French · Elementary (A2) · Chapter 11 of 12
Phone calls and messages
Au téléphone
Make a phone call, leave a message, spell your name in French and use lui, leur and me, te, nous, vous.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Ask for someone on the phone and leave a message
- Spell your name with the French alphabet
- Use lui and leur for “to him”, “to her”, “to them”
Listen
Frédéric Nguyen phones a company in Poitiers. He wants to speak to Ms Leroy about their meeting. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Receptionist
Société Vallon, bonjour.
Vallon, good morning.
Frédéric
Bonjour, madame. Je voudrais parler à madame Leroy, s'il vous plaît.
Good morning. I'd like to speak to Ms Leroy, please.
Receptionist
C'est de la part de qui ?
Who's calling, please?
Frédéric
Frédéric Nguyen.
Frédéric Nguyen.
Receptionist
Ne quittez pas… Désolée, elle est en réunion. Vous voulez lui laisser un message ?
Hold on… I'm sorry, she's in a meeting. Would you like to leave her a message?
Frédéric
Oui. Vous pouvez lui dire que je ne pourrai pas venir au rendez-vous de jeudi ?
Yes. Could you tell her that I won't be able to come to Thursday's meeting?
Receptionist
D'accord. Elle peut vous rappeler ?
All right. Can she call you back?
Frédéric
Oui, je veux bien. Mon numéro, c'est le 06 45 12 38 70.
Yes, please. My number is 06 45 12 38 70.
Receptionist
Vous pouvez épeler votre nom, s'il vous plaît ?
Could you spell your surname, please?
Frédéric
N-G-U-Y-E-N.
N-G-U-Y-E-N.
Receptionist
Merci, monsieur Nguyen. Je lui donnerai le message.
Thank you, Mr Nguyen. I'll give her the message.
Frédéric
Merci beaucoup. Au revoir, madame.
Thank you very much. Goodbye.
Understand
To him, to her: lui and leur
Many verbs are followed by + a person: , (to say to, to tell), (to give to), , (to send to). To replace + a person, use (to him or to her) or (to them): becomes .
Like and , these pronouns go before the verb, or before an infinitive: , For “me”, “you” and “us”, French uses , , and both with and without : (Can she call you back?), (I'm speaking to you).
Careful: (to call) takes or , but takes . and both mean “I'm phoning her” (or him).
| French | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (m') | (to) me | (Will you phone me?) |
| (t') | (to) you, to a friend | (I'll give you my number.) |
| to him, to her | (I'll speak to her tomorrow.) | |
| (to) us | (He said hello to us.) | |
| (to) you, polite or plural | (I'll call you back.) | |
| to them | (I'm sending them a message.) |
On the phone
When you answer a private phone, say A company answers with its name and . To say who you are, use …: Phone numbers are read in pairs, as you learnt in A1.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Hello? (answering the phone) | |
| Who's calling? | |
| Hold on, please. | |
| He's not here. | |
| Would you like to leave a message? | |
| I'll call back later. | |
| You've got the wrong number. | |
| I'll send you a text. |
Spelling: the French alphabet
The letter names are different from English. The ones English speakers mix up most are E (“uh”), I (“ee”), G (“zhay”) and J (“zhee”). Y is (“Greek i”) and W is .
For a double letter, say : . For accents, add the name of the accent: é is and è is .
| Letter | Sounds like | Letter | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ah | N | en |
| B | bay | O | oh |
| C | say | P | pay |
| D | day | Q | “ku”, with the French u |
| E | uh | R | air |
| F | ef | S | ess |
| G | zhay | T | tay |
| H | ash | U | the French u: say “ee” with rounded lips |
| I | ee | V | vay |
| J | zhee | W | doo-bluh-vay |
| K | kah | X | eeks |
| L | el | Y | ee-grek |
| M | em | Z | zed |
More in the grammar: French numbers: from 0 to a million · The French alphabet and pronunciation · Object pronouns: le, la, les, lui, leur
New words
- la sociétécompany
- parler àto speak to
- c'est de la part de qui ?who's calling?
- ne quittez pashold on, hold the line
- en réunionin a meeting
- lui(to) him, (to) her
- laisser un messageto leave a message
- direto say, to tell · : to tell someone
- rappelerto call back
- épelerto spell
- le nomname, surname · first name:
- donnerto give
Practise
1.You're talking about Ms Leroy. How do you say “I'll speak to her tomorrow”?
2.Complete with or : “I'm sending them a message.”
I'm sending them a message.
3.Complete: “Who's calling?”
Who's calling?
4.How do you say the letter G in French?
5.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.Would you like to leave her a message?
6.Match the French with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Je voudrais parler à monsieur Martin, s'il vous plaît.
I'd like to speak to Mr Martin, please.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.