Telephone vocabulary

First let’s learn some essential telephone vocabulary, and then you’ll hear examples of formal and informal telephone conversations.

There are different types of phones:

• cell phones or mobile phones
  (a cell phone with more advanced capabilities is called a smartphone)

Cell phone and smartphone

•  pay phones or public phones

• the regular telephone you have in your house is called a landline – to differentiate it from a cell phone.

• This type of phone is called a cordless phone because it is not connected by a cord.

When someone calls you, the phone makes a sound – we say the phone is ringing. If you’re available, you pick up the telephone or answer the telephone, in order to talk to the person.

If there’s nobody to answer the phone, then the caller will have to leave a message on an answering machine or voicemail. Later, you can call back or return the call.

When you want to make a phone call, you start by dialing the number. Let’s imagine that you call your friend, but she’s already on the phone with someone else. You’ll hear a busy signal – a beeping sound that tells you the other person is currently using the phone.

Sometimes, when you call a company, they put you on hold. This is when you wait for your call to be answered – usually while listening to music.

Finally, when you’re finished with the conversation, you hang up.

Now you know the basic telephone vocabulary. In the next part of the lesson, you’re going to hear some conversations to learn some useful English phrases for talking on the phone.