Telephone Greeting in Germany

[AllShookDown]

My co-worker needs to know what they say in Germany when they answer the phone. Can anyone help?

[notfrommensa]

IIRC from High School German 25 years ago, Herr Schaefer told it was......."ALL-O"

[AllShookDown]

Thanks. I found a web site that said they answer by saying their last name but my co-worker said the Chinese greeting that was listed there wasn't right so we wanted to make sure.

[Dragon Phoenix]

It is much more common in continental Europe (including Germany) to state your name when you answer the phone.

[mkl12]

No, it is actually considered rude to just say hallo. You say your last name, then the caller says their name and any greetings, like "Hallo" or "Guten Tag" come after that.

[pulykamell]

My German friends usually answer:

"Allo, ich bin *insert name here*"

I have occassionally heard the last-name approach as well, as in "Allo, *last name*" or even just last name, but the first seems friendliest to me.

[vertigo]

Then you say something like "Darf Ich bitte Helmut sprechen?"

[Cillasi]

Informally, it's "Bitte?" I remember it from when a friend's mom was here from Germany. I don't know what it means, but she always answered the phone with "Bitte?" (pronounced bitta).

[ShibbOleth]

Originally posted by pulykamell
My German friends usually answer:

"Allo, ich bin *insert name here*"



Many folks I knew in Germany and Switzerland answered their phones "hallo, ich bin", and totally omitted the last name. This was on personal phones. In the office they often answered just their last name, or answered "last name hier". Or sometimes, "Ja, last name".

[mnemosyne]

Bitte means please or excuse me. If it has another meaning, I don't know what it is. I think in the phone context it might mean "please go ahead and speak" or something.

just a WAG, really, but the first sentece is true!

[InternetLegend]

When my German sister is visiting me, she always answers the phone, "Hello, here is Sonja." I'm assuming she just translated her standard German greeting.

[Rex Fenestrarum]

Well, I know that when you end a conversation in Germany, you say "Auf weiderhoren" (until I hear you again) instead of the more familiar "auf weidersehen" (until I see you again). Because on teh phone of course you can't see anyone.

[blahedo]

And letters can be informally ended with "Auf wiederschrieben" ('write').

When I was taking German back in the 80s we were taught that the phone was answered "Hallo, hier <name>", rather than "Hallo, ich bin <name>"; which makes marginally more sense, inasmuch as any linguistic thing can be said to "make sense"....

[Mycroft Holmes]

Well, from my personal experience (more than 15 years living and working in Germany; being a German native) most people answer the phone by saying just their last name, or saying "<last name> hier", or "Hallo, hier ist <full name>". The person calling usually answers with something like: "Guten Morgen, Herr/Frau <last name> hier". It is usually considered rude if you only say "Hallo".

Here in the Netherlands it's usually "Met <last name>" or "Met <full name>".

Personally, I prefer the Italian phone greeting of "Pronto?".

[Wonko]

Originally posted by blahedo
And letters can be informally ended with "Auf wiederschrieben" ('write').

[...]

Speaking as a native German:

There is nothing like "Auf wiederschreiben". We don't have a corresponding expression like "Auf Wiederhören/Wiedersehen" ("hear again from you/see you") for ending letters
The correct spelling for the English word "hello" in German is "hallo", not "allo", the "h" is pronounced.
Formal answers to a call would be "<Last name>?" or "<Company>, <Last name>?". Informal is "Hallo?" or "<First name>, hallo?". In these informal situations and at home it is acceptable (and not so uncommon) for the called person not to name themselves but to wait for the caller to identify first.

Tschüß, Wonko

[Somnambulist]

Small hijack...

The Japanese ace it for the coolest telephone greeting - even after two year's in Tokyo for some reason answering the phone and saying "mushi, mushi" still made me smile!

[Johnny L.A.]

To the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down:

Moshi moshi, ono ne
Ono ne, ono ne
Moshi moshi, ono ne
Ono ne, ono ne
Ah, so desu-ka!

Just a little ditty I learned when I was a small child in Japan.

[ShetlandPony]

Originally posted by Somnambulist


The Japanese ace it for the coolest telephone greeting - even after two year's in Tokyo for some reason answering the phone and saying "mushi, mushi" still made me smile!

This is funnier for German speakers for reasons I won't go in to here =;^)

[Mycroft Holmes]

Originally posted by ShetlandPony
This is funnier for German speakers for reasons I won't go in to here =;^)

Yep, it's kind of like an English person answering the phone with "Fanny, fanny", or an American answering with "Pussy, pussy". :D

[Mycroft Holmes]

Originally posted by ShetlandPony
This is funnier for German speakers for reasons I won't go in to here =;^)

Yep, it's kind of like an English person answering the phone with "Fanny, fanny", or an American answering with "Pussy, pussy". :D

[parlo americano]

German telephone conversations practices

The person being called answers with a full name or last name.
I being an American prefer the Hallo, Parlo Americano. Because it is more polite by my standards to greet someone first but it's more polite by their standards to know who is on the line right away.


Caller state your name as this is normal and otherwise it can be very offsetting to a native speaker especially if you are calling in English. "Guten Morgen/Tag/Abend heir ist Herr/Frau Wong."

If the person who answers is not the person you want to speak to the you can ask "
Könnte ich mit Herr Americano sprechen?"

Or if you reach a switchboard operator to be connected with someone ask:
"Könnten Sie mich mit Parlo Americano verbinden?"

If the person isn't there:
"Ich rufe zurück. Danke." I'll call back
"Könnte sie/er mich (sobald wie möglich) zurückrufen?" Could she/he call me back (as soon as possible)?

Wonko or other native speakers:
I say Tschüß at the end of all calls is that okay or am I being too informal?

Here's one of my favorite sites for Basic German info
http://www.ex.ac.uk/german/abinitio/index.html

[parlo americano]

Oh yeah there's no How are you? unless you feel this person has a friendly relationship with you, as this is seen as a personal question, and can be seen as superficial.

I amde this mistake with my landlord. I had rented from him for a year at this point, paid rent promptly and not had a single problem. So I thought I could be friendly.
Me: Guten Abend Herr Walter, hier ist Parlo Americano. Wie geht es Ihnen?
(Good Evening Mr. Walter. This is Parlo Americano. How are you?)
Him: Wie mir es geht? Warum?
(How am I? Why?)
Me: um um Ich habe Sie für eine lange Zeit nicht gesehen. Ich möchte nur wegen Ihnen nachfragen. um um
in incorrect german (um um I haven't seen you for a long time. And I just wanted to inquire about you. um um)

But I think the phone is more to the point and there's no real small talk at the beginning.

[gouda]

Originally posted by Mycroft Holmes
.......

Here in the Netherlands it's usually "Met <last name>" or "Met <full name>".

Personally, I prefer the Italian phone greeting of "Pronto?". I like "Pronto?" too!

I have several Dutch friends, and almost all answer the phone with a "Mij <insert first name>", irrespective of whether it's a personal call or a business call. However, they all work in Germany and gradually have begun answering the phone ze German way, i.e. "<company name>, <last name>".

Incidentally, when I was working in Germany I started off answering with a simple "Hallo". That slowly changed to "Audi, Ingolstadt, gouda hier". That's how all my colleagues answered the phone, and it sorta rubbed off on me. Now back in India, it's the good 'ol "Hello"

[Mops]

I sometimes hear "Hallo" when calling someone here in Germany - mostly from younger people who want to emphasize informality - or perhaps people who are young enough not to have yet had the mortifying experience of talking at length to someone you had mistook for someone else.

As someone used to the 'normal' greeting mode being greeted with 'Hallo' is a bit disconcerting to me because I am mentally prepared to take care of the 'make sure of who you are talking to' part right at the beginning. I am very much in favour of answering the telephone with your name because this way when the calling person speaks for the first time you have both parties' identities established and can get down to business.

'Normal' mode of greeting at the telephone, Mr. Anton Schmidt taking the call, assuming he does not recognize the caller's number:

on the private phone: Schmidt {nothing | Hallo | Guten Tag | regional greeting },
on the private phone when needed to avoid ambiguity: Anton Schmidt {nothing | Hallo | Guten Tag | regional greeting }
answering someone else's private phone: Bei Maier, Schmidt am Apparat.
on the office phone: Schulz AG, Schmidt, {nothing | Guten Tag | regional greeting }
answering someone else's office phone: Schulz AG, Schmidt, Apparat Maier, {nothing | Guten Tag | regional greeting }