# Answering the Phone



## Bienvenidos

I've searched around the forum and haven't found anything similar to this thread, so I'd like to ask:

How do you answer the telephone in your language? Do you just say "HELLO" or is there a special word for answering the phone?

*English*
Almost always (at residences) it's "Hello" 

*Farsi*
Balay - This is the special term used to answer the phone.

*Spanish*
Bueno
Diga
Digame
(I'm sure there are more  )

*Bien*


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## Tatzingo

Hi,

I also know of people who answer the phone by stating the last 6 digits of their number, so when they answer your call, you will be greeted by "354 321" with a raised intonation on the last digit. I don't knwo whether this is just localised practice or whther it's commonplace further afield... (UK)

Tatz.


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## Mariaguadalupe

Oficina de XXX..... buenos días


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## linguist786

In my house, we say: 

(Gujarati)
"Hullo? (Assalamu alaikum?)... Kon bolo cho?" (Who's speaking?)

In Urdu/Hindi, i guess they'd say "Hullo? Kon bolte hai?" (Who's speaking?)


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## ronanpoirier

Portuguese:

*Alô* or *Oi *or *Pronto*  And, Tatzingo, here some people say their whole telephone number!


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## Tatzingo

ronanpoirier said:
			
		

> Portuguese:
> 
> *Alô* or *Oi *or *Pronto*  And, Tatzingo, here some people say their whole telephone number!



Wow!

I've always thought that to be a bit risky, giving away your telephone number perhaps they've called you by accident and don't actually know you at all! But thanks for confirming that for me!!

Tatz.


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## linguist786

In French, they'd say:

"allo?" .. "Qui est à l'appareil?" (Who's speaking?)

I'm not sure whether there's different ways of answering the phone..


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## elroy

In Palestinian Arabic we say "aló."


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## panjabigator

In Punjabi we'd say "hello" and then upon introduction, "sat sri akal" or "namaste" depending on religion of course.  They even say "hello" in the villages, supposing they have phones.  My father told me that my great grandma probably assumed that "hello" was a Punjabi word and not an English one hehe.


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## Pivra

In Thai, I say Hello first, then follow by Sawasdeekrab but lots of people do not say Hello when they answer the phone.


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## Etcetera

Bienvenidos said:
			
		

> *English*
> Almost always (at residences) it's "Hello"


I was told once that the usual way of answering the phone in English is 'All right'. Isn't it so?..

In Russia, we usually say, 'Allo' or 'Da' (='yes'). Some people, like my Father, say 'Slushayu' (='Listening to you'). 
I myself usually say 'Allo', and sometimes 'Aiya' (if the caller's my friend).


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## erick

Interestingly, in Scandinavia they answer their phones by saying their names: so you pick up the phone and say "Henrik" if that's your name.  Not a bad idea as the caller knows immediately with whom he's speaking.

In Japanese, モシモシ (moshi-moshi), which I don't particularly like.  You can also say "hai" as in "yes?"  My grandfather used to say this...

In Italian: "Pronto" which literally means "ready."


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## Etcetera

erick said:
			
		

> Interestingly, in Scandinavia they answer their phones by saying their names: so you pick up the phone and say "Henrik" if that's your name. Not a bad idea as the caller knows immediately with whom he's speaking.


How interesting. That's a good idea, I think.


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## Krümelmonster

In Germany it is also common to say your name, but usually the last name or the whole... So people would say "Schmidt" or "Paul Schmidt" at the phone... 
Answering your cell phone you usually just say "Hallo" or "Ja", because it is your personal phone and so it is no question who is speaking...


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## Whodunit

Krümelmonster said:
			
		

> In Germany it is also common to say your name, but usually the last name or the whole... So people would say "Schmidt" or "Paul Schmidt" at the phone...
> Answering your cell phone you usually just say "Hallo" or "Ja", because it is your personal phone and so it is no question who is speaking...


 
I'm used to answer with "Bei <last name>". Most Germans also do this when they answer someone else's phone. Example:

At home: (My name is Schmidt, for instance)
*ring* --- Bei Schmidt! (at Schmidt's)

At ones aunt's (if her name is Meier):
*ring* --- Bei Meier! ... Entschuldigung, hier spricht Schmidt.
*ring* --- At Maier's. ... I'm sorry, Schmidt is answering.

Answering my cell phone, I usually ask "Ja?"


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## Etcetera

Some Russians say, "<last name> slushaet>" (=<last name> is listening to you). But it sounds rather formal, and I've never heard someone answering phone at home in this way. 
Secretaries usually say something formal, like that: "Sberbank, dobry den. Chem ya mogu vam pomoch'?" (=Sberbank, Good day. Can I be of any assistance?)


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## Krümelmonster

Whodunit said:
			
		

> I'm used to answer with "Bei <last name>". Most Germans also do this when they answer someone else's phone.



I never heard somebody say "bei XXX" when he is at home, in fact I would find that really confusing for I would think that this is not your name then... but if I was at someone's phone I'd say "Bei Meier, Schmidt (am Apparat)"


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## Whodunit

Krümelmonster said:
			
		

> I never heard somebody say "bei XXX" when he is at home, in fact I would find that really confusing for I would think that this is not your name then... but if I was at someone's phone I'd say "Bei Meier, Schmidt (am Apparat)"


 
You're right. That's why I said "_I_'m used to". I have not heard that from anyone else either when he answers his own phone. And since some people have indeed gotten confused sometimes, I now try to omit the "bei".


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## optimistique

In the Netherlands we also answer with saying our names or with the preposition 'with', for example:

-*Hallo, met ... *(full name, first name, last name, everything's possible, I always say my full name)

Some people add: "*Met wie spreek ik?*" (With whom am I talking?) or just say: *Hallo, met wie spreek ik?*

And this is really stupid, but there really are a lot of people who answer the phone with:

-*Met mij*. (With me (speaking)) That's clear!


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## parakseno

Most of the times in Romania you would hear
"Alo!" (hello) or less fequently "da!" (yes).
In more formal situations you will hear the institution's/company's name, followed by a greeting ("Bună dimineaţa!", "Bună ziua!" etc. - good morning, hello etc).


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## Tisia

Bienvenidos said:
			
		

> I've searched around the forum and haven't found anything similar to this thread, so I'd like to ask:
> 
> How do you answer the telephone in your language? Do you just say "HELLO" or is there a special word for answering the phone?
> 
> *Farsi*
> Balay - This is the special term used to answer the phone.
> *Bien*


 
Bien, I would never say "Bale" because I find it rude, it's like in English you would say "Ye(h)!". I prefer to say "Salam" which  means "hello" or I simply say "halloo".

Tisia


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## betulina

Bienvenidos said:
			
		

> How do you answer the telephone in your language? Do you just say "HELLO" or is there a special word for answering the phone?
> 
> *Spanish*
> Bueno
> Diga
> Digame
> (I'm sure there are more  )
> 
> *Bien*



What I hear most in Spanish is, apart from "¿diga?", "*¿Sí?*". 

In Catalan, you may hear: Sí? (the most used), Digui?, Hola? (the one I'm used to say but I think not very common)

In Basque I hear "Bai?" (literally, "yes?")


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## badgrammar

I believe that in Türkiye  the standard thing to say when answering is "Effendim", but you will also hear "Allo?".


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## Honour

badgrammar said:
			
		

> I believe that in Türkiye  the standard thing to say when answering is "Effendim", but you will also hear "Allo?".


absolutely, but with one *f* and one *l* 
efendim, alo.
nowadays, it is a new trend to answer phones saying your own name in workplaces.


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## Bienvenidos

Tisia said:
			
		

> Bien, I would never say "Bale" because I find it rude, it's like in English you would say "Ye(h)!". I prefer to say "Salam" which  means "hello" or I simply say "halloo".
> 
> Tisia



 I find that Afghan Persian isn't as..."fancily spoken" as Iranian Persian.  Hehe, we changed all of the verb conjugations so it sounds more casual when speaking. My poor grandmother says "balay" all the time when answering the phone...maybe it's a dialectal thing?   I'm actually surprised to hear that this is considered rude, just because I'm so used to hearing it when calling people.  It's us Afghans, I guess 

Thanks, as always, for your great imput. 

*Bien*


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## robbie_SWE

It's true that in Scandinavia we say our names. In Sweden I always pick up the phone and say: 

*Hej, det här är Robert Sxxxxxxk *_(translation: Hi, this is Robert Sxxxxxxxk)_*. *

We say our surnames too.  

But us teanagers, we say:

*Tja, Robert!*


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## macta123

In Hindustani : We say  -  Hello (in different accents!!!)  and followed by whatever you want to say

Kya mein ........ sey baat kar sakta/sakti hoon? Can I talk to ______


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## panjabigator

In Punjabi
Ki maiN ___ de naal gall kar sakdaa hai?


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## viereaty_blienmest

*In Vietnamese is the same with Italian:*
*when you pick up the phone you will say: Alô or xin chào ( that's mean hello ) and we unsual say: this is ........ ( name ) but we always ask: *
*_ Ai đang nói chuyện vậy ? ( Who's talking ? )*
*_ Ai Đó ? ( Who's that ? ) *

*That's it ^_^ i'm glad to help you* 
* 
*


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## Maja

In Serbian (all informal):

- Halo or 'Alo
- Da 
- Molim.


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## Tino_no

More suggestions in spanish:
¿Sí?
¿Quién habla?
¿Hola?

...But I always say "¿Bueno?"


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## vince

Etcetera said:
			
		

> I was told once that the usual way of answering the phone in English is 'All right'. Isn't it so?..



No, I have never heard anyone answer the phone like that. It is almost always "Hello?"


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## linguist786

Etcetera said:
			
		

> I was told once that the usual way of answering the phone in English is 'All right'. Isn't it so?..


If you have a mobile-phone (cell phone) then the person's name is usually displayed on the screen, so if you know who it is, i suppose you could say "All right?" (since you know who it is)

otherwise no!


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## Etcetera

Thank you very much, *vince* and *linguist786*!


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## illerdi

betulina said:
			
		

> In Basque I hear "Bai?" (literally, "yes?")


 

In Basque we also say "Bai esan?", "Nor da?" ...


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## Knuð

In Norwegian you could say:

"Hallo?" (Hello?)
"Hei, det er Knut" (Hi, it's Knut / Knut speaking)
You could also say your name only.

If you know who's calling, you could just say what you say when you normally meet that person, preferably followed by the person's name to make it easier for the person calling to understand that you know who's calling, but not necessarily. Examples:

"Skål!" (Cheers) [this is quite abnormal, though]
"Hei, (min) kjære!" (Hi, (my) dear)
"Hei, Robert! Hva skjer?" (Hi, Robert! What's up?)
Etc.


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## melop

In both Cantonese and Mandarin, people just say "喂?" (wei2/wei), more polite people would add "你好" (ni hao/nei hao)


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## Aldin

In Bosnian;

Da
Molim
Halo


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## Miss Denmark

In Denmark we just answer with our name or with "det er >name<" - meaning: "This is >name<".
Some answer only with their first name, others with both first and surname.

It's rare that a dane answer with just a "hallo", but it can occur.


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## WILMSLOW

In Spanish.:

* si?
* digame?
* diga?
* hola?


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## lapoti

In Spanish there are many ways, according to the country.
It is usually in *Mexico*, for example, that they go with "_¿Bueno?_"
In *Venezuela* we say "¿*Aló*?" "¿_Hola_?" (hello) "¿_Sí?"_ (yes) or "_buenos días_" (good morning) or "_buenas tardes_" (evening), "_buenas noches_" (night) according to the time of the day) 
But definetely, the most commonly used is *¿ALÓ?*


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## showerbabies

*mardarin* - "wei" (cantonese is _almost_ the same)


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## Sina

In turkish we say, 

Alo? = special term
Efendim = yeah?
Efem = yea?
Eet?  = yes?

In spanish

Diga = tell
Digame = tell me


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## vince

showerbabies said:
			
		

> *mardarin* - "wei" (cantonese is _almost_ the same)



In Cantonese I believe it's "wai", like English "white" without the "t"-sound.

Ngaam m ngaam? / Is that right?


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## mataripis

Tagalog: Hello! Sino sila?(who are you?)/Bakit?(Why?)/Sinong hanap nila?(,who's you are looking for?)


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## jakubisek

In Czech we have the "haló" as a specific phone-word. But many of us say something else when ANSWERING a call, like: 

"Prosím!"  (Please), or "Ano?" (Yes?)

I rarely say "haló", usually  "Prosim, Čejka" (= my surname after the "please") or just "Prosim" or "Ano?" 

(We never say our numbers)


I thought in Hindi I heard people answering just "hanjee" (Yes), or am I mistaken?

In Italian, they answer "Pronto!"


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## jakubisek

A related thing that might be of interest, in Czech we introduce ourselves on the phone (usually the one who dialled) "Tady XY"  (lit. "Here XY") which means sort of "XY is speaking" - third person.    Saying first person (I am XY) would sound funny. 

In Bengali they say "Ami XY bolchi"  = "I XY am speaking" (with the first person verbal ending of "speak")


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## fdb

In Italian they say "pronto" "(I am) ready". It is a masculine adjective, but for some reason that I have never understood women also say "pronto", not "pronta".


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

*«Παρακαλώ!» [paraka'lo]*: Please!
*«Εμπρός!» [em'bros]*: Forward! (compound adv., prefix & preposition *«ἐν» ĕn *--> _in_ (*«ἐμ-» em-* by assimilation of -n- with following consonant) + prefix & preposition *«πρός» prós *--> _to_
*«Ναι! [ne]*: Yes! (particle of strong affirmation  *«ναὶ» næ*, Attic *«νὴ» nḕ*, in MG adverb* «ναι» [ne]* --> _in the ancient language, a particle of adjuration, in Modern Greek the affirmative or consenting reply, "yes"_
*«Λέγετε! ['leʝete]*: Speak! (3rd person pl. imperative, present tense, of v. *«λέ(γ)ω» ['le(ɣ)o]* --> _to count, tell_ < classical *«λέγω» légō* --> _to pick up/out, choose, count, tell_ (PIE *leǵ-, _to gather_)


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## AutumnOwl

As many other Scandinavian I usually answer with my (first) name, but with a phone where I can see who's calling I often answer with "Hej x" (hello x). If it's an unlisted number and I suspect that it might be a telemarketer or similar caller I might answer with only a "Ja?" (Yes?) as I don't want to give them confirmation of who I am, it makes it easier for me to hang up the phone.


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## arielipi

In israel we would say hallo/ allo; or any other greeting say we have in hebrew.


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## Messquito

melop said:


> In both Cantonese and Mandarin, people just say "喂?" (wei2/wei), more polite people would add "你好" (ni hao/nei hao)


That's funny, because as opposed to allo?(Hello?), I've also heard French people say Ouais?(Yes?), which souds very similar to 喂？


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## DaylightDelight

In Japan, once upon a time (a few decades ago) kids were taught to answer the phone with
"もしもし？<family name>です。どちらさまですか？" (=Hello, this is <family name>. Who is that?)

These days people are much more concerned with securing their personal information and
many kids are taught not to say their own name, or even that kids should not to answer the phone at all.


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## Ectab

In Iraqi Arabic we say "aluu" or "as-salaamu 3alaykum" (islamic)
In MSA even though it is not spoken, but we would say "marHaban" (hello) or also "aluu"


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## spindlemoss

In Welsh it's usually just *"Helô"*.


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## Wilma_Sweden

AutumnOwl said:


> As many other Scandinavian I usually answer with my (first) name, but with a phone where I can see who's calling I often answer with "Hej x" (hello x). If it's an unlisted number and I suspect that it might be a telemarketer or similar caller I might answer with only a "Ja?" (Yes?) as I don't want to give them confirmation of who I am, it makes it easier for me to hang up the phone.


I do something similar, it's "Hej {name}" for friend or family, as their names will show up on the phone screen. For numbers I don't recognise, or no number is showing up at all, I just answer "Hallå?" (interjection typically used to see if anyone is there, i.e. on the phone line, but also in real life). When answering at work, I answer with company name, my name and my position. 

In the old days of landline phones made of bakelite, Swedes used to answer with their number (for home phones), but I haven't heard anyone do that for the last couple of decades!


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## dojibear

showerbabies said:


> *mandarin* - "wei"


The word *喂* is pronounced like English "way!" (with a high rapidly falling pitch). Why is this word used to answer the telephone? When not used for answering the phone, the word *喂 *means "to feed".

And *喂* has a rising pitch when used to answer a telephone. But Chinese questions don't end in a rising pitch.




Messquito said:


> That's funny, because as opposed to allo?(Hello?), I've also heard French people say Ouais?(Yes?), which sounds very similar to *喂*.


That's probably the answer -- French "Ouais?" is probably the reason Chinese people answer the phone with *喂* (using a rising pitch).

France and Britain were influential in China, back when telephones started being used in China (1900). So perhaps some Chinese people copied the French "Ouais?" to answer the phone, and picked a similar-sounding word to represent this in writing.


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## Messquito

I suppose, if our guess was anything close to the reason, it's because in Chinese we like using words with the "口(mouth)" radical to represent meaningless noises we make or onomatopoeic sounds. Since there is no word like that in the second tone (which is actually how we pronounce it answering the phone), we use a character that is normally in the fourth tone instead.
And the actual word used to mean "feed" is actually 餵 (with 食(eat/food) as a radical), and 喂, in its original fourth-tone glory, actually just mean "hey!". In fact, I never knew 喂 can be used to mean "to feed" until your reply. I suppose it makes sense from the "口(mouth)" radical, though.
In Chinese there is tons of cases where the written character doesn't sound exactly how we pronounced it in real life. And the funny thing is dictionaries never try to include those "unorthodox" pronunciations. These characters are usually verbal noises, exclamations, or foreign transliterations. 喂 when answering telephones is one of them. 巧克力(chiao3 ke4 li4) is pronounced 巧顆力(chiao3 ke1 li4). 嘻嘻(shi1shi1) is often pronounced hehe. 吼 when grunting is pronounced 厚. 起司(chi3 si1) is often pronounced 氣死(chi4 si3). 嘖(ze2) is pronounced tzzt. And the list goes on...


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## Kaoss

Bienvenidos said:


> *Spanish*
> Bueno
> Diga
> Digame
> (I'm sure there are more  )
> 
> *Bien*


Never heard about "bueno", some people may say "¿sí?" (yes?).

"Diga" translate as "Speak", like an order. I've always though is kind of harsh...


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## Penyafort

Kaoss said:


> Never heard about "bueno", some people may say "¿sí?" (yes?).
> 
> "Diga" translate as "Speak", like an order. I've always though is kind of harsh...


Many Mexicans use _bueno_.

I've also heard _Aló _by people from other Spanish-speaking countries.

I agree that in Spain it's mainly _diga _and, specially, _sí_? Short and without formalities.


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