Can you answer the phone for me?

Question

I would like to know if this translation is correct:

Can you answer the phone for me?

¿Puedes contestar el teléfono por mí?

Then, would it be correct "for me"?

Answer 1

Yes Nila, if you are busy and cannot pick up the phone you could say "Can you answer the phone for me?" or "Can you pick up the phone for me?"

beat me by 16 seconds...but I couldn't have said it better myself. - DJ_Huero, Jan 4, 2010

hehe :) - 003487d6, Jan 4, 2010

Answer 2

Yes it is correct in English.

The most common expression is probably "Could you get that?" if the phone is ringing and you both can hear it.

Answer 3

Proper: Por favor, ¿puedes contestar el teléfono por mí?

Familiar Por favor, ¿puedes contestarlo?

I would leave the "por" in the first. It's the usual way I would say it. There is also a small mistake in the second. It's missing an "r".

Yea, I wasn't sure whether por or para on that on. That r thing was a typo. =) - DJ_Huero, Jan 4, 2010

Answer 4

Can you answer the phone for me?

Can you pick up the phone for me?

Can you get that?

Here "Get" means "coger", I suppose. I mean, it has the same meaning as "pick up" (more or less). Is that?

"Yes" to all. - samdie, Jan 5, 2010

Answer 5

I think podrias would be more appropriate the more I think about it, but yes, that looks right in English, if you're translating it to English. =)

Answer 6

I need to know if the translation in English is correct.

Answer 7

I would say,

Proper: Por favor, ¿puedes contestar el teléfono por mi?

Familiar Por favor, ¿puedes contestarlo?

In my opinion, the difference is, if I know the person and the phone is ringing, they're obviously going to be able to hear it, so they'll know what I'm talking about when I just ask them to answer it. Agree?

Also a co-worker of mine (who is Mexican) suggested this:

"¿Podrías contestar el teléfono, por favor?"