I have a few questions about using the telephone in spanish. First, is it common to use "Hola" like we use "Hello" in the states when answering the phone? Also, what is the most common (familiar) way to ask to speak to a certain person? How does one ask "Who is speaking please?" Is it Quien habla,por favor? thx :roll:

*¿Aló?* is probably the most common way of answering a phone in Spanish. If say you wanted to ask for Pablo you could say... *¿Puedo hablar con Pablo por favor?* - Could I talk to Pablo please? or you could simply say.. *¿Esta Pablo ahí por favor?* - Is Pablo there please? After you've been asked if Pablo is there and you want to know who is asking for him you could say... *¿Quien habla?* - Who is talking? or *¿Me puede decir quien lo llama?* - Can you tell me who is calling him?. If you just want to know who it is because you don't recognise the voice you can say... *¿Quien es?*, this is quite a sharp question but it is considered standard when you are on the phone. Of course if you want to be more polite you can add "*por favor*" after everything... which in many situations it’s a good idea as in South America you can never be too polite. ¡Buena suerte! Mauricio.

If you want to announce who is calling before they ask...what is the most common way to do this? Hola, __soy__ Esteban, por favor puedo hablar con Noemi? or Hola, __me llamo__.....

Hi Mamide2, You can use both the ways you mentioned, it really depends who you are ringing. Say you are calling a friend, you can use: Hola, soy Mauricio ¿puedo hablar con.... por favor? This is a polite but informal way of saying it. You could change the "soy"(i am) for "es"(it's) it would makes no difference. If you wanted to sound more formal say when you ring up a business and you are looking for the boss you could say... Buenos dias, me llamo Mauricio, ¿puedo hablar con el señor ..... por favor? I Hope that helps. Mauricio

This is an old thread, but let me add a little bit to what's already been said. As for answering the phone, another option is "Bueno", which is very common in Mexico. I sit across from a Colombiano in the office, and I hear him answer his phone with "Hello" and "Hola" all the time. It's really regional, and you'll pick up on what the locals use very quickly. There are no hard and fast rules. In fact, if I remember correctly, I was in Mexico and heard someone answered "Hello", and then proceeded to talk in Spanish. Another way to ask to speak with someone is "Se encuentra [name]". That's more formal, more polite. And as Mauricio points out, you can use "¿Esta Pablo ahí?", and you can shorten that to "¿Esta Pablo?". And if you call someone and they ask you "¿Quien habla?, you can answer with "Soy [name]" or "Hablo [name]".