Phone calls can be terrifying. You can’t see faces, you can’t check your notes, and if you panic you end up saying “sorry?” in a terrified whisper for five minutes.
Here are the phrasal verbs and phrases that will make you sound calm, collected, and annoyingly competent.
📞 10 Phrasal Verbs for Phone Calls
Pick up
Answer the phone.
Can you pick up? It’s probably the client.
Hang up
End the call.
Don’t hang up — I didn’t finish!
Call back
Phone someone later.
I’ll call you back after the meeting.
Put (someone) through
Connect the caller to another person.
Please hold — I’ll put you through to Sarah.
Get through
Succeed in reaching someone by phone.
I tried phoning but couldn’t get through.
Cut off / be cut off
Lose the connection.
Sorry — you were cut off. Can you repeat that?
Speak up
Talk louder.
Could you speak up? The line’s a bit quiet.
Hold on / hold the line
Wait on the phone.
Hold on a second — I’ll check.
Look up (a number)
Find a telephone number.
I’ll look up his number and call him.
Drop off
Lose sound / fall asleep on the phone (informal).
Your voice keeps dropping off — the connection’s bad.
🗣 10 Useful Phone Expressions
I’ll call you back
Standard promise to ring later.
Can you hear me?
Check if the other person can hear you.
I’ll put you through
Used by receptionists to connect calls.
One moment, please
Polite request to wait.
Sorry, I didn’t catch that
Polite way to ask for repetition.
Can I call you back?
Request to resume conversation later.
I’ll transfer you
Another way to say “put you through.”
You’re breaking up
Say this if the call is disconnecting.
I’ll leave a message
Tell someone you’ll record a voicemail.
Is now a good time?
Polite opener before starting a call.
Before You Go
Practice these on your phone. Call a friend, pretend you’re calling a boss. Worst case: they answer and laugh at you. Best case: you level up.