Published on February 24, 2025
How to talk on the phone in Spanish like a pro
If your goal is to learn Spanish fast and gain fluency, practicing real conversations is essential—including those without visual cues, like phone calls.
If your goal is to learn Spanish fast and gain fluency, practicing real conversations is essential—including those without visual cues, like phone calls.
What is it about the phone that can be scary for a language learner? For one, it means talking without body language. Plus, watching someone’s lips, whether we realize it or not, does help us hear the pronunciation of words and letters clearly. Without physical clues, trying to talk on the phone in Spanish can literally be more difficult than a face-to-face conversation. Not to worry. Today we have everything you need to feel like a pro on your next phone call. We’ll cover how to answer the phone in Spanish, common Spanish phone phrases, phone-related verbs and tips for getting past those phone call nerves.
To talk on the phone in Spanish, you need to start by picking up when someone calls. In English, we answer by asking, “Hello?” Should we just find out how to say hello in Spanish and use that word? No, it’s not that simple. It is not typical in a Spanish-speaking country to answer the phone using the word hola (hello).
Knowing how to answer the phone in Spanish is one of those cases where a direct translation doesn’t work. People answer the phone differently in different countries. Here are three common Spanish phone greetings:
These three greetings have you covered for informal calls. To talk on the phone in Spanish in a more formal setting, you should become familiar with a few more phrases. Here are more formal sentences you may hear in real-life customer service situations:
Taking a live class with Lingoda is a smart way to practice vocabulary like this. You can do dialogues with your native-level teacher and get life feedback on your audio comprehension. With Lingoda, you start speaking in Spanish on your first day of class. You’ll be ready for intermediate conversations like phone calls much faster than with writing- or reading-based learning methods.
To talk on the phone in Spanish without getting nervous, we recommend practicing basic phone conversations.
Begin by saying who you are. This is useful for both social introductions and professional phone meetings:
Check out our info on Spanish vocab for the office to keep that conversation rolling. And after you’ve introduced yourself? Let’s say you hear someone answer but aren’t sure who you are speaking with. Here are common ways to identify a caller in polite Spanish:
Testing sample phone conversations (yes, even one-sided practice chats by yourself) can help introduce yourself with ease.
When you talk on the phone in Spanish, you’ll need to learn some key Spanish phrases that are specific to phone conversations. These Spanish “phone phrases” are things that we say specifically on voice calls. Some are phrases that aren’t typically used in general conversation.
For this final phrase, and anytime you use an adjective to describe yourself, be sure to follow the rules for gender in Spanish.
Even if you know a few Spanish phone phrases and how to answer the phone in Spanish, there is always that moment right after introductions. You have to keep the conversation moving, but how? Here are our tips for getting past awkward silences.
1. Repeat what you heard to confirm understanding
2. Ask for repetition and clarification
3. What to say when the line is bad
4. Practicing with TV shows, podcasts, or Zoom calls
To get ready to talk on the phone in Spanish, start by reviewing our article on small talk in Spanish. Then, listen to native speakers on telenovelas in Spanish or Spanish podcasts. Remember to pay special attention to phone conversations.
We’ve mentioned before that some words are different in different Spanish-speaking countries . This is definitely true when it comes to phone greetings in Spanish. Here are a few greetings below that are culturally specific. They may sound normal in one country but impolite in another.
| Phone greeting | Country | English meaning | Notes |
| ¿Bueno?Bueno. | Mexico | All good?Good. | Can be said as a question or as a statement. |
| ¿Aló? | Chile, much of South America | hiya | An alternate form of hola (hello). |
| ¿Diga?¿Dígame?Dígame. | Spain | Talk?Talk to me?Talk to me. | All three forms are common. |
| ¿Sí? | Spain | Yes? | Latin Americans might feel that this sounds impatient. |
| Hola. | various | Hello. | Common among friends, but not as a formal greeting. |
Here are the most common verbs used to talk on the phone in Spanish or describe these kinds of activities.
| Spanish verb | English meaning | For example |
| Llamar | to call | Quiero saber el horario. ¿Podemos llamar?(I want to know the schedule. Can we call?) |
| Echarse una llamada | to give someone a call | ¿Quieres invitarle a Veronica? Échale una llamadita.(Want to invite Vero? Give her a call.) |
| Hablar | to talk | Hablame de ti.(Talk to me about yourself.) |
| Contar | to tell | Cuéntame todo el chisme. (Tell me all the gossip.) |
With everything you learned today, you are ready to talk on the phone in Spanish the next chance you get. Whether the caller is from Mexico (¿Bueno?) or from Chile (¿Aló?) you’ll have the right greeting to answer. Want to try out different greetings? With Lingoda’s native-level Spanish teachers you can take classes with instructors from all over the world: Spain, Argentina, Mexico and more. Try out your phrases for Spanish phone conversations in your next class. Soon you’ll be an old pro, chatting away on the phone and getting all the chisme (gossip) from your friends.
