Starting and ending a phone call
A short call has three steps: ask for the person, say who you are, then ask your question. On the phone, English uses it’s or this is, not I am: “Hi, it’s Maya.”
- “Hello. Can I speak to Owen, please?” (polite, fine with anyone)
- “Is Owen there, please?” (friendly)
- “Speaking.” = I’m the person you asked for. “This is Owen.” and “That’s me.” work too.
- “Sorry, can you say that again?” (when you didn’t hear)
- Ending: “Great. See you then.” / “See you on Friday.” / “Bye.”
A short call to check a date
Below, a caller called Maya phones her friend Owen about a film night. Listen for the three steps and the date, then say Maya’s lines with your own name and another event.
Maya Hello. Can I speak to Owen, please?
Owen Speaking.
Maya Hi. It's Maya. What's the date of the film night?
Owen It's Friday the twenty-third of October.
Maya Great. See you then.
Owen Bye.
The twelve months, with in
In English, months always start with a capital letter, and they take in: “The trip is in July.” The cards above play July to December and some date numbers: listen, then repeat.
- January, February, March, April, May, June
- July, August, September, October, November, December
- Stress: January and February at the start, September to December on the second syllable, July at the end (ju-LY), unlike one-syllable June.
Ordinal numbers: first to thirty-first
Dates use ordinal numbers: first, second, third, not one, two, three. Most add -th, and in long numbers only the last part changes.
- 1st first, 2nd second, 3rd third: these three are irregular.
- 4th fourth, 7th seventh … 19th nineteenth: add -th.
- Spelling: fifth, eighth (one t), ninth (no e), twelfth; twentieth and thirtieth (y becomes ie).
- 21st twenty-first, 22nd twenty-second, 23rd twenty-third, 31st thirty-first.
- On the phone, thirteenth and thirtieth sound close; if you’re not sure, ask “The thirteenth or the thirtieth?”
Saying a date and asking for one
Dates are often written with a plain number, but people say the ordinal. British English usually puts the day first; American English puts the month first.
- 23 October: “the twenty-third of October” or “October the twenty-third” (British).
- October 23: “October twenty-third” (American).
- On for days and dates, at for clock times: “on Friday”, “on the twenty-first”, “at seven”.
- Asking: “What’s the date today?” “When is the film night?” – “It’s on Friday the twenty-third.”
- 10/11 is 10 November in the UK but October 11 in the US, so on the phone, say the month.
Weekend and film plans: questions with do
Before fixing a date, people often ask about free time. Keep this order: question word, do, the person, the verb. “What do you do at the weekend?” – “I meet friends and go to the cinema.” Americans say on the weekend.
- “Where do you go?” – “I go to the beach.”
- “Who do you go with?” – “I usually go with friends.”
- “What do you do at the weekend?” asks about habits; for this week’s plan, ask “What are you doing this weekend?”
- Film types: a comedy, a drama, an action film, a horror film, a science-fiction film, an animation, a western.
Common mistakes
Each one has a quick fix:
- “October twenty-three.” → “October twenty-third.”
- “in Friday”, “on October” → “on Friday”, “in October”.
- “Hello, I am Maya.” to a friend sounds like a first meeting → “Hi, it’s Maya.”
- “Where you go?” → “Where do you go?”
- “fiveth”, “twentyth” → “fifth”, “twentieth”.
A 10-minute daily practice routine
Say everything out loud, a little every day.
- 2 minutes: play the call, pause after each line and repeat it; then say only Maya’s part.
- 2 minutes: say the months in order, then a full date: “It’s Tuesday the second of June.”
- 3 minutes: read five dates from your calendar aloud with the weekday.
- 3 minutes: make the call again with a new name, event or date. Record it and check the -st, -nd, -rd and -th endings.
What comes next
Next, add times and invitations: “The film starts at half past seven.” “Can you come on Saturday?” “Do you like comedies?” Can and like help you choose an activity together. Then practise habits versus today: “I usually stay at home, but today I’m going out.”