My co-worker needs to know what they say in Germany when they answer the phone. Can anyone help?
IIRC from High School German 25 years ago, Herr Schaefer told it was…“ALL-O”
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.
It is much more common in continental Europe (including Germany) to state your name when you answer the phone.
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.
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.
Then you say something like “Darf Ich bitte Helmut sprechen?”
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).
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”.
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!
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.
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.
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”…
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?”.
Speaking as a native German:
[ul]
[li]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[/li][li]The correct spelling for the English word “hello” in German is “hallo”, not “allo”, the “h” is pronounced.[/li][li]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.[/li][/ul]
Tschüß, Wonko
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!
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.
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”. 
Yep, it’s kind of like an English person answering the phone with “Fanny, fanny”, or an American answering with “Pussy, pussy”.