Hello friends, welcome back. In this video lesson
we will learn 70 common phrases for phone conversations. Together we'll go through these common English phrases
we'll use them in a few situations
to help you better remember them and, most importantly, use them when speaking on the phone in English.
To better help you remember and most importantly use these common phrases,
I've broken up this video lesson into different situations
you may find yourself in when speaking on the phone in English. In these different situations
we'll be looking at both formal and informal
phrases. Friends remember, when you're speaking on the phone you may have met that person before, you may not have met that person before
important to be polite on the phone. A way for you to be more polite on the phone could be by using model verbs.
could, would and may are all perfect modal verbs for you to be using when speaking on the phone.
When you are asking for a request, if you're asking for information
thanks, thank you, thank you very much, to express politeness.
You will notice now when we begin with the common English phrases that I've already added in these model verbs to help you out.
Pay attention to these model verbs, pay attention to how I use please and thanks and
try to use them when you are speaking on the phone in English. Let's begin by looking at the first situation.
So when somebody calls you, when you have to introduce and make first contact
with somebody on the phone. When answering the phone, you could use greeting such as hi.
Hi.
Good morning. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good afternoon
To greet the person that you are speaking with, but you could take it a level up and you could also
state your name. For example: Hi, this is Adriana speaking.
By using this in a formal context the person who's calling you already knows who they're speaking to.
It's not common in English to add your job title, your profession. Just your name is fine.
For example: Hi, this is Adriana speaking.
Sometimes we even shorten that just simply saying: Hi, Adriana speaking.
But if you're calling somebody and you don't know who you've got on the other line and you would like to ask for
somebody, in this situation you could use phrases such as:
Or: I would like to speak to Bob. Or:I'm trying to contact Bob.
All three of these phrases are fine.
Choose one you like and try to use it. A less formal way of asking to speak to somebody on the phone could be:
I'm trying to get in touch with Bob.
Again, I'm trying to get in touch with Bob. Or: is Bob there, please?
Remember I said it's not common for us to say: Hey, this is teacher Adriana calling.
but if you do want to tell the person you're calling
who you represent or to give them a little bit more information about you, you could use the phrases: I'm calling on behalf of
Adriana. For example, maybe you, you are calling on behalf of me,
but maybe you're not calling on behalf of a person, but you're calling on behalf of an institution a company, etc
Pretend you're an employee at the post office. This is a company's name. You could use a phrase:
I'm calling from the post office. When you're receiving a phone call, so when somebody calls you, you could use these phrases:
Hello, this is Adriana speaking or Adriana speaking. How may I help you?
These two are very polite and very formal phrases to use in a work sitting with somebody
you don't know, or maybe a private number that's calling you. When somebody calls you and you want more information
but you really don't know person is calling you and you want to know exactly
who they are. Formal ways you could ask for specific information could be: May I ask who's calling?
Or: Can I ask with whom I'm speaking to, please?
Again: Can I ask with whom I'm speaking to please. Where are you calling from?
Where are you calling from? In this situation we're not asking them for the exact location,
but who are they calling on behalf of or what company are they representing. Now informal ways,
I'm asking for specific information could be: Who's calling, please?
Who is it? Who am I speaking to?
Whom am I speaking to? In the situation that somebody calls you and you're a little busy,
you want to tell them to wait, hold on a little bit, because maybe you've got a TV up
Maybe your child screaming in the background.
Maybe you're in the middle of something. You need to tell the caller to hold on a minute.
Common polite phrases you could use could be:
Could you hold on a moment, please?
Could you hold on a moment, please? Just a moment, please.
Informal phrases you could use could be: Hold on a minute.
Friends notice here: sec. This is shorten for second, very commonly used among native English speakers: Just a sec and
Finally, wait a moment, please.
In the situation that somebody calls you and you have some negative information,
maybe they're asking to speak to somebody. Maybe they want extra information.
But you can't help them at that very moment. Let's begin by looking at formal phrases.
somebody's calling and asking for Bob. One phrase I could use could be: I'm afraid Bob's busy at the moment.
I'm afraid Bob's busy at the moment
You could even add in more detail. For example: I'm afraid Bob's busy at the moment. Can I take a message?
Or you could also add in: I'm afraid Bob's busy at the moment. Can I get him to call you back?
Can I get him to call you back?
Or: Bob's not around. So he's not at home. He's not at the office. You could use a phrase; I'm sorry
Bob's out at the moment. I'm sorry. Bob's out at the moment.
Informal phrases you could use could be: Sorry, Bob's not here.
Sorry, Bob's not here. Or simply: Bob's out at the moment.
Bob's out at the moment. In the situation that somebody's dialed the wrong number and they're speaking to you and
you can't help them because you don't know why they're calling. In these situations you could use the phrases:
You may have dialed the wrong number.
You may have dialed the wrong number.
Or: I'm afraid there's no one here by that name.
I'm afraid there's no one here by that name.
Sometimes when we're speaking on the phone, there may be some interference due to bad network.
There are phrases you can use in a polite way to tell the person that hey, I can't hear you.
Phrases you could use could be: I'm afraid I can't hear you very well.
I'm afraid I can't hear you very well.
Maybe the problem isn't with the network, but the problem is with a speaker on the other line. You can't hear them
Maybe they're not speaking in the microphone. You need to tell them to speak louder. In this situation
you could use a phrase: Would you mind speaking up a bit, please?
Would you mind speaking up a bit, please?
In the situation that there's a language barrier because English is your second language
and it's hard for you to speak on the phone. In this situation you could use the phrases:
I'm afraid my English isn't very good. Could you please speak slowly?
I'm afraid my English isn't very good. Could you please speak slowly? But if you know English isn't the problem,
it's just that you simply didn't understand what they said. Maybe they were mumbling.
Maybe there was some network interference. In this situation, you could use a phrase: Could you repeat that, please?
Again, could you repeat that, please? In an informal situation you could use a phrase: Sorry. I didn't catch that.
Now in a situation that you're calling somebody, they're not there,
they're not available to talk to you. You could use these common phrases: Could you please ask Bob to call me back?
Could you please ask Bob to call me back? You could also use a phrase: Could you tell Bob that I called please?
Could you tell Bob that I called please? But if you want to leave a message for Bob or for somebody
that's not there. In this situation you could use a phrase: Could I leave a message, please?
Could I leave a message please? In the situation that you are the person taking a message you could use these phrases
Can I take your name and number please?
Can I take your name and number please? You could also ask them for more specific details, for
example: When and how would you like Bob to contact you? Again:
When and how would you like Bob to contact you?
In the situation that you want to tell the speaker on the line that you'll tell Bob to call them back.
In this situation you could use the phrases: I'll tell him to ring you when he gets back.
I'll tell him to ring you when he gets back. Or you could also use a phrase: I'll let Bob know you rang.
This takes us to our last situation for today, which is saying goodbye. Formal ways of ending
a conversation on the phone could be: Thanks for calling. Thanks for calling. Have a good day.
Informal ways to end a conversation could be:
Talk soon and speak to you again soon.
Speak to you again soon. Friends, as you most likely noticed throughout these common phrases, in a lot of those phrases
could, would, may were used. Remember to be polit. Use please, use
So that you get what you need to get done over the phone and you have a decent conversation
on the phone in English. Friends,
there are other phrases you could use to speak on the phone in
English. If I've missed any phrases feel free to share them with us in the comments below this video.
Remember friends, if you liked this video lesson, make sure to like it, hit subscribe and turn on notifications
so that you get the next lesson I post here on my Youtube channel. Thanks for being here,
thanks for watching and I look forward to see you in the comments below this video.