Learn Telephone English - 100 Sentences You Can Use on the Phone | How to Talk on the Phone

Do you use a phone? Of course you do. We all do every single day. That's why, in

this lesson, I'm going to give you 100 useful sentences that you can use when

you talk on the phone. When you hear a sentence, practice saying it after me. Try

to copy my pronunciation exactly. Alright, let's start. There are two ways that a

phone call can begin. You can either make a call - this is when you dial a number to

speak to someone or you can take a call. That is, when the phone rings and you

answer it. Let's first look at some sentences for making a call. When you

make a formal call that is work-related, start with hi or hello, then use one of

the two expressions you see on the screen. I'm going to use my name and an

imaginary company name. Practice after me but use your name and either your

company's name if you work or you can use an imaginary company name. Hi, this is

Ganesh from ZoomFin Financial Services

Hello, my name is Ganesh. I'm calling from ZoomFin Financial

Services. If you're making an informal call to a friend or family member, or a

semi-formal call to a colleague or business contact you know well, then

start with hi or hey, then say the other person's name followed by It's and your

own name. Hey Annie, it's Ganesh. In an informal or semi-formal

call, it's also common to exchange greetings. How's it going? How are you?

Good, thanks. Great, thanks. What about you? What's up? Not much.

The usual. After the introduction, you will ask for the person or department

you wish to speak to. First, some expressions for formal calls. May I speak

to Douglas Adams? Could I speak with Mary Smith, please? I'd like to speak to Vijay

Kumar, please. Could you put me through to technical support, please? Put me through

means connect me to that person or department.

Here are some expressions for informal and semi-formal calls - Is Doug there? Is

Mary around? Can I talk to Vijay? Once you're talking to the right person, you

might want to mention your reason or purpose for calling. I'm calling to ask

about your software consulting services.

Can you tell me how much it costs? I just wanted to ask if you're free to meet

sometime this week. Sometimes the person you are trying to speak to might not be

available. In that situation, you can ask one of these questions. When would be a

good time to call? When will he be back?

Do you know when she'll be back? You can also request the person who's speaking

to take a message. Could you take a message for him? I'd like to leave her a

message. Please ask her to call me back.

Could you ask him to call me back? Please tell him that I'm in town. Please let her

know that I would like to meet her.

Let's now turn to taking a call. In informal or semi-formal calls, we would

just say hello and then exchange greetings with the caller like How are

things? or What's up? But in formal situations, these two sentences that you

see on the screen are very common to introduce yourself. After that you can

use one of the two expressions - How may I help you? or What can I do for you today?

Here are a couple of complete examples. Practice after me with your own name and

company name. Good afternoon. ZoomFin Financial Services. Ganesh

speaking. How may I help you? Thank you for calling ZoomFin Financial Services.

This is Ganesh. What can I do for you today?

if the caller doesn't introduce him or herself you

will need to find out who's calling. Use one of these sentences - Could I ask who's

calling?

May I ask who's calling?

Who's calling, please? Where are you calling from, please? When the caller asks

to speak to someone else, you will tell him or her to wait using one of these

expressions: Please hold. Let me transfer you. I'll put you through

now. I'm connecting you now. Just a moment. Hold on. Hang on a second. Now if the

person that you're caller asks for isn't available, you can say I'm sorry, he's on

another call right now. I'm sorry she's not here today. I'm afraid he's not

available at the moment. I'm afraid she's left for the day. He's not in his office

right now. She's out of town. He's not home right now. She isn't back from work

yet. He's gone to the movies with his friends. You can also ask

if your caller wants to leave a message. Can I take a message? Would you like to

leave a message? I'll give her your message as soon as she gets back. I'll

ask him to call you as soon as he gets back. I'll let her know that you called.

Sometimes you might get a call asking for the wrong person. This type of call

is called a wrong number or a misdialed call. In that case you can say I'm sorry,

there's nobody here by that name. I think you've dialed the wrong number.

So far we've looked at specific sentences for making and taking calls.

Now we will learn general-purpose sentences you can use in any call. Asking

for information. Would you happen to know when the conference takes place? Can you

give me a tentative date? Can I have your name and number, please?

Checking information. When you are writing something down, you might want to

ask for the spelling of a word. To do this, ask Could you spell that for me?

To confirm what you have written down, say Let me read that back to you.

Having difficulty with a call. Sorry, I can't hear you very well. Could you speak

a little more loudly, please? Could you speak up a little? Would you mind

speaking a little more slowly? Could you repeat that?

Could I call you back, please? It looks like we have a bad connection. I didn't

catch what you just said. I'm sorry, what was that? Can you say that again? Can I

call you back? Sorry, you're breaking up. Making

arrangements. How about next Friday? Would tomorrow work for you? Shall we say

September 12? Asking for suggestions or preferences? What would you suggest? What

would you prefer? Do you have a place in mind? Making requests. Could you send me

the details by email, please? Would you mind calling back tomorrow? Responding to

a request. Yes, I'd be happy to. Sure, no problem.

I'll email you the details right away.

Sorry, I can't do that. I'm afraid I don't have that information. I'll have to get

back to you on that. Ending the call. It was nice talking to you. Thank you for

your help. Thank you for your time. Thanks for calling. Have a nice day. Anyway, I

should get going.

Take care. You too. Talk to you later. Bye.

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