Chinese For Dummies (73 page)

Here are some things you can do before, during, or after your call:

náqǐ diànhuà
拿起电话
(
拿起電話
)
(nah-chee dyan-hwah) (
pick up the phone
)

dǎ diànhuà
打电话
(
打電話
)
(dah dyan-hwah) (
make a phone call
)

shōudào diànhuà
收到电话
(
收到電話
)
(show-daow dyan-hwah) (
receive a phone call
)

jiē diànhuà
接电话
(
接電話
)
(jyeh dyan-hwah) (
answer a phone call
)

huí diànhuà
回电话
(
回電話
) (hway dyan-hwah)
(
return a phone call
)

liú yíge huà
留一个话
(
留一個話
)
(lyo ee-guh hwah) (
leave a message
)

guà diànhuà
挂电话
(
掛電話
)
(gwah dyan-hwah) (
hang up
)

Calling your friends

Feel like getting in touch with a friend or co-worker to
liáotiān
聊天
(lyaow-tyan) (
chat
) after class or work? Want to confer with your classmate about tomorrow's exam? Maybe you two are planning a party over the weekend and you need to confer about the details. To get the party started, you have to pick up that phone and start talking.

Talkin' the Talk

Mary calls to see whether her friend Luò Chéng is at home and speaks with his father. (Track 14)

Mr. Luò:

Wéi?

way?

Hello?

Mary:

Qǐngwèn, Luò Chéng zài ma?

cheeng-one, law chung dzye mah?

May I please speak to Luo Cheng?

Mr. Luò:

Qǐngwèn, nín shì nǎ yí wèi?

cheeng-one, neen shir nah ee way?

May I ask who's calling?

Mary:

Wǒ shì tāde tóngxué Mary.

waw shir tah-duh toong-shweh Mary.

I'm his classmate Mary.

Mr. Luò:

Hǎo. Shāoděng. Wǒ qù jiào tā.

how. shaow-dung. waw chyew jyao tah.

Okay. Just a moment. I'll go get him.

Ringing hotels and places of business

Calling places of business may be a bit different from the more informal call to a friend or co-worker. When you call a
lǚguǎn
旅馆
(
旅館
) (lyew-gwahn) (
hotel
),
shāngdiàn
商店
(shahng-dyan) (
store
), or a particular
gōngsī
公司
(goong-suh) (
company
), you may be asked what
fēnjī hàomǎ
分机号码
(
分機號碼
) (fun-jee how-mah) (
extension
) you want. If you don't know, you can ask for the same:
Qǐngwèn, fēnjī hàomǎ shì duōshǎo?
请问
,
分机号码是多少
? (
請問
,
分機號碼是多少
?) (cheeng-one, fun-jee how-mah shir dwaw-shaow?) (
May I ask what the extension number is?
).

After you figure out the extension, the operator will hopefully say
Wǒ xiànzài jiù gěi nǐ jiē hào.
我现在就给你接号
. (
我現在就給你接號
.) (waw shyan-dzye jyo gay nee jyeh how.) (
I'll transfer you now.
).

Even after all your work thus far, you may find that you
jiē bù tōng
接不通
(jyeh boo toong) (
can't connect
) or that
méiyǒu rén jiē
没有人接
(mayo run jyeh) (
no one answers
). Maybe the
diànhuàxiàn duànle
电话线断了
(
電話線斷了
) (dyan-hwah-shyan dwahn-luh) (
the line has been disconnected
). That's really
máfan
麻烦
(
麻煩
)
(mah-fahn) (
annoying
), isn't it? Here are some other
máfan
problems you may encounter while trying to make a phone call:

děnghòu
等候
(dung-ho) (
be on hold
)