¿hola, quién habla?
/ˈola ˈkjen ˈabla/word by word
The English phrase "hello, who is this?" is translated into Spanish as ¿hola, quién habla?
¿hola, quién habla? is the standard way to ask for a caller's identity when you answer a telephone call.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "hello, who speaks?"
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase ¿quién habla?, the verb habla is in the third-person singular form. This is used to ask "who is the person speaking" without the need for a subject pronoun.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈola ˈkjen ˈabla/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use ¿quién es? to ask who is on the phone. In Spanish, it is much more natural to use ¿quién habla?
Did you know?
- The word habla in this context shares a common ancestor with the Latin word fābula, which is the root for the English word 'fable'.
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, people answer the phone with ¿dígame? or ¿aló?, though ¿hola, quién habla? is the standard way to ask for a name.
- While ¿quién habla? is used for the phone, asking ¿quién es? when someone knocks on a door is perfectly normal and expected.
Examples in context
- ¡Hola, ¿quién habla?Hello, who is this?
- Perdón, ¿con quién estoy hablando?Excuse me, with whom am I speaking?
- Perdón, ¿hola, quién habla?Excuse me, hello, who is this?
Example conversation
Mateo answers a call from an unknown number.
- Mateo¿Hola, quién habla?Hello, who is this?
- SofíaHola, soy Sofía.Hello, this is Sofia.
- MateoAh, hola Sofía.Oh, hello Sofia.
- Sofía¿Tienes un momento?Do you have a moment?
