Making business phone calls: Giving your name and contact details

💬 The le on the end of dejarle means "to her" (or "to him"). Spanish often attaches these little words straight onto the end of a verb: llamarle "to call him/her".

🇪🇸 On a business call, people usually say Soy plus their name, e.g. Soy Ana Ruiz, rather than Me llamo. In Spain, a full name usually includes two surnames, the father's and then the mother's.

💬 Perdone is the polite form for someone you'd address formally. With friends it becomes perdona.

🇪🇸 People in Spain have two apellidos, so expect to be asked for both on forms. Saying just one is fine as a foreigner, but be ready to spell it.

💬 Spanish often turns a plain statement into a polite request just by raising your voice at the end: ¿Me repite...? works like "Could you repeat...?". Same pattern: ¿Me dice su nombre? "Could you tell me your name?"

💬 Perdone is the polite form for someone you don't know. You'd use perdona with a friend.

💬 Spanish puts the company name straight after la empresa, with no word for "called" in between. The same pattern works for places: el hotel Miramar.

💬 Soy de works for both where you're from and who you work for: Soy de Londres, Soy de Lexa. It's the go-to way to introduce yourself on a work call.

🇪🇸 In Spain a plain ¿Me da...? is a perfectly polite way to ask for something, even without por favor. It's standard in shops and on the phone.

💬 su here is the polite "your", but the same word also means "his", "her" and "their". Context tells you which one is meant.

💬 Spanish puts el before a phone number: es el 612.... Spaniards usually read the number out in groups, like seis doce, treinta y cuatro....

🇪🇸 Spanish mobile numbers start with 6 or 7, and landlines start with 9. The groups people say aloud usually match the spacing written here.

💬 Apuntado comes from apuntar "to note down". Say apuntada if the thing you've noted is something like la dirección "the address".

💬 Spanish often uses the present tense for near-future plans: le llama "she'll call you". In Spain, le is also commonly used for a person as the one being called, especially when speaking politely.

🇪🇸 In Spain la tarde stretches until about 8 or 9pm. A callback "this afternoon" could easily come at 7.

🇪🇸 In Spain, la tarde stretches until about 8 or 9 pm. A call "this afternoon" could come quite late by English standards.

💬 muchas ends in -as to match gracias. Never say muchos gracias.

🇪🇸 Muy amable is a warm, polite thank-you that suits calls with strangers or office staff. It's also handy on its own when someone helps you.

🇪🇸 Spaniards often finish a call with adiós plus the greeting for the time of day. Before lunch (around 2 pm), that's buenos días; after that, use buenas tardes.