[Vocabulary] telephone call - ring/call for sb

[marker]

The phone's ringing, what should we say:

It's calling for you.

It's ringing for you.



Thanks for replies.

 

[bhaisahab]

The phone's ringing, what should we say:

It's calling for you.

It's ringing for you.



Thanks for replies.

How do you know who the call is for if it's still ringing?

 

[marker]

I'm 99% sure because somebody has already tried to contact somebody else a few times on the same day so I guess it's the same person again.

 

[bhaisahab]

I'm 99% sure because somebody has already tried to contact somebody else a few times on the same day so I guess it's the same person again.

If the person can also hear the phone, I would probably say "That'll be for you", or something very similar.

 

[marker]

What if I were to choose only from these two: It's calling/ringing for you?

 

[emsr2d2]

What if I were to choose only from these two: It's calling/ringing for you?

They're both wrong.

 

[marker]

Well, I'm a little bit confused because I found these two sentences in a book for English learners. In one of the exercises I was expected to choose between these two Maybe the meaning is different. What if the line was busy at first and somebody asked somebody else to hold on and then said: 'It's calling/ringing for you'. Would it make any sense?

 

[emsr2d2]

If I phone a hotel, for example, and I ask for "Mr Smith in Room 302", the receptionist would try to call him in Room 302. About 50 years ago, that receptionist would have waited until she could hear his phone ringing and would then say to me "It's ringing for you". What she means is "On your behalf, as requested, I have made his telephone ring". I would then hear the ringing tone too and Mr Smith would either answer or not answer depending on whether or not he was in his room.

I haven't heard the phrase "It's ringing for you" for many years and I very much doubt it's in use now.

How old was the book you were using?

I can't make a case at all for "It's calling for you". That makes no sense.