How to Give Your Phone Number

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Japanese by JapanesePod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to give your phone number in Japanese.

For example, "My phone number is 090-0629-8812." is

Megumi Sasaki: わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0629-8812です。

Megumi Sasaki is at the city hall registering her address.

A civil servant is asking for her phone number.

Before you hear their conversation, let’s preview some of its key components.

でんわばんごう (denwa bangō)

"phone number"

でんわばんごう (enunciated)

でんわばんごう

Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response.

Note: the speakers in this conversation are using polite Japanese.

Ready?

ささきさん、でんわばんごうをおねがいします。

(Sasaki-san, denwa bangō o onegai shimasu.)

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0629-8812です。

(Watashi no denwa bangō wa 090 no 0629 no 8812 desu.)

Once more with the English translation.

ささきさん、でんわばんごうをおねがいします。

"Ms. Sasaki, your phone number, please."

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0629-8812です。

"My phone number is 090-0629-8812.."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how the civil servant says,

"Mrs. Sasaki, your phone number, please."

ささきさん、でんわばんごうをおねがいします。

(Sasaki-san, denwa bangō o onegai shimasu.)

First is ささきさん, Ms. Sasaki. ささきさん.

This starts with Megumi's family name, ささき, "Sasaki." ささき. ささき.

After this is さん, a polite suffix attached to a person's name. さ-ん. さん.

This suffix can be used with any gender, and it translates as "Ms." in Megumi's case.

Together, it's ささきさん, "Ms. Sasaki." ささきさん.

Next is でんわばんごう, "phone number." でんわばんごう.

This starts with でんわ, "phone." で-ん-わ. でんわ.

Next is ばんごう, "number." ば-ん-ご-う. ばんごう.

Together, it's でんわばんごう. "Phone number." でんわばんごう.

Remember this because you'll see it again in Megumi's response.

Next is を, the object-marking particle. を. を

Think of を as a marker for the word or phrase receiving the action of the sentence. In this sentence, it marks でんわばんごう, "phone number," as the object of the request.

Last is おねがいします, "please." お-ね-が-い-し-ま-す. おねがいします.

All together, it's ささきさん、でんわばんごうをおねがいします。This literally means, "Ms. Sasaki, phone number, please," but it translates as, "Mrs. Sasaki, your phone number, please."

ささきさん、でんわばんごうをおねがいします。

Note, the "your" in "your phone number" is understood from context, as it’s a two-person conversation. In Japanese, it’s common to omit such understood information.

Remember this request. You'll hear it again later in this lesson.

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Megumi says,

"My phone number is 090-0629-8812.."

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0629-8812です。

First is わたしの, "my." わたしの.

This starts with the word, わたし. "I." わ-た-し. わたし.

After this is の, the possessive-marking particle. の. の.

Think of の as a way to indicate possession. The word it follows possesses the thing that comes after it. In this sentence, it marks わたし, "I," as the possessor.

Together, わたしの. "My." わたしの.

Next, do you remember how to say "phone number?"

でんわばんごう. "Phone number." でんわばんごう.

Together, it’s わたしのでんわばんごう, "my phone number." わたしのでんわばんごう.

After this is は, the topic-marking particle. は. は.

It marks わたしのでんわばんごう, "my phone number," as the topic of the sentence. Think of it like "as for" in the expression "as for my phone number."

Next is Megumi's phone number, 090-0629-8812. 090-0629-8812.

Notice how Megumi says her phone number:

First, she says each number independently instead of in groups of two or more digits.

Second, in Japanese, hyphens are read as no.

ゼロ, きゅう, ゼロ, の.

Last is です. In this case, it's like the "is" in "my phone number is." It's a linking verb. です.

All together, it's わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0629-8812です. This literally means, "As for my phone number, 090-0629-8812 is," but it translates as "My phone number is 090-0629-8812."

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0629-8812です。

The pattern is

わたしのでんわばんごうは PHONE NUMBER です。

"My phone number is PHONE NUMBER."

わたしのでんわばんごうは PHONE NUMBER です。

To use this pattern, simply replace the phone number placeholder with your phone number.

Imagine your phone number is 03-1212-3434. ゼロ-さん-の-いち-に-いち-に -の-さん-よん-さん-よん. ゼロさんのいちにいちにのさんよんさんよん.

Say

"My phone number is 03-1212-3434."

Ready?

わたしのでんわばんごうは 03-1212-3434 です。

"My phone number is 03-1212-3434."

わたしのでんわばんごうは 03-1212-3434 です。

Japanese has several numbers that sound alike, such as the number 7, しち, and the number one, いち.

To avoid confusion, Japanese users often use alternative pronunciations when giving the digits of a phone number.

The number "four," shi, tends to be pronounced yon;

"seven," shichi, tends to be pronounced nana; and

"nine," ku, tends to be pronounced kyū.

Again, the pattern is

わたしのでんわばんごうは PHONE NUMBER です。

"My phone number is PHONE NUMBER."

わたしのでんわばんごうは PHONE NUMBER です。

Let's look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0629-8812です。

"My phone number is 090-0629-8812."

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0629-8812です。

わたしのでんわばんごうは 03-1212-3434です。

"My phone number is 03-1212-3434."

わたしのでんわばんごうは 03-1212-3434です。

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0003-9004です。

"My phone number is 090-0003-9004."

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0003-9004です。

わたしのでんわばんごうは 03-1234-5678です。

"My phone number is 03-1234-5678."

わたしのでんわばんごうは 03-1234-5678です。

でんわばんごうは 03-2255-6677 です。

"The phone number is 03-2255-6677."

でんわばんごうは 03-2255-6677 です。

Did you notice the last speaker omitted わたしの?

でんわばんごうは 03-2255-6677 です。

“The phone number is 03-2255-6677."

When directly responding to a request, it’s often possible to omit part of the response.

Here by simply giving your phone number, there’s no need to include わたしの, “my.”

The pattern is

でんわばんごうは PHONE NUMBER です。

"The phone number is PHONE NUMBER."

This can be shortened even further:

03-2255-6677です。

When responding to a question or request about your phone number, you can omit the whole phrase, わたしのでんわばんごうは, "as for my phone number," because it's clear from context you’re giving your phone number.

PHONE NUMBER です。

"It's PHONE NUMBER."

You should be aware of these shortcuts, but for this lesson, we’ll use the pattern,

わたしのでんわばんごうは PHONE NUMBER です。

"My phone number is PHONE NUMBER."

Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "phone number?"

でんわばんごう

And how to say "my phone number?"

わたしのでんわばんごう.

Do you remember the topic-marking particle?

は.

は

Do you remember how Megumi says,

"My phone number is 090-0629-8812.."

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0629-8812です。

Do you remember how to say "please?"

おねがいします.

And the object-marking particle?

を.

を

Do you remember how the civil servant addresses Ms. Sasaki?

ささきさん.

And do you remember the civil servant’s request,

"Mrs. Sasaki, your phone number, please."

ささきさん, でんわばんごうをおねがいします。

Let's practice.

Imagine you’re Jun Sasaki, and your phone number is 090-0955-1835.

ゼロ-きゅう-ゼロ-の-ゼロ-きゅう-ご-ご-の-いち-はち-さん-ご.

Respond to the civil servant’s request.

Ready?

ささきさん, でんわばんごうをおねがいします。

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0955-1835 です。

Listen again and repeat.

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0955-1835 です。

Let’s try another.

Imagine you're Haruto Sasaki, and your phone number is 070-0987-5123.

ゼロ-なな-ゼロ-の-ゼロ-きゅう-はち-なな-の-ご-いち-に-さん.

Ready?

ささきさん, でんわばんごうをおねがいします。

わたしのでんわばんごうは 070-0987-5123です。

Listen again and repeat.

わたしのでんわばんごうは 070-0987-5123です。

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you're Hana Hashimoto, and your phone number is 090-0003-9004.

ゼロきゅうゼロのゼロゼロゼロさんのきゅうゼロゼロよん.

Ready?

はしもとさん, でんわばんごうをおねがいします。

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0003-9004です。

Listen again and repeat.

わたしのでんわばんごうは 090-0003-9004です。

This is the end of this lesson.

In this lesson, you learned how to give your phone number in Japanese. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of sharing your contact information.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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