Recursio
Phone Calls & Texting in English
Phone English made simple: answer a call, ask for someone, take a message, handle a bad line, and text naturally — with the phrases people really use.
Phone calls are harder than face-to-face conversation: no gestures, no lip-reading, and often a poor connection. What makes them manageable is that they're highly predictable. Nearly every call uses the same handful of phrases to open, ask for someone, wait, leave a message, and close — and a few of them work differently from ordinary English.
Starting and answering
Note the special one: to identify yourself on the phone, English usually uses this is or it's.
Waiting and transferring
Hold on and hang on both mean "wait" — hang on is a little more casual.
Messages and calling back
When the person isn't available:
When the line is bad
Very common, and worth having ready so you don't freeze.
Texting and ending
Text messages are shorter and warmer. Note that text works as a verb.
Common mistakes
Leaving out to after speak. Use speak to or speak with before the person.
✓Can I speak to Anna, please?
Leaving out the particle in cut out. For a signal that repeatedly disappears, use the full phrasal verb.
✓Your voice keeps cutting out. / You're breaking up.
Using miss + to for an unanswered call. Use miss directly before the noun.
✓Sorry, I missed your call.
Quick exercise
Complete each line with one word.
- Hello, ___ is Anna. (say who you are)
- Could I ___ to Mr. Lee, please?
- Sorry, I ___ your call.
- You're breaking ___ — I'll call you back.
- Can I take a ___ ? (he isn't here)
Answer key
- this (on the phone: "this is Anna")
- speak (speak to someone; speak with also works)
- missed (miss a call — a fixed collocation)
- up (break up = the signal keeps cutting out)
- message (take a message for someone)
Practice this in Recursio
On a call you can't see the other person or check a dictionary, so these phrases need to be ready. Save the ones you'd use to your word list in Recursio, and spaced review can bring "Can I speak to…?" and "Hold on a second" back so they're easier to recall under pressure.
Build your word list in Recursio → · Free to start, on iOS and Android.