Using the Telephone in Mandarin

The conventions for making and answering phone calls in Mandarin Chinese are similar to English. The main difference is that calls are usually answered with ►wèi, which is a way of saying “hello” used only on the phone.

Knowledge of Mandarin numbers from zero to 9 is needed to give and understand phone numbers, so we will begin with a Mandarin number review.

Mandarin Number Review

Audio files are marked with ►

0 ► líng
1 ► yī
2 ► èr
3 ► sān
4 ► sì
5 ► wǔ
6 ► liù
7 ► qī
8 ► bā
9 ► jiǔ

Telephone Vocabulary

電話
mobile phone
► xíng dòng diàn huà / ► shǒu jī
行動電話 / 手機
fax
► chuán zhēn
傳真
hello (for telephone only)
► wèi
喂
what telephone number?
► jǐ hào
幾號
call the wrong number
► dă cuò le
打錯了
busy line
► jiǎng huà zhōng
講話中
answer the phone
► jiē diàn huà
接電話
please wait a moment
► qǐng děng yī xià
請等一下
please leave a message (verbal)
► qǐng liú yán
請留言
leave a message (written)
► liú zì tiáo
留字條
area code
► qū yù mǎ
區域碼
international
► guó jì
國際
long distance
► cháng tú
長途
direct dial
► zhí bō
直撥
telephone company
► diàn xìn jú​
電信局

Telephone Dialogue One

A: Hello.
B: Hello. Is Mr. Wang there?
A: I’m sorry, you have the wrong number
B: Is this 234-5677?
A: No, this is 234-9877.
B: Sorry!
A: No problem.
A: ► Wèi.
B: ► Wèi. Qǐng wèn Wáng xiān sheng zài ma?
A: ► Duì bu qǐ, nǐ dǎ cuò le.
B: ► Zhè lǐ shì 234-5677 ma?
A: ► Bú shì, zhè lǐ shì 234-9877.
B: ► Duì bu qǐ.
A: ► Méi guān xi.
A: 喂｡
B: 喂. 請問王先生在嗎?
A: 對不起 你打錯了｡
B: 這裡是234-5677嗎?
A: 不是 這裡是234-9877｡
B: 對不起｡
A: 沒關係｡

Telephone Dialogue Two

A: Hello.
B: Hello, is Mr. Wang there?
A: Please wait a moment.
A: Hello.
B: Hello Mr. Wang, this is Li from Da Xing Company. Did you receive our company information that I sent you?
A: Hello Mr. Li. Yes, I received it, and I will call you back later to talk about it.
B: OK – very good.
A: Goodbye.
B: Goodbye.
A: ► Wèi.
B: ► Wèi. Qǐng wèn Wáng xiān sheng zài ma?
A: ► Qǐng děng yī xià.
A: ► Wèi.
B: ► Wáng xiān sheng nǐ hǎo. Wǒ shì Dà Xīng gōng sī de Lín dà míng. Nǐ shōu dào wǒ jì gěi nǐ de zī liào le ma?
A: ► Lín xiān sheng nǐ hǎo. Yǒu wǒ shōu dào le. Wǎn yī diǎn wǒ zài dǎ diàn huà gēn nǐ tǎo lùn.​
B: ► Hǎo de.
A: ► Zài jiàn.
B: ► Zài jiàn.
A: 喂｡
B: 喂｡ 請問王先生在嗎?
A: 請等一下｡
A: 喂｡
B: 王先生你好｡ 我是大興公司的林大明｡ 你收到我寄給你的資料了嗎｡
A: 林先生你好｡ 有 我收到了｡ 晚一點我再打電話跟你討論｡
B: 好的｡
A: 再見｡
B: 再見｡