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

💬 Italian usually drops the word for "she" or "he", so è alone means "she is", "he is" or "it is". Context tells you which one is meant.

💬 Literally "who is speaking?". Italian asks about the speaker, while English asks about the caller.

💬 On the phone Italians introduce themselves with sono "I am" plus their name, never with a word-for-word "this is".

💬 della is di + la merged together, just as di + il becomes del: del gruppo Fiat "from the Fiat group".

🇮🇹 Giving your full name and company straight away is expected on Italian business calls. It helps you get past the receptionist.

💬 vuole is the polite "you want", the same form as "he/she wants". It's how strangers address each other with lei.

💬 mi "me" can attach to the end of an action word: richiamare + mi becomes richiamarmi, dropping the final e. Same with chiamarmi "call me" and scrivermi "write to me".

💬 Italian uses a for "at" a number, not in or su: mi chiami a questo numero "call me at this number".

💬 lo "it" comes before the action word, not after it as in English. The same goes for la vedo "I see her".

💬 scusi is the polite form for strangers, and scusa is the casual one for friends.

🇮🇹 Adding scusi softens what could sound like a blunt question. Receptionists often ask this to screen calls, so have a short reason ready.

💬 di + a day links something to that day, as in la riunione di venerdì "Friday's meeting". Italian has no 's, so di does that job.

🇮🇹 Italians often use perfetto simply to mean "OK, got it" when wrapping up an exchange. It isn't high praise.

💬 alla is a + la merged together. The present form riferisco is used here for a promise about the near future, which is very common in Italian.

🇮🇹 molto gentile is a standard warm closing for a stranger who helped you. It sounds polite, not gushing.

🇮🇹 The standard friendly sign-off to end a business call or leave a shop. Expect to hear it back.

💬 Literally "thanks to you", said back when someone thanks you first. With friends it becomes grazie a te.

🇮🇹 Use arrivederci to end a call with someone you don't know, and keep ciao for friends. In very formal settings you may hear arrivederla.