{"id":6281,"date":"2015-04-25T13:38:42","date_gmt":"2015-04-25T13:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=6281"},"modified":"2018-02-07T10:47:42","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T10:47:42","slug":"german-phone-call-vocabulary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-phone-call-vocabulary\/","title":{"rendered":"German Phone Call Vocabulary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In German, speaking on the phone is called <em><strong>telefonieren<\/strong>.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Some people (like me) find telephone calls a bit scary and intimidating. They\u2019re even moreso if you\u2019re making a phone call in a different language! So I\u2019ve compiled this list of useful phrases and vocabulary to help make German phone calls less scary.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Etiquette<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When answering the phone in Germany, state your name (or just your surname) followed by a greeting of Guten Tag. Example: &#8216;Josef Neumaier, Guten Tag&#8217;. Some people say something more casual, like \u2018Hallo, Neumaier\u2019, and others just state their surname: &#8216;Neumaier&#8217;.<\/li>\n<li>Even though you\u2019re answering someone who\u2019s called you, say who you are when you pick up the phone &#8211; and be sure to expect the same sort of answer when you call someone!<\/li>\n<li>If it&#8217;s a company you&#8217;re calling, they&#8217;ll state their company name before their own name when they answer. Example: &#8216;Deutsche Bahn, Neumaier, Guten Tag.&#8217;<\/li>\n<li>If it\u2019s a friend you&#8217;re calling, you can be more informal by simply saying \u2018Hallo, Birgit!\u2019, like you would in English. This post will help you with more formal phone calls.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, what do you say when you&#8217;ve got them on the line? Here are a few useful phrases for making phone calls with in Germany:<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Calling and asking for someone<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Guten Tag, kann ich bitte mit Herrn\/Frau___ sprechen? <em>Hello, could I please speak to Mr.\/Mrs.___?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Guten Tag, spreche ich mit Herrn\/Frau ___? <em>Hello, am I speaking to Mr.\/Mrs.___?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Am Apparat.<em> &#8211; Speaking.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>When the person you need is unavailable<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Wissen Sie, wann Herr\/Frau ___ wieder erreichbar ist? \u2013 <em>Do you know when Mr.\/Mrs.___ will be available?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>K\u00f6nnten Sie ihm\/ihr bitte sagen, dass ich angerufen habe? \u2013 <em>Could you please let him\/her know that I called?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Die Leitung ist besetzt &#8211;<em> The line is busy<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ringing back later<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 385px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"This is a telefon by Andreas Gohr, on Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/splitbrain\/4039512878\" aria-label=\"4039512878 Bc62f90564\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  alt=\"This is a telefon\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2598\/4039512878_bc62f90564.jpg\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by splitbrain on flickr.com under CC BY-SA 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>K\u00f6nnen Sie mich bitte sp\u00e4ter zur\u00fcckrufen? Ich bin momentan besch\u00e4ftigt. \u2013 <em>Could you please call me back later? I\u2019m busy at the moment.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Kann ich Sie zur\u00fcckrufen? \u2013 <em>Can I call you back?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Wann ist die beste Zeit, um Sie zur\u00fcckzurufen? \u2013 <em>When is the best time to call you back?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Unter welcher Nummer sind Sie gut erreichbar? \u2013 <em>Which number is best for me to get hold of you on?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What to say when you don\u2019t understand<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>K\u00f6nnen Sie bitte etwas langsamer sprechen? \u2013 <em>Could you please speak a little slower?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>K\u00f6nnen Sie das bitte wiederholen? \u2013 <em>Could you repeat that, please?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>K\u00f6nnen Sie das bitte buchstabieren? \u2013 <em>Could you spell that, please?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Verzeihung. Ich spreche nur ein bisschen Deutsch. \u2013 <em>I\u2019m sorry.<\/em> <em>I only speak a little German. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Saying thank you and ending the call<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Vielen Dank f\u00fcr Ihre Hilfe \u2013 <em>Thank you very much for your help.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Auf wiederh\u00f6ren \u2013 <em>Until next time<\/em><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Note:<\/span> <strong>Auf wiederh\u00f6ren<\/strong> is different to <strong>Auf wiedersehen<\/strong> because it is specifically designed for telephone use. The <strong>h\u00f6ren<\/strong> in wiederh\u00f6ren is the verb <strong>&#8216;to hear&#8217;<\/strong>. The phrase literally means, \u2018on hearing again\u2019!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>On phone numbers:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One very important thing to remember is that Germans give their telephone numbers in double digits. For example, the following telephone number:<\/p>\n<p>678652<\/p>\n<p>would be said like this in German:<\/p>\n<p>siebenundsechzig, sechsundachtzig, zweiundf\u00fcnfzig (67, 86, 52)<\/p>\n<p>This might be confusing! If you get a phone number recited to you this way and you think you\u2019ve written it down correctly (or if you have no idea!), repeat it back to the person on the phone like this:<\/p>\n<p>678652: Also, das war sechs, sieben, acht, sechs, f\u00fcnf, zwei. Stimmt das? \u2013 <em>So, that was six, seven, eight, six, five, two. Is that correct?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If what you\u2019ve said is wrong, it\u2019s likely that you\u2019ll be corrected in the same, easier number format. Remember, you can always use the phrases in <em>What to say when you don&#8217;t understand<\/em> (above) if you are struggling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related vocabulary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Das Telefon &#8211; <em>telephone<\/em><br \/>\nDas Handy &#8211; <em>mobile phone<\/em><br \/>\nDie (Telefon)Nummer &#8211; <em>(telephone) number<\/em><br \/>\nDie Telefonkarte &#8211; <em>phone card<\/em><br \/>\nDer H\u00f6rer &#8211; <em>receiver<\/em><br \/>\nDie Zentrale &#8211; <em>switchboard<\/em><br \/>\nDer W\u00e4hlton &#8211; <em>dialling tone<\/em><br \/>\nDie Taste &#8211; <em>phone button<\/em><br \/>\nDie Sprachmeldung &#8211; <em>voicemail<\/em><\/p>\n<p>anrufen &#8211; <em>to call<\/em><br \/>\ntelefonieren &#8211; <em>to speak on the phone<\/em><br \/>\n(Den H\u00f6rer) auflegen &#8211; <em>to hang up (the phone)<\/em><br \/>\n(Einen Anruf) beenden &#8211; <em>to end (a call)<\/em><br \/>\nwarten &#8211; <em>to wait<\/em><br \/>\nklingeln &#8211;<em> to ring (the noise)<\/em><br \/>\nverstehen &#8211;<em> to understand<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If there are any other phone phrases you need help with, let me know in the comments!<\/p>\n<p><em>Frohes telefonieren! x<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"239\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2015\/04\/8257149092_b466377643_n.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><p>In German, speaking on the phone is called telefonieren. Some people (like me) find telephone calls a bit scary and intimidating. They\u2019re even moreso if you\u2019re making a phone call in a different language! So I\u2019ve compiled this list of useful phrases and vocabulary to help make German phone calls less scary. Etiquette When answering&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-phone-call-vocabulary\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":7413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[960,970,9018,990,13],"class_list":["post-6281","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-german-vocab","tag-mobile","tag-telephone","tag-vocab","tag-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6281"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9592,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6281\/revisions\/9592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}