Making business phone calls: Asking to speak with someone and leaving a message

💬 This works as a question just by raising your voice at the end. The words stay in the same order as a normal statement.

💬 Small words like me "me" go before the action word, so French says "he can me call back". Raising your voice at the end turns the statement into a question, with no word-order change needed.

💬 Cet is the form of ce "this" used before a vowel sound, so it links into one sound (seh-tah-preh-mee-dee). You'll also hear it in cet hôtel.

💬 French phone numbers are read in pairs as two-digit numbers, as in (zay-roh see, dooz, trahnt-katr...). The digits 12 are said as douze "twelve", not one-two.

🇫🇷 Numbers starting with 06 or 07 are mobiles. Saying your number in pairs, as French people do, makes it much easier for the person to note down.

🇫🇷 On the phone this works like "all right" or "noted", a way to acknowledge what was said rather than praise it.

💬 Lui means "to him" or "to her", the same word for both. Like me, it sits before the action word. French often uses the present tense, transmets, for something you're about to do right away.

🇫🇷 Adding madame or monsieur without a surname is standard politeness in France and doesn't sound stiff. A bare merci can come across as curt on a business call.

🇫🇷 This is the standard way to end a call or shop visit before evening. Later in the day, switch to Bonne soirée ! "Have a nice evening!"

💬 Vous aussi is the all-purpose "you too" for returning any wish. With a friend it becomes toi aussi.