Leaving a message can feel intimidating – especially when you’re doing it in a foreign language. How formal you need to be will also depend on who you’re calling and why.
This guide focuses on more formal situations, such as calling someone you don’t know well, a company or an institution, or when you need help or information.
The simplest structure to follow is: greeting, who you are, why you are calling / what you need the person to do, goodbye.
Greeting
Politeness is very important in German, so always start with a greeting. Common options include:
Guten Tag – Good day (safe and formal)
Guten Morgen – Good morning
Guten Abend – Good evening
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Say who you are
After the greeting, briefly introduce yourself. Common phrases include:
Hier ist … – This is [your name]
Mein Name ist … – My name is …
Ich bin [Ihr Name] von [Firma] – I’m [your name] from [company]
Bear in mind that in formal or business contexts, Germans typically introduce themselves using their surname only on the telephone. You might therefore say:
Guten Tag. Hier ist Smith von Siemens.
But in more informal situations – such as calling the parents of a child your son or daughter has recently made friends with to arrange a playdate – it would obviously be more natural to use your first name.
Say why you’re calling
Clearly and politely state the reason for your call:
Ich rufe Sie an wegen … – I’m calling you about …
Ich rufe Sie an, um … – I’m calling to …
Es geht um … – It’s regarding …
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Ask the person to call you back
To request a call back, you can say:
Könnten Sie mich bitte zurückrufen? – Could you please call me back?
Bitte rufen Sie mich unter der folgenden Nummer zurück … – Please call me back at the following number …
When giving your phone number, speak slowly and clearly. In Germany, the area code or mobile prefix is often said as one block, followed by the remaining numbers in pairs.
This means that 0176 12 34 56 78 would typically be spoken as: null eins sieben sechs – eins zwei – drei vier – fünf sechs – sieben acht.
But don’t forget that many people in Germany pronounce zwei (two) as zwo, especially on the phone, in order to avoid confusion with drei (three).
Ending the message
Finish with a polite closing, such as:
Vielen Dank, auf Wiederhören – Thank you, goodbye
Vielen Dank und einen schönen Tag – Thank you and have a nice day
Einen schönen Abend – Have a nice evening
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Example of a full voicemail message
Guten Tag, mein Name ist [Name]. Ich rufe Sie wegen unseres Termins an. Könnten Sie mich bitte unter der folgenden Nummer zurückrufen? Null eins sieben sechs – eins fünf – drei vier – fünf sechs – zwo acht. Vielen Dank und auf Wiederhören.
Hello, my name is [Name]. I’m calling regarding our appointment. Could you please call me back at the following number? 0176 15 34 56 28. Thank you very much and goodbye.
This article was adapted from one originally published by The Local France. German language translations and tips were provided by Tom Pugh.
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