:maggie-small: 「もしもし、マギーと申しますが、王子様いらっしゃいますか？」
= Moshimoshi, Maggie to moushimasuga, Oujisama wa irassshaimasuka?
= Hello! This is Maggie. May I speak to the Prince, please?”
「王子はただいま、でかけております。」
= Ouji wa tadaima dekakete orimasu.
= The prince is out at the moment.
今日は、日本語の電話のかけ方を勉強しましょう！
= Kyou wa nihongo no denwa no kakakata wo benyou shimashou!
= In this lesson, we will study how to make a phone call.
日本では電話に出る時、電話をかける時に「もしもし」と言います。
= Nihon dewa denwa ni deru toki, denwa wo kakeru toki ni “Moshioshi” to iimasu.
= In Japan, they say “Moshimoshi” (means “Hello”) when they call someone or receive a phone call.
!to right! 電話のかけ方 ／Denwa no kakekata / (How to call )
「もしもし、マギーと申しますが、マックスさんいらっしゃいますか？」(Formal)
= “Moshimoshi, Maggie to moushimasu ga, Max san wa irasshaimasuka?”
= “Hello, this is Maggie speaking. May I speak to Max, please?”
「もしもし、マギーですが、マックスさんいますか？」(Casual)
= “Moshimoshi, Maggie desu ga, Max san imasuka?”
= “Hello, it’s Maggie. Is Max there?”
there is , to stay, to be
1) いる ( = iru ) (casual)
2) います ( = imasu ) (polite)
3) いらっしゃる ( = irassharu) (very polite)
:n: 電話の出方：
= Denwa no dekata
= How to answer the phone.
「もしもし (or はい)、〜です。」
= Moshimoshi (or hai) , ~ desu.
= “Hello, ~ speaking”
「どちら様ですか？」
= Dochira sama desuka?
=May I ask who’s calling?
「マックスさんいらっしゃいますか？」
:r:
:ee: 自分が本人だった場合、
= Jibun ga honnin datta baai
= (If you are the person they want to speak to,)
「私ですが…」
= “Watashi desuga…” ”Watakushi desuga..”
(Note: It’s the same kanji but “watakushi” is more polite.)
(“Speaking!”)
:u:
:tulip2: 本人が家（会社）にいる場合：
= Honnin ga ie (Kaisha) ni iru baai
= If the person who they want to talk is at home or in the office.
「はい、少々、お待ち下さい。」(Formal)
= “Hai, shoushou omachi kudasai.”
「はい、ちょっと待って下さい。」(Casual)
= “Hai, chotto matte kudasai.”
= (They both mean “Just a moment, please.”/ “Hold the line please.”)
:u:
:qq: いない場合
= Inai baai
= If the person is not at home/in the office.
「今、出かけておりますが….。」
= “Ima dekakete orimasuga..”
= He/She is not home / in the office at the moment.
「今、おりませんが..。」(Casual)
= “Ima orimasenga..”
= She/He is not here at the moment.
Note :
「出かけております」。「今、おりません。」と文章を終えてもいいですが、時と して日本語は語尾を終わらせない方が、柔らかく聞こえます。また、終 わらせないことで相手にどうしたらいいのか言ってもらう時間を与える ことがあります。
= Dekakete orimasu. Ima orimasen. to bunshou wo oete mo iidesuga, toki toshite nihongo wa gobi wo owarasenai hou ga yawarakaku kikoemasu. Mata owarasenai koto de aite ni doushitara ii no ka itte morau jikan wo ataeru koto ga arimasu.
= You can finish the sentence like “Dekakete orimasu.” or “Ima Orimasen.” but sometimes they don’t finish the sentences to make them sound softer.
:u:
:purple: 相手から伝言を聞きたい場合は
= Aite kara dengon wo kikitai baai wa.
= If you need to take a message,
「御伝言を承りましょうか？」(Formal)
= “Godengon wo uketamawarimashouka?”
= “Do you want me to take a message?”
「ご用件は？」(Less formal)
= “Goyouken wa?”
= “What is it about?”
*****
Note:
今では誰でも携帯電話を持っていますが、地下鉄や電車では半分以上の 人が携帯電話で音楽を聞いたり、メールを読んだりしている姿が見られ ます。
= Ima dewa daredemo keitai denwa wo motte imasuga, chikatetsu ya densha dewa hanbun ijyou no hito ga keitai denwa de ongaku wo kiitari, mail wo yondarishiteiru sugata ga miraremasu.
= Everybody has a cell phone nowadays and you can see more than a half of passengers on the subways or trains using a cell phone, listening to music, checking their text mail.
This is an old lesson. I made more complete lesson on telephone conversation.
Please go check →New Telephone Japanese.
22 Comments
Maggie先生、こんにちは！
How do I ask “May I know who you would like to speak to?”
A superior told me 誰としゃべるですか? or something along the lines, or would 話す be a better verb to use?
どうもありがとうございます ^^
@マーリ
こんにちは、マーリ
Who would you like to speak to? in Japanese is
どちらあてにおかけでしょうか？
= Dochira ate ni okake deshouka?
or
誰に（More polite どなたに）おかけですか？
= Dare ni (donatani) okake desuka?
Thanks for this lesson, though I have a question on requesting for a transfer.
I have a friend who is staying in a hotel, and want to be transferred to his room phone in room 810. How do I ask this in Japanese? Thanks :)
@Ryan
Hello Ryan,
I made this lesson long time ago and I am thinking about remaking a new one with more information.
Anyway, you can say
“そちらの８１０の部屋に滞在している〜〜さんにつないで下さい。”
= Sochira no happyaku juu no heya ni taizai shiteiru (your friend’s name) san ni tsunai de kudasai.
or
810号室に泊まっている〜さんにつないで下さい。”
= Happyaku juugou shitsu ni tomatte iru ~~ san ni tsunai de kudasai.
Could you do a lesson on “texting”? I hear that phone email is used in Japan instead of texting. Here in the U.S., texting is constant for teenagers. I was wondering if a student should say, “tomodachi to keitai meeru o shimasu” to mean “I text with my friends.” Would that sound normal?
@Julie
Hello Julie,
It is already on the request list. Please wait patiently. There are so many lessons that I want to make.
You can say
友達の携帯にメールを送る
= tomodachi no keitai ni meiru wo okuru
友達の携帯にメールを入れる
= Tomodachi no keitai ni meiru wo ireru
Hi sensei. Is it possible that sensei could explain this sentence for me a little? :)
1) また、終わらせないことで相手にどうしたらいいのか言ってもらう時間を与えることがあります。）
I feel it says something like: “Also, by not finishing what you want to express, you give the other party time to decide how to continue (make a follow up, how to proceed). As you can see Maggiesensei, I have a little problem with the “dou shitara ii no ka” in this sentence.
2) 時として
What does “toki toshite” means sensei?
@NecroMadMat
Ohh you are studying one of my first sample lessons…なつかしい！
1) どうしたらいいのか= what to do, what we should do
We sometimes give some time to the listeners to tell us what to do by not finishing the sentence.
So imagine you call me and ask me if Yukari is home. If I say
「Yukari は今、おりません。」
That is the end of the conversation. It may sound a bit strong unless you follow right away「何かご伝言はありませんか？」
But if I say
「Yukariは今、おりませんが….」
This unfinished sentence with “が” implies “What would like to do? What would you want me to do? Would you call her back later?”
Then you can think “Um.. what should I do. I will call her back then.”
Thus I can give you sometime to decide what to do without asking you to call her back.
2) 時として= in some cases
I got it. I relate these types of sentences to something like: “He is not here now…” with the dots as to allow the other party to finish and unfinished or opened sentence.
What interested me the most from that previous sentence sensei is that I recently became aware of this type of usage of “ka” within a sentence. How should I put it? It is like a question that is not really a question but when you try to explain something. For example a sentence as this “what we need to do is to climb that tree.”
Actually I am not sure if I get the usage of “ka” when applied in this manner, that is why I asked the previous question. ^^’
Sorry for not explaining myself correctly sensei. Is it possible to give some examples of the usage of “ka” in this manner?
@NecroMadMat
I think I got your question about the usage of か.
か is often used before subordinate clauses.
(whether, if, when, which, what…etc)
I don’t know “if ” Maggie is coming today.
今日、マギーが来る”か”知らない。
I have to ask “if ” Maggie is coming today.
今日、マギーが来る”か”（どうか）聞かなくてはいけない。
Can you tell me “when” you are coming.
いつ来る”か”教えてくれますか？
I will let you know if I go to school today.
今日、学校に行く”か”（どうか）知らせます。
I don’t know “what” to do.
どうしたらいいの”か”わからい。
Can ask Maggie if she likes me?
マギーに私のことが好き”か”聞いてくれますか？
That is exactly what I meant and sensei. As expected of sensei she understands even with poor explanations like mine. :) Subordinate clauses is the correct name. :) Thank you sensei for your all your help.
@NecroMadMat
Oh, Greeeeeat!! I’m sorry that I didn’t understand your question in the first place.
Hi! could you please explain the use of -tari suru here please. It’s from Mikeneko Holmes drama episode 2:
Ishizu: 片山さん ケータイ鳴ってますよ。
Hiro-nii: ヒロ兄が出てやろう 貸せ。
Hiro-nii: 涼子からだったりして。
I more or less can guess thanks to the circumstances but I dont know how properly translate it and how they are using -tari suru there.
Thank you so much, Maggie is really cute!
@Ana
In this case, ~ からだったりして is a colloquial way to say (ひょっとして）~からかもしれない
In that short dialogue, they see someone was calling on Hiro’s cell phone and Hiro wondered it could be Ryoko who is calling.
涼子からだったりして。
Maybe it(the phone call) could be (from) Ryoko.
Compared to 涼子かもしれない(Maybe it is from Ryoko) , 涼子からだったりして has a connotation that “It would be strange/funny if this call is from Ryoko.)”
Hope you get it. どう？
Thank you so much for your fast reply!
I understand your explanation and it really suits the circumstances of the conversation but I didnt know this use for -tari suru, it’s usual? I thought -tari suru is for listing activities that doesnt have a continuation or correlation, to mark an action as an example, the repetition of an action or the alternation of states.
So if he didnt just use kamo as the coloquial of kamoshirenai is to give that other connotation?
And why did you put hyotto shite in brackets? it’s because it’s usually obviated or it’s because it’s an alternative?
Sorry for the questions and thank you so much again <3
@Ana
You are right.
Usually ~たり is used when you list up a couple of actions.
Ex. 寝たり食べたりする = netari tabetari suru = sleeping and eating etc.
〜たりして is a colloquial hypothetical word.
The translation is the same as かもしれない (maybe, may, might) but 〜たりしてinvolves more emotion, it would be surprising (fun, strange, great, awful) if ~ . You leave the sentence unfinished. So the listener has to read between the lines.
Ex. 明日は雨だったりして。
= Ashita wa ame dattari shite.
= It might rain tomorrow.
Ex. 実は、マギー結婚していたりして。
= Jitsu wa Maggie kekkon shite itari shite.
= It would be surprising if Maggie is married.
****
かも／かもしれない is just a statement.
1) 明日は雨かも（しれない）= I think it may rain tomorrow.
2) 明日は雨だったりして = What do you say if it rains tomorrow. (slightly less possibility than (1))
Also ~たりして shows more feelings.
***
Your other question :
（ひょっとして） 〜かもしれない
You add ひょっとして when you emphasizes the presumption/supposition.
a) マギーが来るかもしれない。
Maggie may come.
b) ひょっとしてマギーが来るかもしれない。
Maggie might come.
When you compare a) and b), a) has more possibility than b).
How’s that?
Your explanation is pretty easy to understand, thank you so much!
Oh! And in this case the tense of suru is always shite, right?
@Ana
You’re welcome! And yes, as for your last question, yes, it’s always tarishite.
*the telephone rings*
もしもし、ラファエルと申しますが、マギー先生いらっしゃいますか？
うん～！ちょっと待ってよ！
*after a minute*
ごめんなさい・・・今、先生がいません。
本当に？先生がどこに行きました？分かりますか？
わかんないよ・・・でも御伝言を承りましょうか？
おーけー・・・「ただいま！」先生に言って。 よろしくお願いします。
@Rafael.
www Yay!!!!伝言聞いたよ！！お帰り〜〜〜〜!!! Rafa!!!!! !happyface!
What a big strap you have.. :D
Im planning to buy gantz strap this month.
Wish me luck!!
@アリナ
I have changed my cell phone to iphone. So I can’t have a keitai strap anymore.
Hope you can get GANTZ’s strap!!!