Making a phone call — basics
A basic situation where you call a hospital or store, ask to speak to someone, and briefly state who you are and why you're calling. Includes an apology if you dialed the wrong number.
→ / ←
Hello, this is Min-jun.
Can I speak to Sara?
The safest polite expression. It works anywhere: company, hospital, store. Adding 'please' at the end of the sentence increases politeness.
Is Sara there?
It's natural to ask briefly like this with friends, family, or acquaintances. For official calls, 'Can I speak to ~' is safer.
I'm calling about a reservation.
If you state the purpose of the call in one line first, the other person can help you right away. Just swap the noun after 'about'.
Is this the front desk?
When checking if I dialed correctly. Just insert the department or store name into 'Is this ~?'.
Oh, I'm sorry, I dialed the wrong number.
- 1
When asking to be transferred to someone on the phone, just use 'Can I speak to ___, please?
- 2
'.
- 3
You can swap in a person, department, or title in the blank.
- front desk — Front desk, information desk
- appointment — Reservation (appointment, meeting)
- available — (person) available, able to talk
- hold on — (don't hang up) please hold on
- calling — (in the process of) calling