Hello, there! How are you doing?

In today’s post we’ll learn how to make phone calls in Spanish and also some useful expressions.

There are some differences when people answer the phone in different Spanish-speaking countries. For example, in Uruguay and Argentina they say hola, in Spain it’s dígame or diga, in Cuba, besides diga you can also hear oigo and in Chile and Colombia they say aló.

As for saying numbers, you usually say the first number, then the other ones in twos. For example, if the phone number is 4753241, you will hear 4-75-32-41.

Now, cell phones can have different names in different countries: móvil in Argentina and Spain, portátil in Uruguay and celular in Chile, Colombia and Cuba.

Learn these useful expressions when talking on the phone:

Hola. Por favor, ¿puedo hablar con Fernando? – Hello, can I speak to Fernando, please?
Hola, ¿Fernando está? – Hello. Is Fernando there?
Soy Fernando. – This is Fernando.
Trabajo con él. – I work with him.
¿Puedes hablar ahora? – Can you speak now?
Te traté de llamar antes, pero nadie atendió. – I tried to call you before, but no one answered.
Creo que no estabas. – I don’t think you were in.
Estaba ocupado. – The line was busy.
Atendió el contestador automático. – I got the answering machine.
¿Recibiste mi recado? – Did you get my message?

Some expressions to use when answering the phone.

¡Aló! – Hello.
¿Quién habla? – Who’s speaking?
¿De parte de quién? – Who’s speaking?
¿Le importa decirme de qué se trata? – Can you tell me what this is about?
Un momento, no cuelgue. – A moment, don’t hang up.

During the call there might be some problems:

Perdone, se cortó la llamada. – I’m sorry, the line was cut.
Hay un cruce de líneas. – There’s a crossed line.
Hay muchas interferencias. – There’s a lot of statics.
Te escucho mal. – I can’t hear you well.
¿Qué número marcó? – What number did you dial?
Lo siento, me he equivocado de número. – I’m sorry, I must’ve gotten the wrong number.
Se equivocó. – You got the wrong number.
No se escucha el tono de llamada. – I can’t hear the tone.

When you’re saying goodbye:

Tengo que colgar. – I have to hang up.
Qué bueno hablar contigo. – It was good to talk to you.
Entonces, hasta el lunes. – So, see you on Monday.
Hasta luego. – See you.
Chau. – Bye.

Eso es todo por hoy, nos vemos prontito.