, because everything is longer.

Next, let's look at another dialogue to see how to deal with a common problem when Schauen wir uns als Nächstes einen anderen Dialog an, um zu sehen, wie man wann mit einem allgemeinen Problem umgeht

talking on the phone in English. telefonieren auf englisch.

Hello?

Kasia, hi it's Oli.

Hi Oli.

Sorry, say that again. Entschuldigung, sagen Sie das noch einmal.

I said, we're thinking of going to the cinema. Ich sagte, wir wollen ins Kino gehen.

The sound's very quiet. Der Ton ist sehr leise.

Can you speak up a bit? Hello? Kannst du ein bisschen was sagen? Hallo?

Sorry, I really can't hear. Tut mir leid, ich kann wirklich nicht hören.

How about now? Wie wäre es jetzt?

Ah, yes, that's better!

Sorry, I'm in the subway, and the signal's not so good. Tut mir leid, ich bin in der U-Bahn und das Signal ist nicht so gut.

So, what were you saying? Also, was hast du gesagt?

I wanted to say… Ich wollte sagen…

Hold on, my battery's about to die. Moment mal, meine Batterie ist am Ende.

Can I call you back later?

Sure, I'll be free till… Sicher, ich bin frei bis …

First, a question for you: was this dialogue formal or informal?

It was informal.

Here, you can see some common problems you might have talking on the phone in English.

At the beginning, I couldn't hear Oli's question.

So, I said:

Sorry, say that again.

You could use many different phrases here, like:

What was that? Was war das?

Or: What did you say?

In a more formal conversation, you could say something like:

I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

Or: Could you say that again, please?

Next, Kasia couldn't hear me because the sound was too low.

She asked:

Can you speak up a bit? Kannst du ein bisschen was sagen?

Speak up means to speak more loudly.

Mrore formally, you could say something like:

The sound is low.

Would you mind speaking a little more loudly?

When speaking formally, you need to be more indirect, which means you need longer sentences.

We were having problems because Oli was on the subway.

Do you remember what he said?

The signal's not so good.

You could also say:

I don't have much signal.

Or: There's not much reception here. Oder: Hier ist nicht viel Empfang.

Finally, he ran out of battery. Schließlich ging ihm die Batterie aus.

He really should have charged his phone before he went out! Er hätte sein Handy wirklich aufladen sollen, bevor er ausgegangen ist!

Hey, that's not my fault!

And anyway, I said I'd call you back. Und überhaupt, ich sagte, ich rufe dich zurück.

And did you?

Finally, what if you call someone, and they're not there? Und schließlich, was ist, wenn Sie jemanden anrufen und er ist nicht da?

Hello, OOE productions, can I help? Hallo, OOE productions, kann ich helfen?

Hello, this is Kasia Warzsynska.

I'm calling for Pieter Okker.

Is he available? Ist er verfügbar?

Unfortunately he's busy at the moment.

Would you like to leave a message, or should I get him to call you back later?

Um…

Can I leave him a message?

It's quite important.

Of course.

Could you ask him to double check the hotel reservations for the Italy conference?

He'll know what I mean. Er wird wissen, was ich meine.

Very well.

Anything else?

No, that's everything, but do please make sure he gets it as soon as possible.

I'll pass your message on as soon as he's free. Ich gebe Ihre Nachricht weiter, sobald er frei ist.

Thank you.

Would you also like him to call you back? Möchten Sie auch, dass er Sie zurückruft?

Yes, please.

If you could get him to call me at my office, that would be wonderful. Wenn Sie ihn dazu bringen könnten, mich in meinem Büro anzurufen, wäre das wunderbar.

No problem at all.

Thanks so much.

You're welcome, bye-bye now!

Bye!

Let's start with the same question: was this dialogue more formal, or more informal?

It was more formal this time. Diesmal war es formeller.

In this dialogue, I wanted to speak to someone, but he wasn't there.

Oli took a message for me. Oli nahm eine Nachricht für mich auf.

Do you remember the question he asked?

He said:

Would you like to leave a message? Möchten Sie eine Nachricht hinterlassen?

You could also say:

Can I take a message? Kann ich eine Nachricht entgegennehmen?

Should I give him a message?

What can you say to answer this question?

You could say something like:

Can I leave him a message?

Or: Could you pass on a message for me? Oder: Können Sie mir eine Nachricht zukommen lassen?

Then, give your message: Geben Sie dann Ihre Nachricht ein:

Can you ask him to…?

Could you tell her that…? Könntest du ihr sagen, dass …?

Just let him know that…

Here's a full example: Hier ist ein vollständiges Beispiel:

Could you tell her that I'll be arriving at five o'clock, instead of half seven? Könnten Sie ihr sagen, dass ich um fünf Uhr ankomme, statt um halb sieben?

You might also say how important your message is, particularly if it is very important!

For example:

Please make sure he gets it as soon as possible; it's really important. Bitte stellen Sie sicher, dass er es so schnell wie möglich bekommt; es ist wirklich wichtig.

It's urgent, so please tell her as soon as you can. Es ist dringend, also sag ihr bitte so schnell wie möglich Bescheid.

If it's not so important, you could say something like:

It's not urgent, so just let him know when he's free.

Hello?

Hi, yeah, it's Oli again.

Hi, Oli!

Did you learn everything you needed about how to talk on the phone in English?

Yeah, great lesson, thanks Kasia!

You're welcome, glad you liked it!

Where could I find more free English lessons like this?

You should definitely go to Oxford Online English.com.

There are lots of great free English lessons there.

What did you say?

I couldn't hear you.

I said Oxford Online English.com.

Ah, great, thanks!

No problem, bye!

See you!