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