How to Make a Phone Call in Japanese

Have you ever made a phone call in Japanese? If you have, you may have experienced difficulty at the time because there are some phrases which you only hear on the phone. In this article, you will learn how to make a phone call in Japanese, with vocabulary and practical examples.

Complete Guide for Making a Phone Call in Japanese

Vocabulary

First, let’s learn some vocabulary related to making a phone call.

Practical Examples for Four Common Situations to Make a Phone Call

The best way to make a phone call in Japanese depends on the situation, such as a personal call or a business call. In either case, there are certain set phrases. Now, let’s learn them with four common situations. After learning them, hopefully you will consider making a phone call in Japanese easy work.

Calling Your Friends

We usually make small talk or give our greetings before moving to the main topics. The example above is for when you make a phone call to a friend for the first time in a while. Therefore, he started the call with 「久ひさしぶり」. If it has been a very long time, you could start the call with the phrase 「誰だれかわかる？ (Do you remember me?) 」. This may sound a little formal, but can often be heard. We can also start a call like this: 「いま電でん話わ大だい丈じょう夫ぶ？ (Can you talk now?)」 or 「いま何なにしているの？ (What are you doing now?)」. They are common phrases on the phone. Since talking with a friend doesn’t require any formality, just try to convey what you want to say after making small talk.

Making a Reservation

In general, a person from a restaurant or any other type of establishment will start talking first, and then you will make your request without any small talk. It may be more polite if you give your name at the beginning, however, most native speakers usually don’t do that until they are asked. Unlike talking with a friend, you need to be a little more formal, so you should use 「すみません」 instead of 「もしもし」 and 「失礼しつれいします」 instead of 「じゃあね」or 「ばいばい」. This may sound more difficult than the above, but don’t worry! If you can say the phrase 「予よ約やくをお願ねがいしたいのですが。 (I would like to make a reservation)」, restaurants will ask you the necessary information and your reservation will be made smoothly.

Business: Calling a Client on a Cell Phone

In business situations, 「お世話せわになります」 should be used instead of 「もしもし」, although you can still use 「もしもし」 like “Can you hear me?” or “Are you still there?” when your reception is poor. The literal translation of 「お世話せわになります」 is something like “we appreciate your help”, but it is used as a greeting at the beginning of a phone call. You should use 「いま少すこしお話はなよろしいでしょうか？」in order to be formal. After that, you can have a normal conversation, but you should try to state your main point clearly. 「よろしくお願ねがいします」 is a Japanese idiom which English doesn’t have an equivalent to. We will discuss it in detail next time. For now, you can just think of it as a greeting phrase.  

Business: Calling a Client on their Landline

Similar to calling a restaurant, a receptionist will start talking first, and then you should inform him or her of your organization’s name, your name, and your business clearly. Unless you try to make a cold call, the receptionist will quickly put you through. 「お電でん話わ代かわりました」 is another important phrase. In formal siuations, when someone is put through to you or somebody hands the phone over to you, you need to say this phrase, which is like “Iwamura speaking”.  

Conclusion

As technology advances and new communication tools are developed, our methods of communication may be changed. However, what we have covered here are very basic situations that will likely exist for many years. If it is difficult to memorize all of them, you can always return to this article. We hope this will be helpful for you.

Recommended Links

Complete Explanation; What Does よろしく Mean?

Complete Explanation: What Does おつかれさま Mean?

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