{"id":12472,"date":"2016-08-18T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T13:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=12472"},"modified":"2016-08-12T10:39:22","modified_gmt":"2016-08-12T14:39:22","slug":"how-to-make-a-phone-call-in-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/how-to-make-a-phone-call-in-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make a Phone Call in Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A great way to practice your Chinese skills is to make phone calls. This utilizes both your listening and speaking skills, and it&#8217;s good for improving your fluency. After all, if you can smoothly make a phone call &#8211; even one that&#8217;s just a minute long &#8211; you&#8217;ve come a long way in your quest to learn Chinese. This post will set you well on your way by teaching some useful words and expressions for making a phone call in Chinese.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Mandarin Dial Pad<\/h2>\n<p>In order to make a phone call, you&#8217;ll first need to understand the numbers on the dial pad in Chinese. Here&#8217;s a bit of review of the numbers 0-9. See if you can notice which one is different from what you&#8217;ve probably learned:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>0 \u96f6 &#8211; l\u00edng<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>1 \u5e7a &#8211; y\u0101o<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>2 \u4e8c &#8211; \u00e8r<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>3 \u4e09 &#8211; s\u0101n<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>4 \u56db &#8211; s\u00ec<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>5 \u4e94 &#8211; w\u01d4<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>6 \u516d &#8211; li\u00f9<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>7 \u4e03 &#8211; q\u012b<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>8 \u516b &#8211; b\u0101<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>9 \u4e5d &#8211; ji\u01d4<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When reading out numbers &#8211; telephone numbers, room numbers, license plate numbers &#8211; you don&#8217;t use the usual Chinese word for &#8220;<strong>one<\/strong>&#8221;\u00a0(\u4e00 &#8211; y\u012b); rather, you use the word\u00a0\u5e7a (y\u0101o). One idea as to why this is done is to help more clearly distinguish the number one from seven, as\u00a0y\u012b and\u00a0q\u012b sound a bit similar and could easily be confused. Try to practice reading your phone number out in Chinese to get started. Here&#8217;s how you ask\/answer about a phone number:<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\">What&#8217;s your phone number?<br \/>\n\u4f60\u7684\u7535\u8bdd\u53f7\u7801\u662f\u591a\u5c11? &#8211; n\u01d0 de di\u00e0n hu\u00e0 h\u00e0o m\u01ce sh\u00ec du\u014d sh\u01ceo<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\">My phone number is&#8230;<br \/>\n\u6211\u7684\u7535\u8bdd\u53f7\u7801\u662f&#8230; &#8211; w\u01d2 de di\u00e0n hu\u00e0 h\u00e0o m\u01ce sh\u00ec&#8230;<\/h3>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s take a closer look at some of the phone-related vocabulary that you&#8217;ll need to be able to make phone calls in Chinese.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Phone Vocabulary<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_12475\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/08\/1-LuoYang-and-XiAn-111.jpg\" aria-label=\"1 LuoYang And XiAn 111\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12475\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12475\"  alt=\"Where's the phone booth?\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/08\/1-LuoYang-and-XiAn-111.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/08\/1-LuoYang-and-XiAn-111.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/08\/1-LuoYang-and-XiAn-111-350x263.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12475\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Where&#8217;s the phone booth?<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Now it&#8217;s time to build up your phone-making vocabulary a bit, starting with how to answer the phone. While most English speakers pick up the phone and say &#8220;Hello,&#8221; Chinese don&#8217;t usually greet people with a \u4f60\u597d when answering the phone. The most common greeting on the phone is actually\u00a0\u5582 (w\u00e9i). You can&#8217;t really translate this character; it&#8217;s just a telephone greeting. You&#8217;ll never hear people say this when greeting others face-to-face. Oftentimes, people will answer the phone by saying &#8220;\u5582&#8230; \u4f60\u597d.&#8221; Here&#8217;s some more useful vocabulary for making a phone call:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>phone (\u7535\u8bdd &#8211; di\u00e0n hu\u00e0)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>mobile phone (\u624b\u673a &#8211; sh\u01d2u j\u012b)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>phone number (\u7535\u8bdd\u53f7\u7801 &#8211; di\u00e0n hu\u00e0 h\u00e0o m\u01ce)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>make a phone call (\u6253\u7535\u8bdd &#8211; d\u01ce di\u00e0n hu\u00e0)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>answer the phone (\u63a5\u7535\u8bdd &#8211; ji\u0113 di\u00e0n hu\u00e0)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>Hello (\u5582 &#8211; w\u00e9i)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>Is &#8230; there? &#8211; (&#8230;\u5728\u5417? &#8211; &#8230; z\u00e0i ma)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>I&#8217;m looking for&#8230; (\u6211\u627e&#8230;- w\u01d2 zh\u01ceo)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>Who&#8217;s this? (\u8fd9\u662f\u8c01? &#8211; zh\u00e8 sh\u00ec shu\u00ed)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>wait a moment (\u7a0d\u7b49\u4e00\u4e0b &#8211; sh\u0101o d\u011bng y\u012b xi\u00e0)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>please leave a message (\u8bf7\u7559\u8a00 &#8211; q\u01d0ng li\u00fa y\u00e1n)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>call back (\u56de\u7535\u8bdd &#8211; hu\u00ed di\u00e0n hu\u00e0)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>call the wrong number (\u6253\u9519\u4e86 &#8211; d\u01ce cu\u00f2 le)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Sample Conversation<\/h2>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a short sample phone call for you to review, including some of the vocabulary learned above. Do your best to go through the conversation in Chinese and understand it before opening the English translation:<\/p>\n<h3>\u5582\uff0c \u4f60\u597d.<\/h3>\n<h3>w\u00e9i, n\u01d0 h\u01ceo<\/h3>\n<h3>\u4f60\u597d\uff0c\u5c0f\u738b\u5728\u5417\uff1f<br \/>\nn\u01d0 h\u01ceo, xi\u01ceo w\u00e1ng z\u00e0i ma<\/h3>\n<h3>\u8fd9\u662f\u8c01\uff1f<br \/>\nzh\u00e8 sh\u00ec shu\u00ed<\/h3>\n<h3>\u8fd9\u662f\u7530\u4e50.<br \/>\nzh\u00e8 sh\u00ec ti\u00e1n l\u00e8<\/h3>\n<h3>\u8bf7\u7a0d\u7b49\u4e00\u4e0b\uff0c\u6211\u770b\u4ed6\u5728\u4e0d\u5728\u5bb6.<br \/>\nq\u01d0ng sh\u0101o d\u011bng y\u012b xi\u00e0, w\u01d2 k\u00e0n t\u0101 z\u00e0i b\u00f9 z\u00e0i ji\u0101<\/h3>\n<h3>&#8230;<\/h3>\n<h3>\u4ed6\u4e0d\u5728. \u4f60\u8981\u7559\u8a00\u5417\uff1f<br \/>\nt\u0101 b\u00f9 z\u00e0i. n\u01d0 y\u00e0o li\u00fa y\u00e1n ma<\/h3>\n<h3>\u4e0d\u7528\u4e86. \u4ed6\u4ec0\u4e48\u65f6\u5019\u56de\u5bb6\uff1f<br \/>\nb\u00f9 y\u00f2ng le. t\u0101 sh\u00e9n me sh\u00ed h\u00f2u hu\u00ed ji\u0101<\/h3>\n<h3>\u4ed6\u5e94\u8be5\u516d\u70b9\u540e\u56de\u6765.<br \/>\nt\u0101 y\u012bng g\u0101i li\u00f9 di\u01cen h\u00f2u hu\u00ed l\u00e1i<\/h3>\n<h3>\u597d\u7684\uff0c\u516d\u70b9\u534a\u6211\u56de\u7535\u8bdd\u5427. \u8c22\u8c22.<br \/>\nh\u01ceo de, li\u00f9 di\u01cen b\u00e0n w\u01d2 hu\u00ed di\u00e0n hu\u00e0 ba. xi\u00e8 xi\u00e8<\/h3>\n<h3>\u4e0d\u8c22\uff0c\u518d\u89c1.<br \/>\nb\u00f9 xi\u00e8, z\u00e0i ji\u00e0n<\/h3>\n<h3>\u518d\u89c1.<br \/>\nz\u00e0i ji\u00e0n<\/h3>\n<div class=\"shortcode-toggle toggle-open-me closed default border\"><h4 class=\"toggle-trigger\"><a href=\"#\">Open Me<\/a><\/h4>\n<div class=\"toggle-content\">Hello.<\/p>\n<p>Hello, is Xiao Wang there?<\/p>\n<p>Who&#8217;s this?<\/p>\n<p>This is Tian Le.<\/p>\n<p>Please wait a moment. Let me see if he&#8217;s home or not.<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s not here. Do you want to leave a message?<\/p>\n<p>No need. What time will he be home?<\/p>\n<p>He should be home after 6.<\/p>\n<p>Ok then I&#8217;ll call back at 6:30. Thanks.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;re welcome. Goodbye.<\/p>\n<p>Goodbye.<\/div><!--\/.toggle-content-->\n<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"title_open\" value=\"Close Me\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"title_closed\" value=\"Open Me\" \/><\/div><!--\/.shortcode-toggle-->\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Video Lesson<\/h2>\n<p>You can see a lot of this phone vocabulary in action in this video lesson from CCTV in their &#8220;Growing Up Chinese&#8221; series. Watch the video and see if you can follow the conversation!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Growing Up with Chinese Lesson 16 Making a Phone Call\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QqmyrYvx5FU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Making phone calls is great and all, but these days fewer and fewer people in China are actually making calls. Why&#8217;s that? Thanks to smart phones and social media apps, traditional phone calls are becoming a thing of the past. We&#8217;ll take a look at the biggest app in China &#8211; WeChat &#8211; in the next post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/08\/1-LuoYang-and-XiAn-111-350x263.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"What Are You Doing? in Chinese\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/08\/1-LuoYang-and-XiAn-111-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2016\/08\/1-LuoYang-and-XiAn-111.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>A great way to practice your Chinese skills is to make phone calls. This utilizes both your listening and speaking skills, and it&#8217;s good for improving your fluency. After all, if you can smoothly make a phone call &#8211; even one that&#8217;s just a minute long &#8211; you&#8217;ve come a long way in your quest&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/how-to-make-a-phone-call-in-chinese\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":12475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8894,69375,451972,451971,11132,451970,69374,451969],"class_list":["post-12472","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chinese","tag-chinese-grammar","tag-chinese-phone-call-vocabulary","tag-chinese-phone-vocabulary","tag-chinese-vocabulary","tag-how-to-make-a-phone-call-in-chinese","tag-learn-chinese","tag-making-a-phone-call-in-chinese"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12472"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12477,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12472\/revisions\/12477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}