# Answering Machine Message



## User1001

Hello Everyone! I was a little curious tonight about what standard messages on cell phones or house phones are like in other languages, and/or other cultures. In English, we typically have, "Hello. You've reached <person's name>. Sorry I'm not here right now, but if you leave a message, I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

Perhaps you could translate that generic message, and maybe give an example of a common message in your language and, of course, the translation in English. Thanks!


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## univerio

Chinese:

Not a lot of people in China use answering machines... but if you do, here's probably a common phrase, "你好，我现在不在，如果有事请在“嘟”声后留言。" (Hello, I'm not here right now, if you need me please leave a message after the beep.)


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## silvester

In spanish:  Hola, no nos encontramos en este momento, porfavor dejenos un mensaje y le devolveremos la llamada lo mas pronto posible.

Hello, we are not at home right now, please leave us a message and we will return your call as soon as possible.


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## Chazzwozzer

*Turkish:*
*Merhaba, şu anda yokum. Lütfen mesajınızı bırakın.*
_(Hello, I'm away right now. Please leave your message.)

_It's not reeaally standard but, it at least gives the main idea.


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## badgrammar

Obviously there are lots of variations, but this is pretty basic:

French: Bonjour je ne suis pas là/je ne suis pas joignable pour l'instant, merci de me laisser votre message (après le bip sonore). 

Hello, I'm not here/cannot be reached for now, thanks for leaving me a message (after the beep).

My favorite is my sister's, but it's kind of gruff: "This is K., you know what to do".


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## krolaina

I have a friend who recently lives alone. Her message is pretty funny! :
Hola, soy el contestador de Ana, qué eres tú.
Hi, I´m Ana´s answering machine, what are you?


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## doman

Vietnamese

In formal is as in English or others.
*"Xin chào. Bạn đang gọi vào số của* <person's name>. *Hiện giờ tôi không ở nhà, bạn hãy để lại tin nhắn, tôi sẽ trả lời tin nhắn của bạn ngay ."*
(Hello. You're calling to <person's name> number. I'm not home right now, you should leave a message, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.)

In my own cell phone
*"Đứa quái nào thế ? Xưng tên ngay sau tiếng "bíp" nhá !"*
(Who the hell are you? Sing your name after "beep", huh !)
This cellphone I use to contact to friends only !


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## childoftheworld

This is sooo cool!!!

P.S. I translated Korean & Japanese - Accuracy is 80-90% but after 2 days of grammar research, I'm pretty sure it is correct 100% as the Online Translation Engines in Japan and Babel can convert it back and forth from JP, KR, CN and EN without flaw. ;-)

German & Italian, I found it somewhere I think in this forum.

*Mandarin Chinese*
你好！我现在不能接电话。请你在'beep'声之后留下你的口讯。我稍等会回你的电话。谢谢。(Simplified Chinese)

你好! 我現在不能接電話。請你在'beep'聲之後留下你的口訊。我稍等會回你的電話。謝謝。(Traditional Chinese)

ni(3) hao(3)! wo(3) xian(4) zai(4) bu(4) neng(2) jie(1) ni(3) de(5) dian(4) hua(4). qing(3) ni(3) zai(4) 'beep' sheng(1) zhi(1) hou(4) liu/lio(2) xia(4) ni(3) de(5) kou(3) xu(v)n/xün(4). wo(3) shao(1) deng(2) hui(4) hui(3) ni(3) de(5) dian(4) hua(4). Xie(4) Xie(5)

1 - flat tone
2 - raising tone
3 - fall & raise tone
4 - falling tone
5 - abrupt glottal

Literal Translation:
Hello/How Are You. I cannot fetch the phone right now. Please, leave your message after the beep sound. I will return your call in a while. Thank you.

*Cantonese - Chinese*
Nei Ho, Ngo Yi Ka Um Dak Han. Ceng Nei Hai Du Sheng Zi Hao, Lao Dai Nei Go Seng Meng, Din Hua Ho Ma Kap Hau Sun. Ngo Dan Yat Zan Dak Han Ko Si Hao Hui Da Bei Fan Nei. Do Tse.

Hello. I am busy right now. (Cantonese Colloquial), Please leave your name, number and message after the been. I will return your call when I am available. Thank you.


*Hokkien - Chinese*
Di Ho, Gua Ze Zi Bo Ui. Tia Tio Beep Xia Yi Ao, Cia Di Pang Ue. Gua Tan Ne Wu Ui Ja E Ka Ho Di. Do Xia.

- Same as above (without) the leave name and number, just leave message.



*Italian*


Siamo momentaneamente assenti, lasciate il vostro messaggio dopo il bip e sarete richiamati appena possibile. Grazie.


*French*
Bonjour! Nous ne sommes pas disponibles ce moment laissez votre message et nous vous rapellons aussitôt que possible.



*Spanish*
Hola! Estamos ocupados en el momento. Dejen su mensaje y les llamaremos tan pronto nos sea possible


*Japanese*
もしもし！現在私は電話に答えることができません。音を聞いた後でメッセージを残します下さい。出来るだけ早くあなたに電話をかけるでしょう。ありがとうございます。

Moshi-moshi. Gen-zai watashi-wa den-wa ni kotae-ru ko-to-ga-de-ki masen. Oto-wo ki-i-ta ato-de, me-shi-se-ji wo nook-shi-masu kudasai. De-ku-ru-da-ke hayaku anato-ni den-wa ka-ke-ru de-shou. Arigato-Gozaimasu.


*Korean*
애보세요! 현재 전화를 대답 할수없다. 음조 들맀어요 후에,메시지 떠나세요. 가능한 한 빨리 당신에게 전화를 걸겠지요. 감사합니다.

Yo-bo-se-yo! Hyon-jae jon-hwa-reul dae-dap hal-su-op-da. Eum-jo deul-ri-sseo-yo hoo-e. Me-shi-ji tto-na-se-yo. Ka-neung-han han ppal-ri dang-sin-e-ke jon-hwa-reul kol-ke-ji-yo . Kam-sa-ham-ni-da.


*German*


Leider bin ich zurzeit nicht erreichbar. Bitte hinterlassen Sie mir eine Nachricht (auf dem Anrufbeantworter) und ich werde Sie (sobald wie möglich) zurückrufen. Danke und auf Wiedersehen.


*Portugese*
Olá! Nós estamos ocupados neste momento. Deixe sua mensagem e nós chamamo-lo o mais cedo possível


*Thai*
สวัสดีครับ.ผมเดี๋ยวนี้ไม่ได้รับโทรศัพท์.ช่วยฝากบอกอะไรใหผม.ผมเดี๋ยวก่อนจะโทไบให้คุณนะครับ.ขอบคุณนะครับ.

Sawát-dee krúp. Pǒm deě-o née mâi dâi rúp toh-ra-súp. Choô-ay fàhk bòrk a-rai hâi pǒm. Pǒm deě-o gawn ja toh bpai hâi kun na krúp. Khop-kun na krúp.


*Melayu/Indo*

Pemilik Telpon Selular ini tidak mempunyai waktu untuk menjawab telepon.
Tinggalkan pesan anda sesudah anda mendengar ‘beep’.
Saya akan menelpon anda secepat-cepatnya.

'Owner of this mobile phone cannot answer your call right now. Leave me a message after you hear the been. I will call you back as soon as possible.'




*Tagalog*

Hello! Ang mayari ng teleponong ito ay hindi makasagot ngayon. Paki iwan lang ang iyong pangalan, numero at mensahe pagkatapos marinig ang 'beep'. Tatawagan kita kapag may oras ako. Salamat.

Hello. The owner of this telephone cannot answer right now. Please leave your name, number and message after the beep. I will call you back when I have time. Thank you.


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## Outsider

childoftheworld said:


> *Portuguese*
> Olá! Nós somos estamos ocupados neste momento. Deixe sua mensagem e nós chamamo-lo o mais cedo possível


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## childoftheworld

Thanks for the Portuguese Correction!


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## Metabolix

In Finnish:
En ole juuri nyt tavoitettavissa. Ole hyvä ja jätä viesti äänimerkin kuultuasi.

Translates to the same as all others:
I'm unreachable at the moment. Please leave me a message after hearing the beep (lit. audio signal).


I've heard some quite interesting variations lately:
"Tämä on tiedät-kyllä-kenen tiedät-kyllä-mikä. Tiedät-kyllä-minkä jälkeen voit tehdä tiedät-kyllä-mitä."

This doesn't quite survive the translation to english (or at least it isn't as funny), but i'll try.
The main thing: Tiedät-kyllä- = you-know-
This is the you-know-what of you-know-who. After the you-know-what you can do you-know-what.

Je vais essayer en français...
Ça, c'est le tu-sais-que de tu-sais-qui. Et après le tu-sais-quoi tu peux faire tu-sais-quoi.


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## Whodunit

childoftheworld said:


> *German*
> 
> Leider bin ich zurzeit nicht erreichbar. Bitte hinterlassen Sie mir eine Nachricht (auf dem Anrufbeantworter) und ich werde Sie (sobald wie möglich) zurückrufen. Danke und auf Wiedersehen.


 
There's no grammar mistake in your suggestion, but you'd probably hear something like:

*Hallo,* (*bitte legen Sie nicht auf.*)* Das ist der Anrufbeantworter von* <name>*. Ich bin*/*Wir sind im Moment nicht zu erreichen. Bitte sprechen Sie Ihre Nachricht nach dem Piep-Ton.*

_Hello, (please don't hang up.) This is the answering machine of <name>. I am/We are currently not available. Please say your message after the beep._


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## arkyta

krolaina said:


> I have a friend who recently lives alone. Her message is pretty funny! :
> Hola, soy el contestador de Ana, qué eres tú.
> Hi, I´m Ana´s answering machine, what are you?


 
Hi, everyone
The message is really funny, but is incorrect. (or at least sounds weird)

It's ok to consider the answering machine as a thing.. so. then the answering machine asks "what" thing are you.
But would be politically correct to rephrase it as it follows:

Hola, soy el contestador de (Name), ¿quién eres tú?
Hi, I'm (Name)'s answering machine, who are you?


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## lonepiper

childoftheworld said:


> *Mandarin Chinese*
> 你好！我现在不能接电话。请你在'beep'声之后留下你的口讯。我稍等会回你的电话。谢谢。(Simplified Chinese)
> 
> 你好! 我現在不能接電話。請你在'beep'聲之後留下你的口訊。我稍等會回你的電話。謝謝。(Traditional Chinese)
> 
> *Japanese*
> もしもし！現在私は電話に答えることができません。音を聞いた後でメッセージを残します下さい。出来るだけ早くあなたに電話をかけるでしょう。ありがとうございます。
> 
> Moshi-moshi. Gen-zai watashi-wa den-wa ni kotae-ru ko-to-ga-de-ki masen. Oto-wo ki-i-ta ato-de, me-shi-se-ji wo nook-shi-masu kudasai. De-ku-ru-da-ke hayaku anato-ni den-wa ka-ke-ru de-shou. Arigato-Gozaimasu.


 

I use the following for mine in Japanese:

今日は、こちらは [ NAME ] です。申し訳ありませんが、只今電話に出る事ができません。発信音の後にメッセージをお願いします。後で、こちらからお返事申し上げます。お電話有難うございます。

Konnichi wa, kochira wa [ NAME ] desu. Moushi wake arimasen ga, tadaima denwa ni deru koto ga dekimasen. Hasshin-on no ato ni messeeji wo onegai shimasu. Ato de kochira kara o-henji moushi agemasu. O-denwa arigatou gozaimasu.

Also, your Chinese message appears to be missing a couple of characters in the first sentance??

Cheers!


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## kusurija

childoftheworld said:


> This is sooo cool!!!
> 
> P.S. I translated Korean & Japanese - ... ... ...
> *Japanese*
> もしもし！現在私は電話に答えることができません。音を聞いた後でメッセージを残します下さい。出来るだけ早くあなたに電話をかけるでしょう。ありがとうございます。
> 
> Moshi-moshi. Gen-zai watashi-wa den-wa ni kotae-ru ko-to-ga-de-ki masen. Oto-wo ki-i-ta ato-de, me-shi-se-ji wo nook-shi-masu kudasai. De-ku-ru-da-ke hayaku anato-ni den-wa ka-ke-ru de-shou. Arigato-Gozaimasu.
> 
> 
> ... ...


I'm afraid, that transliteration of that as I understand Japanese text slightly differs from Yours, but may I also made some mistakes. Anyway Your post is wonderfull. Welcome to this wonderfull forum, "childoftheworld" !

My version of transliteration: 

Moshi-moshi. Genzai watashi wa denwa ni kotaeru koto ga dekimasen. Oto (w)o kiita atode, messe*:*ji (w)o nokoshimasu kudasai. Dekiru dake hayaku anata ni denwa kakeru desho*:*. Arigato*:* gozaimasu. 
(where: *:* means lengthened vowel; diminuted letters practically not pronounced).

Cheers!


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## kittykate

childoftheworld said:


> *Italian*
> 
> Siamo momentaneamente assenti, lasciate il vostro messaggio dopo il bip e sarete richiamati appena possibile. Grazie.


 
The Italian is flawless. 
What an impressive job, childoftheworld 

caterina


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## Flaminius

kusurija said:


> Anyway Your post is wonderfull. Welcome to this wonderfull forum, "childoftheworld" !
> 
> My version of transliteration:



Hello *kusurija*,

Thank you for your accurate transliteration but the Japanese translation itself is seriously flawed.  [Not your fault, of course.]  Please refer to *lonepiper*'s #14 for a standard Japanese message.


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## Mjolnir

Nice thread 

In *Hebrew *the typical message is
שלום, הגעתם למנוי מספר <מספר>, נא השאירו הודעתכם אחרי הצפצוף.
Which means "Hi, you've reached subscriber number <number>, please leave your message after the beep".

If one changes the default message, it could be anything ​


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## lonepiper

childoftheworld said:


> This is sooo cool!!!
> 
> P.S. I translated Korean & Japanese - Accuracy is 80-90% but after 2 days of grammar research, I'm pretty sure it is correct 100% as the Online Translation Engines in Japan and Babel can convert it back and forth from JP, KR, CN and EN without flaw. ;-)
> 
> German & Italian, I found it somewhere I think in this forum.
> 
> *Mandarin Chinese*
> 你好！我现在不能接电话。请你在'beep'声之后留下你的口讯。我稍等会回你的电话。谢谢。(Simplified Chinese)
> 
> 你好! 我現在不能接電話。請你在'beep'聲之後留下你的口訊。我稍等會回你的電話。謝謝。(Traditional Chinese)
> 
> ni(3) hao(3)! wo(3) xian(4) zai(4) bu(4) neng(2) jie(1) ni(3) de(5) dian(4) hua(4). qing(3) ni(3) zai(4) 'beep' sheng(1) zhi(1) hou(4) liu/lio(2) xia(4) ni(3) de(5) kou(3) xu(v)n/xün(4). wo(3) shao(1) deng(2) hui(4) hui(3) ni(3) de(5) dian(4) hua(4). Xie(4) Xie(5)
> 
> 1 - flat tone
> 2 - raising tone
> 3 - fall & raise tone
> 4 - falling tone
> 5 - abrupt glottal
> 
> Literal Translation:
> Hello/How Are You. I cannot fetch the phone right now. Please, leave your message after the beep sound. I will return your call in a while. Thank you.
> 
> *Cantonese - Chinese*
> Nei Ho, Ngo Yi Ka Um Dak Han. Ceng Nei Hai Du Sheng Zi Hao, Lao Dai Nei Go Seng Meng, Din Hua Ho Ma Kap Hau Sun. Ngo Dan Yat Zan Dak Han Ko Si Hao Hui Da Bei Fan Nei. Do Tse.
> 
> Hello. I am busy right now. (Cantonese Colloquial), Please leave your name, number and message after the been. I will return your call when I am available. Thank you.
> 
> 
> *Hokkien - Chinese*
> Di Ho, Gua Ze Zi Bo Ui. Tia Tio Beep Xia Yi Ao, Cia Di Pang Ue. Gua Tan Ne Wu Ui Ja E Ka Ho Di. Do Xia.
> 
> - Same as above (without) the leave name and number, just leave message.
> 
> 
> 
> *Italian*
> 
> 
> Siamo momentaneamente assenti, lasciate il vostro messaggio dopo il bip e sarete richiamati appena possibile. Grazie.
> 
> 
> *French*
> Bonjour! Nous ne sommes pas disponibles ce moment laissez votre message et nous vous rapellons aussitôt que possible.
> 
> 
> 
> *Spanish*
> Hola! Estamos ocupados en el momento. Dejen su mensaje y les llamaremos tan pronto nos sea possible
> 
> 
> *Japanese*
> もしもし！現在私は電話に答えることができません。音を聞いた後でメッセージを残します下さい。出来るだけ早くあなたに電話をかけるでしょう。ありがとうございます。
> 
> Moshi-moshi. Gen-zai watashi-wa den-wa ni kotae-ru ko-to-ga-de-ki masen. Oto-wo ki-i-ta ato-de, me-shi-se-ji wo nook-shi-masu kudasai. De-ku-ru-da-ke hayaku anato-ni den-wa ka-ke-ru de-shou. Arigato-Gozaimasu.
> 
> 
> *Korean*
> 애보세요! 현재 전화를 대답 할수없다. 음조 들맀어요 후에,메시지 떠나세요. 가능한 한 빨리 당신에게 전화를 걸겠지요. 감사합니다.
> 
> Yo-bo-se-yo! Hyon-jae jon-hwa-reul dae-dap hal-su-op-da. Eum-jo deul-ri-sseo-yo hoo-e. Me-shi-ji tto-na-se-yo. Ka-neung-han han ppal-ri dang-sin-e-ke jon-hwa-reul kol-ke-ji-yo . Kam-sa-ham-ni-da.
> 
> 
> *German*
> 
> 
> Leider bin ich zurzeit nicht erreichbar. Bitte hinterlassen Sie mir eine Nachricht (auf dem Anrufbeantworter) und ich werde Sie (sobald wie möglich) zurückrufen. Danke und auf Wiedersehen.
> 
> 
> *Portugese*
> Olá! Nós estamos ocupados neste momento. Deixe sua mensagem e nós chamamo-lo o mais cedo possível
> 
> 
> *Thai*
> สวัสดีครับ.ผมเดี๋ยวนี้ไม่ได้รับโทรศัพท์.ช่วยฝากบอกอะไรใหผม.ผมเดี๋ยวก่อนจะโทไบให้คุณนะครับ.ขอบคุณนะครับ.
> 
> Sawát-dee krúp. Pǒm deě-o née mâi dâi rúp toh-ra-súp. Choô-ay fàhk bòrk a-rai hâi pǒm. Pǒm deě-o gawn ja toh bpai hâi kun na krúp. Khop-kun na krúp.
> 
> 
> *Melayu/Indo*
> 
> Pemilik Telpon Selular ini tidak mempunyai waktu untuk menjawab telepon.
> Tinggalkan pesan anda sesudah anda mendengar ‘beep’.
> Saya akan menelpon anda secepat-cepatnya.
> 
> 'Owner of this mobile phone cannot answer your call right now. Leave me a message after you hear the been. I will call you back as soon as possible.'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Tagalog*
> 
> Hello! Ang mayari ng teleponong ito ay hindi makasagot ngayon. Paki iwan lang ang iyong pangalan, numero at mensahe pagkatapos marinig ang 'beep'. Tatawagan kita kapag may oras ako. Salamat.
> 
> Hello. The owner of this telephone cannot answer right now. Please leave your name, number and message after the beep. I will call you back when I have time. Thank you.


 

Hi Childoftheworld.  I'm really interested in your Mandarin message - is there anyway you or someone else here could record a sound file of it being spoken?  I'd be happy to do the same for the Japanese one if anyone is interested.

Cheers!


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## Hakro

Isn't it funny how practically all the answering messages include a notice "I'm not here; I can't be reached; I'm busy", etc.

For me it's flagrant clear that the person is not there if I hear the machine answering. I appreciate answering machine messages that are as short as possible before the 'beep'.


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## lonepiper

I agree, but I think it depends on the situation, for example, you may want to know what they are calling about, their contact number, what time is convinient to return their call etc. So, you would want to put that in your message if that is what you are after.


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## Hakro

lonepiper said:


> I agree, but I think it depends on the situation, for example, you may want to know what they are calling about, their contact number, what time is convinient to return their call etc. So, you would want to put that in your message if that is what you are after.


I'm sure that the one who calls will give me all this information if it's important. 

If he/she is so stupid that he/she doesn't understand that I'm not here right now and that I need certain information to call him/her later, he/she wouldn't understand all these requests either. (Besides, if he/she is so stupid, I wouldn't call him/her anyway.)


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## Nanon

One thing I dislike about answering machine messages in French is "le *bip sonore*", because these words are redundant. One could also say "le bip" or "le signal sonore"... but there is nothing to do, the message quoted by Badgrammar is exactly what you will hear everywhere. 





badgrammar said:


> French: Bonjour, je ne suis pas là/je ne suis pas joignable pour l'instant, merci de me laisser votre message (après le *bip sonore*).



Does this redundance exist in your language?



Whodunit said:


> <name>Hallo, (bitte legen Sie nicht auf.) Das ist der Anrufbeantworter von. Ich bin/Wir sind im Moment nicht zu erreichen. Bitte sprechen Sie Ihre Nachricht nach dem* Piep-Ton.*


Is Piep-Ton also redundant in German?


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## lonepiper

Here is one you will not often see, Scots Gaelic:

Halo, Seo {NAME}.  Tapaidh leat airson fonaigidh.  Ma dh'fhagas thu fiosrachadh thig mi air ais thugad neo faodaidh thu cuir 'text' thugam.  Tapaidh leat.


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## lonepiper

lonepiper said:


> Hi Childoftheworld. I'm really interested in your Mandarin message - is there anyway you or someone else here could record a sound file of it being spoken? I'd be happy to do the same for the Japanese one if anyone is interested.
> 
> Cheers!


 
Hi, Again, I'm interested in hearing the Mandarin version of this answering machine message.  Can anyone make a recording?  I'm happy to do one in Japanese, Gaelic or Spanish...

Cheers!


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## AndrogynousMe

Hey all,

I couldn't help but troll on this. I speak Japanese and live in Japan. There are a ton of different standard answering machine messages here: you can set your cell phone to say a different message depending on the reason for your not being able to answer the call. For example, there's one for not being able to answer because you are in the train, another for not being able to answer because you are driving, etc.

Also, messages vary in politeness depending on the nature of the relationship between the receiver of the call and the sort of person expected to make the call. A machine answering calls from business clients is different from one for a high-ranking person who expects just to get calls from their juniors or other people with whom they did not need to be so stiff and formal. (Both are polite--just to differing degrees.)

Here's the standard "I am not available" message on the average cell phone:

只今、電話に出ることができません。発信音の後で、お名前とご用件を残して下さい。

Tadaima, denwa ni deru koto ga dekimasen. Hasshin-on no ato de, onamae to goyoukenn wo nokoshite kudasai.

"At the moment, it is not possible to come to the phone. After the tone, please leave your name and message."



On the average cell phone answering machine, there is a bit before this where the company advertises/identifies itself. For example, if you have a SoftBank phone, the above message will begin with a variation on:

SoftBank　留守番電話サービスです。

SoftBank rusuban denwa saabisu desu.

"This is SoftBank Answering Service."



If any of you are creating your own messages by recording your own voices on your personal mobile or home phone, identifying yourself explicitly usually really isn't necessary as far as Japan is concerned. If you really, really want to identify yourself explicitly, say what one of the other posters said above:

こちらは　[Your Name Here] です。

Kochira ha [Your Name Here] desu.

"This is [Your Name Here]."



If the message is for a more formal environment and you must identify yourself explicitly, use this:

こちらは　[Your company or group affiliation] の　[Your Name Here]　でございます。

An example:

こちらは、オハイオ州立大学の　Tom Cruise　でございます。

Kochira ha, ohaio shuuritsu daigaku no Tom Cruise de gozaimasu.

"This is Tom Cruise of The Ohio State University."


I could tell you a whole lot of lofty sounding stuff about how group identifications are important in Japan--and they are--but that doesn't seem to really matter when it comes to answering machine messages. If you're not a big corporation--if you're just making a message for your personal machine--a simple, "I can't answer the phone now. Please leave a message," is very, very standard fare in my experience.

A final note on cuteness: sometimes otherwise very formal-sounding messages will substitute the phrase "発信音" ['the sound of the tone'] with a verbal imitation of the sound of an answering machine beep: ピ～ッ！ ['Pee~!'] This is always done with a female voice, usually very similar in tone to what North Americans would call 'baby talk'. It doesn't come across as something to be derided in Japan, for what I can tell. It's just another embodiment of 'cute culture': the idea that maintaining a child-like quality is important in remaining happy and healthy.

Of course, what's considered appropriately child-like behavior is different for women and men, but--that's a post for another BBS.



And for my last comment that qualifies this post as trolling--the first Japanese message suggested in this thread, produced by Babel or some other machine translation software, made a few very easy-to-make, but glaring mistakes:

もしもし！現在私は電話に答えることができません。音を聞いた後でメッセージを残します下さい。出来るだけ早くあなたに電話をかけるでしょう。ありがとうございます。

 * Only begin a telephone conversation with もしもし if you are able to answer the phone. In other words, never use that phrase as part of an answering machine message. It will confuse the caller (or just be so out of place that it will confuse them and they'll just get a good chuckle).
 * 現在 is a word that means, "in these current conditions," used in the context of economics and politics and other far-reaching, broad stuff. Don't use it on your answering machine.
 * 電話に答える means, "Answer the phone's questions," as in, "the phone is drilling me with questions like my teacher in preparation for an exam".
 * 音 means 'sound', as in 'the sound of a frog jumping into a pond,' or 'sound' in a very abstract sense. It most certainly does not mean 'sound of the beep'.
 * 音を聞いた後で　means 'having heard the sound'. The caller's response to this might be, "Which sound?"
 * 残しますください。　This is grammatically incorrect. Change the main verb to its -te form: 残してください。 That may or may not be the right kanji.
 * 出来るだけ does not belong in this sentence. Used in a sentence where it does belong, it usually implies that something will be attempted as much as possible, but perhaps even then it will not be enough.
 * 早くあなたに電話をかけるでしょう is an incomplete sentence, but--that aside--is also fairly dangerous if somehow it is carried off well. First of all--avoid using the word あなた when your relationship with the other person is not clear. There are far more relationships where using the word あなた will make you look like a huge, egotistic jerk. Additionally, the consultative form of the verb in this sentence something akin to this: "So, you think I'm calling going to call you back, do you now?" To be sure, the sentence is broken enough that it will likely never offend anyone, but--if one were simply to pull this phrase off the Internet and somehow manage to pronounce it well enough to make it pass for native Japanese--that person would come across as a huge jerk or a sarcastic, comic genius.
 * ありがとうございます。 There's no reason to say, "Thank you," at the end of the message. Native speakers don't say it; neither should you.


Okay, trolling done. Sorry about that. After four years of learning to beat myself up a similar way in college, I just couldn't let it slide without getting it out of my system. I'm like Pavlov's Dog: I see broken Japanese--I start to drool like an invalid. No offense intended to anyone; I realize machine translations are not a reflection of the people who create them.


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## lonepiper

Hi AndrogynousMe,

Thanks for your post - very interesting. I must say when I first read the message: もしもし！現在私は電話に答えることができません。音を聞いた後でメッセージを残します下さい。出来るだけ早くあなたに電話をかけるでしょう。ありがとうございます。 I had a wee chuckly to myself - I don't know where this person got this from.

I disagree with not saying ありがとうございます at the end of a message. I know plenty of Japanese people that will say お電話ありがとうございます。But I guess the implication is somewhat different to saying ありがとうございます alone. As in it is a more specific 'thank you'.

You have probably read my phone message, which is not designed for a cell phone, but I think it is a fairly standard phone message: こんにちは。こちらは「ＮＡＭＥ」です。申し訳ありませんが、只今電話出ることができません。発信音の後ニメッセージをお願いします。後でこちらかお返事申し上げます。お電話ありがとうございます。

I love how you have gone into detail with how people can describe where they are from. I am in NZ, and frequently have to call Japan for my work, so have to identify the country, company and who I am to the caller - but that is not an answering machine message, so that is going off topic.

Anyway, I'd be interested to know if you have any issues with my 'standard' message.

Cheers.


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## AndrogynousMe

Hey LonePiper,

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

The message you've listed is definitely the standard, text book answering machine message. I've seen it before in a textbook (like 'Japanese for Busy People' or something like that.) The problem is--I've never, ever encountered it in real life. To me, it sounds rather mechanical; one sentence doesn't flow very well into the next.

There are a few dropped particles, but--lord knows I've heard a thousand native speakers drop particles, which I then tried to duplicate myself only to have several people tell me that wasn't grammatically correct and I should stop doing it. (The old 'What Should Be Done versus What's Actually Done'.)

I think often a well-intended native speaker will correct one part of my speech when in fact the part they are correcting, though technically and/or arguably incorrect, is not the part that makes their native hackles stand up and go, " ...eh." In other words, there are times when some other things I'm doing wrong in the sentence--like improper word choice or usage--are making me sound like 'a foreigner', not necessarily the part that is drawing flack for it. (It is surprisingly difficult to hone in on obvious mistakes in language when they are being made from a fresh perspective--like that of a new, foreign speaker.)

If you wanted to keep all of the parts that are in the textbook message, I would do it something like this:

こんにちは。こちらは「ＮＡＭＥ」です。申し訳ありませんが、只今電話に出ることができません。発信音の後で、ニメッセージをお願いします。後でこちらからお返事を申し上げます。お電話を、ありがとうございます。

(All of the particles--and parts of words--that had been dropped are marked in red.)

The biggest problem with the message above is that parts of it are in extremely diplomatic speech, while other parts of it are rather informal. It disorients the listener very quickly from one domain to the next and back again.

Maybe something like this would be better:

こちらは「ＮＡＭＥ」です。申し訳ありませんが、只今電話に出ることができません。発信音の後で、お名前とご用件を残して下さい。後でこちらからお返事を申し上げます。お電話を、誠にありがとうございます。

(The parts in red reflect changes. The part in blue marks an area of concern.)

I changed メッセージ to お名前とご用件, which essentially means the same thing. The difference, however, is that メッセージ is a loan word from English (外来語). These sorts of words are considered rather informal by most people with whom you would want to be formal with.

I dropped こんにちは--which literally means, 'About the day!' and not so much, "Hello"--because your answering machine is not there to make polite chit chat about the day--it's there to take messages. Without the later term ただいま--and the prevalence of rather formal words in the rest of the message--こんにちは might have survived the edit, but it just seems too airy and chit-chatty juxtaposed with the rest of the message. Furthermore, こんにちは sounds very out of place in the morning and evening when people say おはようございます　["It's early!"] and こんばんは ["About the evening!"], respectively. However, because it's a textbook message, just as many people are likely to agree with me as are not.

I added the 誠に to ありがとうございます again because ありがとうございます by itself is too airy and polite/informal to be paired with stiff grammar and phrasing like 申し訳ありませんが、只今電話に出ることができません。 Again, I've been corrected both ways and back again about '誠に'. I've simply stopped asking people their opinion. That's just it--this bit is up to opinion.

But you make a good point: a lot of people do say 'お電話を、ありがとうございます。' However, I very rarely hear it used on an answering machine. That maybe because I tend to only call 同期 in their early to mid twenties and large, large corporations. I do vaguely remember hearing the phrase on a machine when I first started studying Japanese, but--very rarely since then. On the other hand, when two people are talking on the phone it is a very common part of spoken speech.

That leaves 後で, marked in "concerning blue" above. [Cinematic shudder / Lightening crash.] 後で in and of itself is a rather informal phrase. There are several, more formal versions of the same thing that are better suited to the rest of the message, but it's hard to say which one if any would sound best here. That's because--at least as far as my experience is concerned--the phrase '後でこちらからお返事を申し上げます' very rarely gets used in this context. In other words, it sounds weird; I have no idea what to do with it.

Perhaps it's akin to calling tech support or something and having the guy on the other end of the phone answer with, "I am so ever eternally grateful for having this opportunity to partake of your telephone patronage, good sir you scholar and gentleman." There's nothing wrong with it; I know exactly what they guy wants to communicate to me, but--it's just not what people normally say. (From the lips of native speakers it's "creative". From people like you and me it's "weird".)

Regardless, if it's really important that the message be done well, you might try looking up people in the same camp as yourself in Japan and calling them on the weekends (assuming you're calling businesses that will be closed on the weekends). Then you can just listen to their machines, record and takes notes.

You know--cheat. 

Anyway, I've got to go to bed. My nods to 'Flight of the Conchords'. If there could only be one band representing New Zealand in The States--it couldn't possibly get much better than 'Foux Da Fa Fa' ( ...does it?):

youtube.com/watch?v=X5hrUGFhsXo&feature=related


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## lonepiper

Hey, AndrogynousMe,

Thanks for that, - however this message did not come from any text book - although I know it is a bit too 'text book', but that is what this topic was about - what is the right message to leave?

But I do strongly agree with your comments.

I do especially like 発信音の後で、お名前とご用件を残して下さい, and お電話を、誠にありがとうございます。However don't you think that sounds a bit too formal?
 
I came up with this message after listening to lots of messages and re-designed it to suit me.  I mean, I'm obviously not Japanese although 日本人にならたい！So I wanted to make this message more me, sure it is formal and casual at the same time, but I like that.  The Japanese is not odd, it makes sense.  And I haven't had any complaints.
 
But I do like your input.  However I don't want to sound like a banker - I want to sound like me, and if that is a mix of formal and informal speech, so be it.  I mean, we could go into Keigo if we really wanted... LOL
 
Anyway, thanks for your post, and your suggestions, but I think they are a little too extreme for me - I don't mind sounding like a Gaijin...
 
Cheers!


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## Hermocrates

childoftheworld said:


> *Italian*
> Siamo momentaneamente assenti, lasciate il vostro messaggio dopo il bip e sarete richiamati appena possibile. Grazie.



Absolutely perfect. 

A *literal translation* of the message in the original post would be:

_"Salve. Sono [your name]. Mi spiace ma al momento sono assente, se lasciate un messaggio sarete richiamati al più presto."_


Needless to say, childoftheworld's version is the most frequent one. 


Rye


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## Tagarela

Olá,

In Portuguese I would suggest:
*
Você ligou para <número de telefone>, no momento não podemos atender, após o sinal, favor deixar o seu recado*.

(You've called <phone number>, at the momemt we cannot answer, after the beep, let your message)

I think the number is important, because sometimes the person calls the wrong one and keep waiting for an answer. And it is better than names when more than one live there, unless if you give family's name.

Até.:


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## neoko

lonepiper said:


> Hi, Again, I'm interested in hearing the Mandarin version of this answering machine message. Can anyone make a recording? I'm happy to do one in Japanese, Gaelic or Spanish...
> 
> Cheers!


 
Hi lonepiper,

Unfortunally i don't have a Mandarin version of a answering maschine, but even tho it s been a year since your last post on this treat i would appreciated if you could post a recording of a japanese answering machine. (for mobile)...
thanx

Cheers!


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## Δημήτρης

Greek:
That's the default message of my mobile carrier (Cytamobile-Vodafone).


> _Η κλήση σας προωθείται._ [ήχος σύνδεσης] _Έχετε καλέσει το φωνοκιβώτιο του συνδρομητή_ [ΤΗΛ. ΑΡΙΘΜΟΣ]. _Παρακαλώ αφήστε το μήνυμα σας μετά τον χαρακτηριστικό ήχο_. [ΜΠΙΠ]


_Your call is being diverted._ [connection tone] _You've reached the voice mailbox of subscriber_ [TEL. NO]. _Please leave your message after the sound._ [BEEP]


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## bb3ca201

If I feel like leaving a Scottish Gaelic message on my phone (maybe to just confuse my friends ) I would probably say something like:

Fhuair sibh <number>.  Leigibh teachdaireachd dhomh as déidh a' bhip...fònaidh mi thugaibh nuair am faodas mi.

You've reached <#>.  Leave a message (for me) after the beep -- I'll phone you as soon as I'm able.


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## M07yth

Waapm? Mi niem ____________.  Sari se mi no de ya. Lef wan mesij an nomba an mi wi kaal yu ina di lietaz.

Not many people in Jamaica would have that as their Voicemail though  ... Most people would just have it in English.


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## bb3ca201

M07yth said:


> Waapm? Mi niem ____________. Sari se mi no de ya. Lef wan mesij an nomba an mi wi kaal yu ina di lietaz.
> 
> Not many people in Jamaica would have that as their Voicemail though  ... Most people would just have it in English.


 
That's neat; I actually understood that!


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## M07yth

bb3ca201 said:


> That's neat; I actually understood that!


 
haha yeah, much more easily understood by a native English speaker when written than spoken.
It's a Creole with an English base so, there are definitely similarities... I guess like how a Spanish speaker can read Portuguese pretty easily and understand what they read.  

This, i would say, is a bit farther from English (ESPECIALLY when spoken): 

Waapm? Dis ya vaismiel a fi _____________. Mi sari so til se mi no de ya fi labrish. Se di sitn dem we yu waa fi se. Lieta.


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## bb3ca201

M07yth said:


> haha yeah, much more easily understood by a native English speaker when written than spoken.
> It's a Creole with an English base so, there are definitely similarities... I guess like how a Spanish speaker can read Portuguese pretty easily and understand what they read.
> 
> This, i would say, is a bit farther from English (ESPECIALLY when spoken):
> 
> Waapm? Dis ya vaismiel a fi _____________. Mi sari so til se mi no de ya fi labrish. Se di sitn dem we yu waa fi se. Lieta.


 
Wow...now THAT needs a translation!


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