Il telefono, for some a lifeline, for others a necessary evil. It’s good to be in touch, but sometimes ‘ti viene la voglia di buttarlo dalla finestra!’ (you feel like throwing it out of the window!) Here is a bit of useful telephone vocabulary:
|
telefonare a qualcunodare un colpo di telefono a qualcuno
chiamare qualcuno
dare uno squillo a qualcuno
rispondere al telefono
il telefonino / il cellulare
il ricevitore
la segreteria telefonica
una scheda telefonica
l’elenco telefonico
le pagine gialle
una cabina telefonica
il prefisso
il numero
sbagliare numero
la linea
occupato
guasto |
to phone someoneto give someone a quick ring
to call someone
to give someone a ring
to answer the phone
the mobile phone / the cell phone
the receiver
the answering machine
a phone card
the telephone directory
the Yellow Pages
a phone box
the dialing code
the number
to dial the wrong number
the line
engaged
out of order |
Notice that telefonare (to phone) is followed by the preposition a, and chiamare (to call) is followed by the direct object, e.g.:
Giorgio: Hai telefonato a Marco? Lucia: Sì, gli ho telefonato (Giorgio: Have you phoned Marco? Lucia: Yes, I’ve phoned him);
Giorgio: Hai telefonato a tua madre? Lucia: Sì, le ho telefonato (Giorgio: have you phoned your mother? Lucia: Yes, I’ve phoned her).
Giorgio: Hai chiamato Marco? Lucia: Sì, l’ho chiamato (Giorgio: Have you called Marco? Lucia: Yes, I’ve called him).
Giorgio: Hai chiamato tua madre? Lucia: Sì, l’ho chiamata (Giorgio: Have you called your mother? Lucia: Yes, I’ve called her).
Now a few examples of typical phrases and expressions that we use when we speak on the phone:
| Il telefono sta suonando/squillando |
The phone’s ringing |
| Pronto, chi parla? |
Hello, who’s speaking? |
| Pronto, sono Giorgio |
Hello, it’s Giorgio |
| Vorrei parlare con Lucia. |
I’d like to speak to Lucia. |
| Un attimo che te la / gliela chiamo*. |
Hold on a moment, I’ll call her for you. |
| Sì, te la / gliela passo subito |
Yes, I’ll pass her to you straight away |
| Sì, un attimo, chi lo/la disidera? |
Yes, one moment, who wants to speak with him/her? |
| C’è Maria per favore? |
Is Maria there please? |
| Mi dispiace, non c’è. |
I’m sorry, he/she’s not in. |
| Vuole lasciare detto qualcosa? |
Would you like to live a message? |
| Vuoi che le/gli dica qualcosa? |
Do you want me to give her/him a message? |
| Mi scusi, ho sbagliato numero |
Sorry, I’ve dialed the wrong number |
| Mi dispiace, ha sbagliato numero |
I’m sorry, you’ve got the wrong number |
* te la chiamo – I’ll call her for you (informal), gliela chiamo – I’ll call her for you (polite).
Comments:
Michael:
I think sbagliare numero just means wrong number, not to dial the wrong number.
serena:
@Michael Salve Michael,
Sbagliare is an infinitive and means ‘to make a mistake’, or ‘get something wrong’. Therefore ‘sbagliare numero’ means ‘to mistake the number’, or ‘to get the number wrong’, which translated more correctly into English would be ‘to dial the wrong number’, exactly as I wrote in my blog. ‘Wrong number’ on the other hand, is ‘numero sbagliato’.
Quindi, la tua risposta è sbagliata.
Serena
Jeannet:
Buongiorno Serena,
after the morning routine
‘caffè’ !
Questo blog ‘telefono’ is very useful indeed
when stumbling ‘qualcose’ on the phone not knowing exactly how to deal in an first approach…
Mille grazie.
Jeannet
Gabi:
Serena, Grazie tanto per le vocabole nuove!!!
Tanti Saluti da Londra,
Gabi :o)
Vince Mooney:
Salve Serena:
In my Donna Leon mysteries (they all take place in Venice) she always uses the word ‘telefonino’. I assume this is a cell phone. Is there a special set of terms for using the cell phone?
Vince
serena:
@Vince Mooney Salve Vince, scusa per il ritardo. ‘Telefonino’ and ‘cellulare’ are the same object, and they are both commonly used. ‘Cell.’ is the abbreviation used on visiting cards to distinguish it from ‘Tel.’ which is used for the landline. Also, when filling in a form, etc. they will ask you for ‘cellulare’, again, in order to avoid any confusion with ‘telefono’.
Yes, there are some technical terms for the ‘telefonino’ such as ‘fare una ricarica’ which means ‘to top up’, and ‘traffico residuo’ which is the amount of money left. However, I’m not an expert on cellulari e messaggini (text messages), sorry.
Saluti da Serena
Robin:
Hi Serena
A comment/question on an old post: is there a standard way of saying a telephone number in Italy? I’ve found forums that say not, but I still wondered. E.g. in England we say 0 2 0 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 but in France they would say +33 01 34 56 65. Grazie.