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Lesson 67 / Phone calls & messages
5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.
Call you, realize the connection error and arrange to respond when you have information.
Match words to pictures →Play What is She/He doing? →
A randomly assigned, fixed male or female synthetic voice for each phrase or sentence · Slow playback at 0.7× preserves pitch.
I will call up my friend to ask about the club.
I will call up my friend to ask about the club.
Dad called our cousins up to arrange a visit.
Dad called our cousins up to arrange a visit.
In the lesson, it means calling, close to the meaning “phone someone”. Pronoun in the middle: “call him up”.
Cambridge Dictionary · call up
Your voice is breaking up. I cannot hear every word.
Your voice is breaking up. I cannot hear every word.
The signal broke up while we were talking.
The signal broke up while we were talking.
The call is still connected but the sound is unclear or interrupted. Past tense “broke”; Do not use the meaning of farewell in this lesson.
Cambridge Dictionary · break up
I will check the time and get back to you this afternoon.
I will check the time and get back to you this afternoon.
The teacher got back to us with the details.
The teacher got back to us with the details.
In the lesson, it is to reply or report information later, not just return to a topic. Past tense “got”.
We were cut off in the middle of our call.
We were cut off in the middle of our call.
The call got cut off, so I called again.
The call got cut off, so I called again.
In the song, the connection is broken, different from the flickering sound in "break up". The past and participle are both “cut”.
We sent off the letter before lunch.
We sent off the letter before lunch.
Send the form off when you have checked it.
Send the form off when you have checked it.
Used for sending something, usually a letter or document. Different from seeing someone off in a "see off". Past tense “sent”.
The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 19, 14, 50, 31, 113. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.
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OBSERVE · UNDERSTAND · MATCH
Drag a wire from the dot beside a phrase to the dot beside its matching picture. You can also tap a phrase, then a picture. Drag again to change a pair before checking.
Read the picture descriptions for more context. Similar expressions are accepted when they fit the particular scene.
Vy calls her friend on the phone, with Minh next to her.
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Vy had difficulty hearing because the voice on the phone was interrupted.
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Vy looks at the calendar to find information and then promises to get back to you.
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Vy looks down at the phone screen showing a disconnected-call symbol.
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Vy put the letter she had prepared in the mailbox with Minh.
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Choose a phrase to begin.
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Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.
I called up the organiser, but the sound kept breaking up.
I called up the organiser, but the sound kept breaking up.
Were you cut off before you could confirm the time?
Were you cut off before you could confirm the time?
Yes. I will get back to her from a quieter place.
Yes. I will get back to her from a quieter place.
“Call up” here means phone someone; “break up” describes interrupted sound or reception. The same expression can have a different meaning in relationships.
Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.
The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.
A caller hears missing words during a phone conversation. The connection then ends before an answer is given.
Describe the interrupted sound.
The caller’s voice is breaking up.
Words dropping out of the call mean the voice is “breaking up”; this is not a relationship ending.
Correct: I will call up her from another phone.
I will call her up from another phone.
“Her” is the person being called and goes between “call” and “up”; keep the plan to use another phone.
Write a promise to respond later.
I will get back to you once I have a better connection.
“Get back to you once…” promises a response after the connection improves, rather than claiming an answer now.
The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.
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