How to Answer the Phone American English Pronunciation 2 of 2

perhaps the person that’s being asked

for is not available then you could say

I’m sorry she’s not here

or available or she’s busy I’m sorry

she’s busy then you can say can I take a

message

you ask the person if they want to leave

information that you can give to that

person to let them know that there was a

call so I’m sorry

the AI as in buy diphthong followed by

the M consonant sound

I’m the unvoiced S sound saw saw the aw

as in law followed by the R sound

Saur Saur e and the EE as in she I’m

sorry she or of course he she’s not here

so the SH sound or the H sound the EE as

in she and the Z consonant sound she’s

not the N consonant sound mm the aw as

in law nah we don’t actually make that

sound but the tongue does move up she’s

not here and stops the sound before we

continue on the H consonant sound the e

as in she and the R sound here I’m sorry

she’s not here a note here about the IPA

this line after the T symbolizes that

the T here is a stop it is not released

can I take a message the word can hear

is reduced to can can can I the N is

then linked to the AI as in buy

diphthong for the word I can I take the

T sound followed by the ay as in say

diphthong teh the K consonant sound the

word a here is pronounced as a schwa a

take a take a can I take a message the M

consonant sound

as in bed nets the S consonant sound and

finally the schwa and the as in jar

consonant sound message message can I

take a message perhaps the person on the

other end of the line has missed dialed

the number for example if I answer my

phone and they asked for Laura well

there’s no Laura then I can say I’m

sorry you have the wrong number

you have the wrong number so this is

that you as in few diphthong you have

the H consonant sound the AB as in bat

vowel sound and the voice B sound you

have the the voiced th sound and the

schwa sound the you have the wrong

starts with the R consonant sound raw

the aw as in law sound and the ng sound

OH

so the tongue lifts further back then on

the end wrong mmm it then moves forward

to make the n na the as in butter sound

mmm the M consonant sound num ber and

your lips are or together for the M num

but you press them a little more and

have the jaw drop a little bit more num

but to make the B sound

BRR schwa our consonant sound number I’m

sorry you have the wrong number if you

ever don’t understand what someone says

it’s okay to let them know you can say

I’m sorry

notice that the voice has to go up at

the end I’m sorry this is to let them

know it’s a question and that we did not

understand what they said I’m sorry you

can also say excuse me notice again that

the voice goes up at the end excuse me

excuse has the a as in bed vowel sound

ech the K sound ech

the S sound X Q the U as in few

diphthong excuse the voiced Z sound

excuse and then me the M consonant sound

mmm and the E as in she vowel sound

excuse me excuse me

you could also say could you repeat that

please

or could you repeat that could has the

consonant sound the UH as in pull vowel

sound and the D sound could could you

which has the U as in few diphthong

could you notice that the D sound is

sort of linked to the next word could

you could you repeat has the R consonant

sound and the schwa in the first

syllable Piet which is the accented

syllable has the P consonant sound the e

as in she repeat and in this case the T

X is a stop repeat where the tongue

moves up into position repeat but you

don’t actually make the T sound could

you repeat that the th hear is voiced

that the as in bat vowel sound could you

repeat that again the final T here is a

stop so the tongue moves into position

could you repeat that please

lips come together to make the P sound

plea so the tongue was up for the L

please comes down into the e as in she

vowel sound and finally the Z sound

please could you repeat that please

I hope this vocabulary will help you

feel more comfortable answering the

phone