(In American English people use this for both people, and say Who
is this?)
If the phone is answered by someone other than the person you
want to speak to, say:
Could I speak to . . . ?
or Is . . . there, please?
To tell the other person who you are, say:
It’s . . .
or It’s . . . speaking
If the person you want to speak to isn’t there, you can say either:
OK, I’ll phone again later
or Could you get him/her to phone me back?
You can use ring instead of phone in these two sentences as well.
If someone phones you and asks to talk to someone else, they might
say:
Is . . . there?
or Could I speak to . . . ?
and you can say:
Can I ask who’s calling?
They will say:
Yes, it’s . . .
Exercise 1
Match the halves of the sentences to make phrases for phone
conversations.
1 Who am I a ask who’s calling?
2 Who is b there?
3 Can I c speaking to?
4 Is Miranda d her to phone back?
84
5 It’s Adrian e John Smith?
6 Could you get f that?

are given to).
Notice that we place the indirect object pronouns before the direct
object, not after:
Give me the tickets, please
not ‘Give the tickets me, please
’
And we can put nouns and names in this special position:
Give Dave
the tickets (= to Dave)
Give the ticket collector
the tickets (= to the ticket collector)
1111
2
3
4
5
6
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10
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1211
13
14
15
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18
19

’
Give the tickets to me not ‘Give to me the tickets
’
Give Dave the tickets not ‘Give the tickets Dave
’
Give the tickets to Dave not ‘Give to Dave the tickets
’
Exercise 2
Complete the answers to the questions, using pronouns. The first is
done for you.
1 What is Suzie showing Fiona?
She’s showing her her new watch.
2 What is James going to give Su?
________________ a birthday present.
3 Where is Dave buying the food?
________________ in the local shop.
4 When do your parents use the car?
________________ every day.
5 Where does Alan keep his books?
________________ on the shelf.
6 When is your brother buying his new jeans?
________________ today.
7 When is Jenny picking up the kids?
________________ this afternoon.
8 What is Jenny giving James?
________________ a cup of tea.
Dialogue 3
Cynthia phones to speak to Bob at work. But she gets through to his
secretary.
C

In English we use the
PRESENT SIMPLE
to mean the
FUTURE
after:
when
before
as soon as
until/till
Here are some more examples:
Don’t forget to lock the door when you leave
Let’s do the washing-up before Dave comes back
Phone us as soon as you hear any news
Let’s stay here until the rains stops
Remember to use the present simple, not the present continuous,
with this type of word:
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• at the moment means ‘now’
• get back to me means ‘phone me back’
. . . until the rain stops
not ‘until the rain is stopping
’
. . . when you leave
not ‘when you’re leaving
’
Learn the phrase as soon as possible. You will often hear people
use the abbreviation as well:
a.s.a.p. (or asap) /ε εs ε `pi:/
both in writing and when speaking:
Can you get back to me a.s.a.p.?
Exercise 3
Unscramble the sentences.
1 stops wait the let’s until rain
2 soon as us get phone as you back
3 us to arrive when forget you don’t ring
4 them see children the before presents the hide let’s
5 you you could leave the shut when door ?
6 souvenirs before some home let’s go buy we
Exercise 4
Make the correct choice from the expressions in brackets to
complete the sentences. The first one is done for you.
1 Let’s wait (till/as soon as
) the weather gets better.
2 Let’s go in the garden (before/when) the weather gets
better.
3 Could you shut the door (until/when) you leave?
4 Phone us (as soon as/until) you arrive.