Phone Expressions

For my students one of the most difficult things is talking on the phone. As you can’t see a person it is more difficult to understand a person. Also, my students often make mistakes as they use expressions and translate from their own language. So here are what I think is some of the most important vocabulary you need to speak on the phone.

  1. Answer: you answer the phone when you pick up the phone. ‘Can you answer the phone,?’
  2. Hang up: it is the opposite of ‘answer’. ‘I need to hang up because I have a meeting now’
  3. It’s NAME: When we speak on the phone to introduce ourselves we do NOT speak in the first person and say ‘I am…..’ We actually use ‘it is’ and our name to introduces ourselves. For example: ‘Hi, it’s Tina from the IT department. Is David there?’
  4. It’s NAME speaking: We often use this like the previous expression, to say who is on the phone. This is often used by secretaries and receptionists when they answer the phone. ’Hello Daniel Stevens and company, Jane speaking, how can I help you?’
  5. Be away from his/her desk: If you call on office and ask to speak to someone the receptionist may say the following ‘He is away from his desk at the moment’. In this case you would need to call back later.
  6. Call me back: is used when you want someone to return a phone call. You might use it if you are busy OR if they are busy. For example ‘Can you get Julia to call me back later when she finishes the meeting?’
  7. Be cut off: Means to be disconnected. When you call back you would say something like this. ‘Sorry, I was cut off. Can you put me through to Nancy again?’
  8. To hold: Means to wait on the phone. You may have a conversation like this. (You) ’Hello I would like to speak to Jane’(Receptionist) ‘Do you want to hold?’ (You) ‘Yes, I’ll hold please.’
  9. Be on another line: is used if someone is speaking on the phone to another person. A receptionist would say something like this: ’He is on another line at the moment’ and you may be asked to wait or call back later.
  10. Put someone through: this would be used if you rang an office and spoke to a receptionist It means they will transfer your call. The conversation may go like this: (You) Hi it’s Peter from the Marketing Department, can I speak to David please?’ (Receptionist) Sure, I’ll put you through.’