Answering the phone in Spanish: what to say first in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina
The phone rings, you cannot see the other person, and you have to answer at once. It is some of the hardest Spanish there is, and the first word varies most. In Mexico people answer ¿bueno?, in Spain ¿diga?, in Colombia ¿aló?, in Argentina ¿hola?. This page has the whole call, from the first word to the last, with what the other person will say to you and the vocabulary for everything a phone does.
The first word
There is no neutral answer. Every country has its own. If you use the wrong one, people understand you and know at once that you are not from there.
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Answering a call | ¿Bueno? | ¿Diga? / ¿Dígame? / ¿Sí? | ¿Aló? | ¿Hola? / ¿Sí? |
| Answering at work | Buenos días, [company], ¿en qué le puedo ayudar? | [Company], buenos días, ¿dígame? | [Company], buenos días, ¿con quién tengo el gusto? | [Company], buen día, ¿en qué puedo ayudarlo? |
| When they answer and you called | ¿Bueno? ¿Está Ana? | Hola, ¿está Ana? | Aló, buenas, ¿se encuentra Ana? | Hola, ¿está Ana? |
¿Bueno? is Mexican and it is only for the phone. Nobody opens a door with it. It goes back to the early days of Mexican telephony, and a Mexican will answer bueno even to a mobile with the caller’s name on the screen.
¿Diga? and ¿dígame? sound abrupt in translation (“speak”, “speak to me”) and are not. They are the standard Spanish answer, especially on a landline or at a business. On a mobile, a Spaniard who sees your name will often just say ¿Sí? or Hola.
¿Aló? is the Colombian answer, and people in Peru and Chile use it too. It is also what everyone says when the line goes quiet and they want to know whether you are still there, in every country.
Argentines answer ¿Hola? with a question in the voice. At work they open a call with buen día, which in Argentina is at least as common as buenos días.
Who is calling
The question you will be asked, and how to say who you are.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Who’s calling? | ¿Quién habla? | Mexico, Colombia, Argentina |
| Who’s calling, please? | ¿De parte de quién? | Spain, and formal everywhere |
| Who am I speaking to? | ¿Con quién hablo? | Colombia, and polite everywhere |
| May I ask who’s calling? | ¿Con quién tengo el gusto? | Colombia, formal and warm |
| It’s Ana | Habla Ana. (Mexico, Colombia) / Soy Ana. (Spain, Argentina) | |
| Is Ana there? | ¿Está Ana? | Casual |
| Is Ana available? | ¿Se encuentra Ana? | Formal, common in Colombia and Mexico |
| May I speak to Ana? | ¿Puedo hablar con Ana? | Everywhere |
| Speaking | Con ella. / Con él. | The answer when it is you |
Con ella is the answer learners rarely guess. Someone asks ¿está Ana? and Ana says con ella, “with her”, meaning you are already speaking to her. A man says con él.
Saying you are learning
Say it early. People then slow down for the rest of the call without being asked twice.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I’m learning Spanish | Estoy aprendiendo español. | |
| Could you speak more slowly? | ¿Puede hablar más despacio, por favor? | usted |
| Could you speak more slowly? | ¿Podés hablar más despacio? | Argentina, vos |
| Sorry, could you repeat that? | Perdón, ¿me lo repite? | usted |
| I didn’t understand | No entendí. / No le entendí. (Mexico) | |
| How do you write it? | ¿Cómo se escribe? | |
| Can you write to me instead? | ¿Me lo puede escribir por WhatsApp? | A normal request |
On the phone, ask for the name and the number in writing. ¿Me lo manda por WhatsApp? is a normal request in all four countries, and staff at businesses in Mexico and Colombia often prefer it.
Taking and leaving a message
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| He’s not in | No está. / No se encuentra. | |
| Can I take a message? | ¿Le puedo tomar un mensaje? | Mexico, Colombia |
| Do you want to leave a message? | ¿Quiere dejar un recado? | Spain, Mexico |
| Can I leave a message? | ¿Le puedo dejar un mensaje? | Everywhere |
| Tell him Ana called | Dígale que llamó Ana. | usted |
| Ask him to call me back | ¿Le puede decir que me devuelva la llamada? | |
| Don’t hang up | No cuelgue. | |
| I’ll put you through | Le paso. (Spain, Argentina) / Le comunico. (Mexico, Colombia) |
Recado is the word for a message left with a person in Spain and Mexico. Mensaje is the word everywhere and is safe. In Colombia, razón also means a spoken message left with someone: déjele la razón, leave word with him.
Numbers on the phone
Numbers are hard to catch on a bad line. Read them slowly and repeat them back: se lo repito, let me read it back, then ¿correcto? The word for the area code changes by country: la lada in Mexico, el prefijo in Spain, el indicativo in Colombia, la característica in Argentina. To ask the other person to slow down on a number, say número por número, por favor.
Wrong number
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong number | Número equivocado. | |
| I think you have the wrong number | Creo que se equivocó de número. | Mexico, Colombia, Argentina |
| I think you have the wrong number | Creo que se ha equivocado de número. | Spain, which uses the compound past for today |
| Sorry to bother you | Disculpe la molestia. | The standard sign-off after a wrong number |
Cold sales calls are common in Spain and Mexico. You end one politely with No me interesa, gracias, and with por favor, no me vuelva a llamar you ask them to stop.
A bad line
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I can’t hear you | No te escucho. / No te oigo. | Spain prefers oigo, Latin America escucho |
| You’re breaking up | Se corta. / Se entrecorta. | |
| The call dropped | Se cortó la llamada. | |
| There’s a lot of noise | Hay mucho ruido. | |
| Hello? Are you there? | ¿Aló? ¿Sigues ahí? | ¿Aló? works for this everywhere |
| I have no signal | No tengo señal. | Mexico, Colombia, Argentina |
| I have no coverage | No tengo cobertura. | Spain |
| I’m running out of battery | Me estoy quedando sin batería. | |
| I’ll call you back | Te vuelvo a llamar. / Te llamo en un rato. |
Calling a business or a restaurant
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I’d like to book a table | Quisiera hacer una reserva. | Spain, Colombia, Argentina |
| I’d like to book a table | Quisiera hacer una reservación. | Mexico |
| For two, tonight at nine, under García | Para dos personas, hoy a las nueve, a nombre de García. | |
| What time do you open? | ¿A qué hora abren? | |
| Do you deliver? | ¿Hacen domicilios? | Colombia |
| Do you deliver? | ¿Tienen servicio a domicilio? | Mexico, Spain, Argentina |
Staff at businesses in Mexico and Colombia answer with a scripted greeting and a name, then ¿en qué le puedo ayudar? In Spain the answer is shorter, often just the company name and dígame. Argentines use buen día and move to vos quickly unless the call is formal.
Phone menus sound the same in all four. Marque uno para ventas, dos para soporte. Espere en línea, hold. Todos nuestros asesores están ocupados. The word for the human at the other end is un asesor, un agente or un operador.
Calling back, and calling someone’s mobile
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I’ll call you | Te llamo. | Everywhere |
| I’ll call you | Te marco. | Mexico, very common |
| I’ll ring you | Te timbro. | Colombia |
| I’ll give you a ring | Te doy un toque. | Spain, means a quick call or a deliberate missed call |
| Call me | Llámame. / Márcame. (Mexico) / Llamame. (Argentina, vos) | Argentina stresses the middle syllable, so no accent is written |
| I’ll text you | Te escribo. | The most natural everywhere |
| I’ll send you a voice note | Te mando un audio. | |
| Answer! | ¡Contesta! / ¡Atendé! (Argentina) | Argentina uses atender for answering a call |
Atender is the Argentine verb for picking up: nadie atiende, nobody is answering. In Mexico, Spain and Colombia the verb is contestar.
The words for phone things
| English | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| mobile phone | el celular (Mexico, Colombia, Argentina) / el móvil (Spain) | |
| to answer | contestar / atender (Argentina) | |
| to hang up | colgar | |
| missed call | una llamada perdida | |
| voicemail | el buzón de voz | |
| answering machine | el contestador | Spain, for a landline machine |
| speaker | el altavoz | Te pongo en altavoz, you are on speaker |
| the line is busy | está ocupado / está comunicando (Spain) | |
| it’s ringing | está sonando / está timbrando (Colombia) | |
| to call back | devolver la llamada |
Ending the call
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrapping up | Bueno, pues… | Venga, pues nada… | Bueno, listo. | Bueno, dale. |
| Thank you | Muchas gracias. | Muchas gracias. | Muchas gracias, muy amable. | Gracias, bárbaro. |
| Goodbye | Que estés bien. Bye. | Hasta luego. Un beso. | Que esté muy bien. Feliz día. | Chau, besos. |
| To a business | Gracias, hasta luego. | Gracias, hasta luego. | Muy amable, que tenga buen día. | Gracias, hasta luego. |
Venga in Spain is the signal that the call is finishing, and it comes before the goodbye, not after. Colombians say Bueno, listo at the same point, and Argentines say dale. Mexicans often end a friendly call with bye, pronounced the English way, after the Spanish goodbye.
Colombians close a call with a wish: que esté muy bien, feliz día, que le vaya bien. Answering with igualmente, likewise, is enough.
What you will hear
- ¿Bueno? Someone in Mexico picking up.
- ¿De parte de quién? Who shall I say is calling.
- Un momento, no cuelgue. One moment, hold the line.
- En este momento no se encuentra. He is not here right now.
- Le comunico con el área correspondiente. I’ll transfer you to the right department.
- Su llamada es muy importante para nosotros. The hold message, word for word, in all four countries.
- Deje su mensaje después del tono. Leave your message after the tone.
- ¿Me confirma su nombre completo? Can you confirm your full name.
- ¿Me regala su número de cédula? Someone in Colombia asking for your ID number.
Ten sentences you can say tomorrow
- ¿Bueno? ¿Quién habla? Hello? Who’s calling? (Mexico)
- Hola, buenas. ¿Está Ana? De parte de Jon. Hi. Is Ana there? It’s Jon. (Spain)
- Aló, buenos días. ¿Se encuentra el doctor Ramírez? Hello, good morning. Is Dr Ramírez available? (Colombia)
- Hola, ¿podés hablar ahora? Hi, can you talk right now? (Argentina)
- Estoy aprendiendo español. ¿Puede hablar más despacio, por favor? I’m learning Spanish. Could you speak more slowly?
- Perdón, no le entendí. ¿Me lo repite? Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you say it again?
- Se corta. Te vuelvo a llamar en un minuto. You’re breaking up. I’ll call you back in a minute.
- Creo que se equivocó de número. Disculpe la molestia. I think you have the wrong number. Sorry to bother you.
- Quisiera hacer una reservación para dos, hoy a las nueve, a nombre de García. I’d like a table for two tonight at nine, under García. (Mexico)
- Bueno, muchas gracias. Que esté muy bien. Right, thank you very much. Have a good one. (Colombia)
Questions people ask
Why do Mexicans say “bueno” on the phone? The usual explanation is that early Mexican operators said it to confirm the line was good. It stuck, and it is now the normal way to answer the phone in Mexico. As a greeting it is used on the phone only.
Is “¿diga?” rude in Spain? No. It is neutral and extremely common, especially at a business or on a landline. Dígame is the slightly softer version, and ¿sí? is what most people say to a call from a saved contact.
Can I just say “hola” when I answer? In Argentina, yes, that is the normal answer. In the other three it will be understood and will sound foreign. People in Mexico expect bueno, in Colombia aló, in Spain diga or sí.
How do I say “speaking” when they ask for me? Con él if you are a man, con ella if you are a woman. You can also say Sí, soy yo, which is easier to remember.
What is the difference between “recado” and “mensaje”? Recado is a message left with a person, and it is common in Spain and Mexico. Mensaje is both a spoken message and a text, and it is understood everywhere. In Colombia people also say razón for a spoken message.
How do I ask someone to send it in writing? ¿Me lo puede mandar por WhatsApp? WhatsApp is the default channel for business and personal contact in all four countries, and asking for it is normal.
What do I say when the line is bad? No te escucho, se corta. Then te vuelvo a llamar, and hang up.
How do I say a phone number? Read it in pairs where the local habit is pairs, and otherwise one digit at a time. With Número por número, por favor you ask the other person to do the same, and repeating it back with ¿correcto? is standard practice.
Practise these words
llamar, marcar, contestar, colgar, escuchar, repetir, despacio, mensaje, recado, número, equivocarse, señal, esperar. Vozelu is a free website for practising Spanish, and it has each of these. You see a sentence with one word missing, you type the word, and a native voice reads the sentence back. Practise the words on this page.