Let's look at some language on the phone.
Lots of people have lots of problems
answering the phone and talking on the phone.
It's more difficult because you can't see the person's mouth.
Let's look at some useful phrases,
Maybe you're in your family home
and the parents or the mother and father
aren't there and you answer the phone.
We normally use two verbs when we answer the phone.
I've answered the phone, „can I“
and the other persons action; „Could you“
So let's look at some useful phrases.
I answer the phone and I want to know who it is
but I don't want to say „Who is it“, it is not very polite.
So I can say „Can I ask who's calling please?“ and
Or maybe my family aren't at home.
They're not there and I answer the phone.
I say „hello“, „no, they're not there at the moment“.
if the person wants to leave a message
Ok let's look at the other form; „Could you“.
What if your speaking on the phone and you can't hear the person.
So you might say; „Could you repeat that“
So you might say; „Could you repeat that please?“ and
the person will happily repeat it.
Or what if the person calls and your family
the mother and father aren't there.
But you know they'll be back after work.
„Could you call back later please?“ or
we can just say „call back later please, they're not here“
„they are in work“ or „they are gone out shopping“.
Or what if your family are there but you answer the phone
and you want to say wait a minute ill get them.
But maybe a little bit more polite.
„Could you hold on please, I'll get them“ or
just simply „Could you hold on“
So these are all different phrases we can
What if we need to make a phone call?
Maybe there's an emergency at home
or maybe you just need to call someone.
So we have „Can I (My action)“ and
„Could you (the person on the phone)“
The person says hello, how can I help you?
You say „Can I speak to Sarah please?“
What if Sarah isn't there? and you
you want to give her some information;
You might say „Can I leave a message please?“
and then you can just leave the message.
What if we want to ask the other person to do
So we would call up and say „can I speak to Sarah please?“
and they say „Sarah isn't here at the moment“.
You could say instead of „Can I leave a message“
We might say „Could you give her a message please“
or „Could you tell her I called?“
„Could you tell her I called?“
So I ring up, the person I want to speak to isn't there.
But I want the person to tell her that I made this phone call
and I might ask her „Can you ask her to call me back“
So I might say „Can you ask her to call me back please?“
So here are some useful phrases that you
can use on the phone, when you make a phone call
or when you receive a phone call.
Let's look at some more functional language.
Language that you can use on a daily basis.
We've looked at asking for permission or
asking someone to do something, a request.
What if we want to tell someone that we'll do it
or we want to let the person know that we
So there are some useful phrases that
we can use to offer our help or our services.
Shell I___? Is probably a little formal.
Do you want me to collect the children? or
Do you want me to clean the bathroom? or
Do you want me to cook the dinner? and
Do you want me to play with the children?
We can also say, rather than ask,
we can offer; I'll clean the bathroom
We have, Shell I, plus the verb infinitive
Do you want me to fo to the shop?
Would you like me to go to the shop?
It's also a question. We're offering.
Would you like me to do something for you?
A very important question, that's an overall offer
We're asking them, is there anything
„Can I do anything for you?“ or