TELEPHONE LANGUAGE:

Telephone Language
Here are some typical
phrases that you can use in a
telephone conversation.
Answering the phone
Hello? (informal)
Thank you for calling
Boyz Autobody. Jody
speaking. How can I help
you?
Doctor's office.
Introducing yourself
Hey George. It's Lisa
calling. (informal)
Hello, this is Julie
Madison calling.
Hi, it's Gerry from the
dentist's office here.
This is she.*
Speaking.*
*The person
answering says this if
the caller does not
recognize their voice.
Asking to speak with
someone
Is Fred in? (informal)
Is Jackson there, please?
(informal)
Can I talk to your sister?
(informal)
May I speak with Mr.
Green, please?
Would the doctor be in/
available?
Connecting someone
Just a sec. I'll get him.
(informal)
Hang on one second.
(informal)
Please hold and I'll put
you through to his office.
One moment please.
All of our operators are
busy at this time. Please
hold for the next
available person.
Making special requests
Could you please repeat
that?
Would you mind spelling
that for me?
Could you speak up a
little please?
Can you speak a little
slower please. My
English isn't very strong.
Can you call me back? I
think we have a bad
connection.
Can you please hold for
a minute? I have another
call.
Taking a message for
someone
Sammy's not in. Who's
this? (informal)
I'm sorry, Lisa's not here
at the moment. Can I ask
who's calling?
I'm afraid he's stepped
out. Would you like to
leave a message?
He's on lunch right
now.Who's calling
please?
He's busy right now. Can
you call again later?
I'll let him know you
called.
I'll make sure she gets
the message.
Leaving a message with
someone
Yes, can you tell him his
wife called, please.
No, that's okay, I'll call
back later.
Yes, it's James from
CompInc. here. When do
you expect her back in
the office?
Thanks, could you ask
him to call Brian when he
gets in?
Do you have a pen
handy. I don't think he
has my number.
Thanks. My number is
222-3456, extension 12.
Confirming information
Okay, I've got it all
down.
Let me repeat that just
to make sure.
Did you say 555 Charles
St.?
You said your name was
John, right?
I'll make sure he gets the
message.
Listening to an answering
machine
Hello. You've reached
222-6789. Please leave a
detailed message after
the beep.Thank you.
Hi, this is Elizabeth. I'm
sorry I'm not available
to take your call at this
time. Leave me a
message and I'll get back
to you as soon as I can.
Thank you for calling Dr.
Mindin's office. Our
hours are 9am- 5pm,
Monday-Friday. Please
call back during these
hours, or leave a
message after the tone.
If this is an emergency
please call the hospital
at 333-7896.
Leaving a message on an
answering machine
Hey Mikako. It's Yuka.
Call me! (informal)
Hello, this is Ricardo
calling for Luke. Could
you please return my call
as soon as possible. My
number is 334-5689.
Thank you.
Hello Maxwell. This is
Marina from the
doctor's office calling. I
just wanted to let you
know that you're due for
a check-up this month.
Please give us a ring/
buzz whenever it's
convenient.
Finishing a conversation
Well, I guess I better get
going. Talk to you soon.
Thanks for calling. Bye
for now.
I have to let you go now.
I have another call
coming through. I better
run.
I'm afraid that's my
other line.
I'll talk to you again
soon. Bye.

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Wh - CLAUSE

Wh-words are what , when ,
where , who , which, why and
how .
We use clauses with a wh-
word :
In wh-questions (see
Questions and Negatives):
What are you doing?
Who ate all the pies?
Why did you do that?
after verbs of thinking :
know - understand -
suppose - remember -
forget - wonder
I know where you live.
She couldn’t remember who
he was.
John wondered what was
going to happen next.
NOTE : We also use clauses
with if
I wonder if we’ll see Peter.
She couldn’t remember if she
had posted the letter.
after verbs of saying:
ask - say - admit - argue -
reply - agree - mention -
explain - suggest
I asked what she wanted.
He tried to explain how the
accident had happened.
She wouldn’ t admit what she
had done.
Did he say when he would
come?
tell and some other verbs of
saying must always have a
direct object (see clauses,
sentences and phrases):
tell - remind
We tried to tell them what
they should do.
She reminded me where I
had left the car.
after some verbs of
thinking and saying we use
wh-words and the to-
infinitive :
We didn’t know what to do .
We will ask when to set off.
Nobody told me what to do .
Can anyone suggest where to
go for lunch?
NOTE : We use the to-
infinitive :
-- When the subject of the to-
infinitive is the same as the
subject of the main verb:
He didn’t know what to do
>>> He didn’t know what he
should do
We will ask when to set off
>>> We will ask when we
should set off
-- When the subject of the to-
infinitive is the same as the
person spoken to :
Nobody told me what to do .
>>> Nobody told me what I
should do.
Can anyone suggest where to
go for lunch? >>> Can anyone
suggest [to us ] where we
should go for lunch.
after some nouns to say
more about the noun :
Is there any reason why I
should stay ?.
Do you remember the day
when we went to Edinburgh .
That was the town where I
grew up.
We often use a wh-clause
after is :
I missed my bus. That’s why I
was late.
This is where I live.
That ’s what I thought.
Paris – that ’s where we are
going for our holidays.

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To-infinitive:

We use the to -infinitive:
• to express purpose (to
answer "Why...?"):
He bought some flowers to
give to his wife.
He locked the door to keep
everyone out.
We sometimes say in order
to or in order not to :
We set off early in order to
avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly in order
not to wake the children
… or we can say so as to or
so as not to :
We set off early so as to
avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly so as not
to wake the children.
• after certain verbs (see
verbs followed by infinitive),
particularly verbs of thinking
and feeling:
choose, decide, expect,
forget, hate, hope, intend,
learn, like,
love, mean, plan, prefer,
remember, want, would
like, would love
… and verbs of saying :
agree, promise, refuse
They decided to start a
business together.
Remember to turn the lights
out.
Some verbs are followed by a
direct object and the
infinitive( see verbs followed
by infinitive
):
advise, ask, encourage,
invite, order, persuade,
remind, tell, warn,
expect, intend, would
prefer, want, would like
She reminded me to turn the
lights out.
He encouraged his friends to
vote for him.
• after certain adjectives .
Sometimes the to -infinitive
gives a reason for the
adjective:
disappointed
glad
sad
happy
anxious
pleased
surprised
proud
unhappy
We were happy to come to
the end of our journey
= We were happy because we
had come to the end of our
journey
John was surprised to see
me
= He was surprised because
he saw me
Other adjectives with the to -
infinitive are:
able
unable
due
eager
keen
likely
unlikely
ready
prepared
unwilling
willing
Unfortunately I was unable
to work for over a week.
I am really tired. I’m ready to
go to bed.
We often use the to -infinitive
with these adjectives after it
to give opinions :
difficult
easy
possible
impossible
hard
right
wrong
kind
nice
clever
silly
foolish
It’s easy to play the piano,
but it’s very difficult to play
well.
He spoke so quickly it was
impossible to understand
him.
We use the preposition for to
show who these adjectives
refer to:
difficult
easy
possible
impossible
hard
It was difficult for us to
hear what she was saying.
It is easy for you to criticise
other people.
We use the preposition of
with other adjectives:
It’s kind of you to help.
It would be silly of him to
spend all his money.
• As a postmodifier (see
noun phrases ) after abstract
nouns like:
ability
desire
need
wish
attempt
failure
opportunity
chance
intention
I have no desire to be rich .
They gave him an opportunity
to escape.
She was annoyed by her
failure to answer the
question correctly .
• We often use a to -infinitive
as a postmodifier after an
indefinite pronoun (See
indefinite pronouns ):
When I am travelling I always
take something to read .
I was all alone. I had no one
to talk to .
There is hardly anything to
do in most of these small
Stowns.

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Grammar movies

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QUESTION TAGS FOR IMPERATIVES:

Gamil Wahba from Egypt
writes:
Sometimes we say: Open the
door, will you? Sometimes
we say: Open the door,
won't you? Are both correct?
Roger Woodham replies:
more questions
question tags with the
imperative
Yes, both are correct and
there is very little difference
in meaning between the two.
There is perhaps a slight
suggestion that you might be
expecting the answer to be
no , if you use the ...won 't
you? question tag.
By adding the tag to the
imperative, open the door ,
you are softening the
instruction and turning it into
a request . Without it, it
would sound very much like a
command, so the tag has a
similar effect to the addition
of please.
…will you/won't you?
The following examples are
all variations on the basic …
will you/won't you? theme
and all show roughly the
same degree of politeness.
But note that the context of
use is now the operating
theatre and here the …won't
you? tag would be
inappropriate as the surgeon
would never expect the
answer to be no:
Hand me the scalpel,
please.
Hand me the scalpel, will
you please?
Hand me the scalpel,
would you ?
Hand me the scalpel,
could you please ?
Could you hand me the
scalpel?
You can, of course, use …
would you? and …could you?
with your example, Gamil, in
addition to …will you? and …
won't you?, but note that
with the imperative we
cannot use …wouldn't you?
or …couldn't you?.
Note in the following
example, the first suggestion
is much more tentative and
less confident than the
second:
Come back to my place
for a coffee, won't you? ~
No, I'm sorry, I can't. I've
got such an early start
tomorrow that I have to
go to bed now.
Let's go back to my place
for coffee! ~ What a nice
idea. A coffee and a
brandy would round off
that delicious meal nicely.
negative with affirmative
and affirmative with
negative
Leaving aside imperative
structures, the normal rule
that operates with tag
questions is that you add a
negative tag to a positive
statement and a positive
tag to a negative
statement :
You would go to see Phil
in America if I gave you
the money, wouldn't you ?
You couldn't help me sort
out these overtime
schedules, could you?
The normal expectation when
you add a negative tag to a
positive statement is that
the answer will be yes .
Similarly, when you add a
positive tag to a negative
statement , you expect the
answer to be no :
They're such a lively
bunch, aren't they? ~
Yes, they are . They've
always got lots of energy.
You don't remember
meeting my uncle, do
you? ~ No, I'm sorry. I
don't .
You haven't fed the
goldfish, have you? ~ No,
I haven't . You do it.
Excessive speed was the
cause of the accident,
don't you agree? ~ Yes, I
do .
However, expectations are
not always fulfilled:
You haven't fed the
goldfish, have you? ~ Well,
actually, I have. I fed them
half an hour ago.
Excessive speed was the
cause of the accident,
don't you agree? ~ Well, I
'm not absolutely sure that
I agree with you. He was
driving fast, but not faster
than the speed limit
allows.
same way question tags
Here we are making a
positive statement to make
a guess and then adding the
tag to ask if our assumption
is correct. Study the following:
This is the final match of
the season, is it ? ~ Yes,
that's right.
So you can run a mile in
four minutes, can you ?
She's been training to be
an anaesthetist, has she?
So she's going to marry
him, is she?
He was unfaithful
straightaway, was he ?
So you think she'll sue for
divorce, do you?

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