1. FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH SPEAKING ON THE PHONE If you aspire to work in an office and one of your duties is to answer the phone, you have to master these expressions.

2. FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH SPEAKING ON THE PHONE VOCABULARY to call/ring backbad line to cut offcaller to dialcollect call to hang upanswering machine to hold [on]message to pick upphone booth to put throughmissed call to transfer callphone book

3. ANSWERING THE PHONE Good morning, Lilia speaking, what can I do for you? Karol Wojtyla Center, this is Alessandra speaking, how can I help you?

4. ASKING TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE May I speak to Mrs. Muni, please? I'd like to speak to Mrs. Russello, please. I'm trying to contact Mrs. Zito.

5. ASKING FOR CALLER'S NAME Who's calling, please? Who's speaking, please? May I have your name, please? May I ask who's calling, please?

6. EXPLAINING THE REASON WE'RE CALLING I'm calling to ask about... I'm calling in regards to... I'm phoning to tell you about...

7. ASKING TO WAIT Can you please hold a moment? One moment, please. Hold the line, please. Please, hold.

8. TRANSFERRING A CALL Thank you for holding. I'll transfer you now. I'll put you through now. I'll connect you now.

9. WHEN SOMEONE CAN’T ANSWER THE PHONE I'm sorry, but he is not available right now. I'm sorry, her line is busy. He’s in a meeting at the moment. I'm afraid she's out at the moment. I'm sorry but he can't come to the phone right now. I'm sorry, he's out for the rest of the day.

10. WHEN YOU CAN’T ANSWER THE PHONE RIGHT NOW It sounds like someone is at the door. Can I call you back? I have a call on the other line now. Can I call you back? May I call you back in ten minutes? I'm just about to go out. I'm afraid I've got some visitors at the moment. I can't talk now. I'm busy at the moment. Can I get back to you a little later?

11. TO ASK WHO THE SPEAKER WANTS TO TALK TO Who do you want to talk to? Who would you like to speak to? The name of the person you are calling, please? Who are you calling?

12. TAKING A MESSAGE May I take a message? Would you like to leave a message? May I have him call you back? Would you like him to call you back? When is a good time to have him return your call? Any message for Mr. Pirson?

13. WHEN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE SPEAKER SAID I'm sorry. I couldn't follow you. You're talking too fast. I can't keep up. Excuse me, but I didn't hear that, would you mind repeating it, please? I'm sorry, I don't understand. Could you repeat that, please? I'm sorry, I can't hear you very well. Could you speak up a little, please? Could you spell that, please?

14. ENDING A CALL Thank you very much for your help. Thanks for the information. Thank you for calling. Okay, thank you. I'll give him the message. Have a nice day!