Give the person answering enough to help

On the phone, you cannot point to a booking screen or see whether the other person looks confused. A short introduction and a clear reason for calling make the conversation easier to follow. You also need a plan for the moment when the person you want is unavailable.

This intermediate lesson uses an invented call to a fictional learning centre. A learner wants to check the time of an appointment with a teacher. The centre and appointment are only a practice setting; they are not services offered by this website.

Work through the call in stages: identify yourself, explain the reason, ask for the person, then either speak to them or leave a useful message. The examples use polite conversational endings, with conventional formal phrases for introductions and thanks. For more repair phrases, see asking for clarification.

Open with a greeting, your name and the reason

여보세요? is a common phone greeting. An organisation may instead answer with its name, followed by a greeting. If you hear a clear business introduction, you can respond with 안녕하세요 and move to your name rather than repeating 여보세요 several times.

알렉스입니다 means “I’m Alex.” Replace 알렉스 with your own name. The 입니다 ending is a conventional formal introduction; you can then use polite 요 sentences without making the whole call a formal speech.

상담 시간을 확인하려고 전화했어요 means “I’m calling to check the consultation time.” The Korean uses 전화했어요, literally “called,” for the call you have just made. 확인하려고 gives the purpose: to check. You do not need to translate English “I am calling” word for word.

김 선생님과 통화할 수 있을까요? means “Could I speak with Teacher Kim?” Here 통화하다 means to speak on the phone. You are asking to speak with a person, not asking the staff member to explain every appointment detail.

Recognise three replies before planning yours

In 통화 중이세요, 중 means that the activity is in progress. The sentence does not tell you exactly how long it will last. 자리에 안 계세요 also leaves several possibilities open: it does not necessarily mean the person has gone home.

Both replies respectfully refer to the person you asked for. Listen for the useful situation first instead of trying to parse each honorific ending during the call. A simple 네, 알겠습니다. — “Okay, I understand” — lets the staff member know you heard the answer.

If you choose to call again yourself, say 제가 나중에 다시 전화할게요. — “I’ll call again later.” 제가 identifies you as the caller. This is different from asking the other person to call you.

Leave a message that can be passed on

메시지를 남기다 means to leave a message. In 남겨도 될까요?, you ask whether doing so is possible. Wait for the staff member to agree before giving a long explanation.

두 시인지 means “whether it is two o’clock.” Alex is checking an uncertain time, not announcing that the appointment definitely is at two. If the staff member cannot verify the schedule, a message still needs to reach the teacher.

성함 is a respectful word for a name. The staff member uses it when asking about Alex. Alex simply gives their name; there is no need to label their own name 성함.

The last reply promises to pass the message on. It does not promise a phone call back. If you need a callback, arrange that separately and provide a usable way to reach you. Do not assume the person answering can retrieve your number or that the displayed caller information is enough.

Make clear who will call whom

선생님께 다시 전화해 달라고 전해 주시겠어요? — “Could you tell the teacher to call me back?” In this ongoing call, the requested callback is to you. The staff member is being asked to pass on a request, so there are two actions: telling the teacher and the teacher calling.

달라고 reports a request for someone to do something for the requester. In 전화해 달라고, it carries the “please call me” request into the message. Do not replace the whole line with 제가 다시 전화할게요 unless you intend to be the person making the next call.

You can make the recipient explicit with 저한테 다시 전화해 주실 수 있을까요? — “Could you call me back?” Say this directly to the person you want to call you. If you say it to the staff member, you are asking that staff member, not automatically the absent teacher.

Before ending, agree on the contact details needed for that arrangement. For practice, write “my contact number” on paper rather than using someone else’s real details. On an actual call, give your own correct contact information when it is needed and appropriate.

To give your availability, say 오늘 네 시 이후에는 통화할 수 있어요. — “I’m available for a call after four today.” 이후 gives the time from which you are available; it is not a promise that a call will arrive at exactly four.

Distinguish a sound problem from a meaning problem

소리가 잘 안 들려요. — “I can’t hear you well.” Use this when the audio is faint or the connection makes speech hard to hear. If the sound is clear but a word is unfamiliar, ask about that word instead.

죄송하지만 조금 천천히 말씀해 주시겠어요? — “Sorry, could you speak a little more slowly?” This asks for pace to change. If just the time was unclear, narrow the repair: 두 시라고 하셨어요? — “Did you say two o’clock?”

After a correction, repeat the corrected detail. If you hear 아니요, 세 시예요. — “No, it’s three,” reply 네, 내일 세 시로 확인했어요. — “Okay, I’ve confirmed it as three tomorrow.” In this practice exchange, the other person has checked the appointment; repeating it does not independently change a booking.

Close once the next step is clear: 감사합니다. 그럼 연락 기다리겠습니다. — “Thank you. I’ll wait to hear from you, then.” Use that closing when follow-up contact was agreed. If you promised to call again yourself, end with that promise instead.

Add morning or afternoon when the time is unclear

The appointment examples use 두 시, “two o’clock,” because the speakers are discussing an existing appointment. When the part of the day is not already clear, add 오전 for a.m. or 오후 for p.m. 오후 두 시예요? asks “Is it two p.m.?” A reply of 네, 오후 두 시예요. confirms that detail.

Read back the day as well as the time when arranging a new call. Knowing that someone is available after four today does not establish a callback on another day. Keep a short note with three separate fields: who calls, which day, and what time or availability window.

Finish a call without leaving the next step unclear

For a two-minute role-play, put your phone face down and sit back-to-back with a partner. One person knows the appointment time; the other knows only the name and reason for calling. End only when you can both state who will take the next action. This removes gestures while keeping the language task manageable.

A small listening check

Phone language references

• National Institute of Korean Language: 여보세요 — Dictionary meanings and pronunciation, including its use in a phone conversation.
• KoreanClass101: phone-call expressions — Additional phone situations to compare with the complete message-and-callback task here.

Reviewed September 3, 2026. Found a mistake? Send a correction.