Using the Telephone

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. Learn more about numbers and counting here.

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

telephone
►diàn huà
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

telephone number
►diàn huà hào mǎ
電話號碼

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｡