전화 받으세요! Please receive the phone! What??

Douglas : Did you call me?
상현 : Yes. Why didn't you receive the phone?
Douglas : What phone?
상현 : I called you, and you didn't receive the phone!!!
Douglas : What are you talking about? What phone do I need to receive?
상현 : I mean, why you didn't answer my phone call?

This is a simple conversation about phone calling, and it really happened to me and Douglas, the illustrator of the Wild Korean textbook. This is a common mistake made by Korean people but it's useful to learn some more Korean grammar. Let's see some more expressions about phone calling and compare it with English expressions.

1. Basic Vocabulary about Phone Call
전화 : phone
전화(를) 하다 : to call (phone call)
전화(를) 받다 : to answer the phone call
                          to pick up the phone
                          to get a phone call (usually used as past tense)
받다 : to receive
전화(가) 오다 : to get a phone call

Ex. 지금 전화 하세요.  Please call now.
      어제 전화 받았어요.  I got a phone call yesterday.
      전화 받으세요!  Please pick up the phone!
      내일 메가한테 전화 올 거예요.  I will get a phone call from Megha tomorrow. (Megha will call me tomorrow.)
      더글러스!! 전화 왔어요. 전화 받으세요.  Douglas!! You have a phone call. Please pick up the phone.
      더글러스!! 전화 왔었어요.  Douglas!! Someone called you. .


Please note 전화왔어요 is used like present tense and 전화왔었어요 is used as past tense for 전화하다.
 


2. Calling  a Person or a Place
~ 한테 : to ~ (person)   Ex. 조안나한테 전화하세요.  Please call Jo-Anna.
~에게 : to ~ (person)  Ex. 션에게 전화했어요.  I called Sean.
~에 : to ~ (place)  Ex. 119에 전화했어요.  I called 119.    119 : emergency call in Korea
                                   경찰서에 전화했어요.  I called a police station.
                                   서비스 센터에 전화하세요.  Please call the service center.


Please note that you need to use 전화하다 verb.
~한테, ~에게 and 에 can all be used interchangeably here and there is no difference in formality. 



3. Calling from a Person or a Place
~ 한테 or ~에게 : from ~ (person)
Ex. 조안나한테 전화 왔어요.  I (or someone) am getting a phone call from Jo-Anna.
      조안나한테 전화 왔었어요.  I(or someone) got a phone call from Jo-Anna (Jo-Anna called.)
      조안나한테 전화 올 거예요.  I(or someone) will get a phone call from Jo-Anna. (Jo-Anna will call me (or someone).
      조안나한테 전화 받았어요.  I (or someone) got a phone call from Jo-Anna.

Please note that you usually need to use 전화오다 and 전화받다 verb.
You can use 전화오다 verb as past, present and future tense, but you can use 전화받다 as past tense only. 


~에서 : from ~ (place)
Ex. 인도에서 전화왔어요.  You(or other person) get a phone call from India.
      학교에서 전화왔었어요. You(or other person) got a phone call from the School.
Please note that you usually need to use 전화오다 verb.


If ~한테 and ~에서 means "from ~", you need to omit the subject.

Note : 학교에서 전화왔어요.  You(or someone)  get a phone call from the school.
           학교에서 전화했어요.  I (or someone) called at the school.
           학교에서 전화 받았어요.  I (or someone) got the phone call at the school.



3. Mixing with ~에서 and ~한테

A (place) 에서 B (person)  한테 : from A to B
Ex. 미국에서 조안나한테 전화 왔었어요.  Jo-Anna got a phone call from America.
      학교에서 부모님한테 전화할 거예요.  Your parents will get a phone call from the school.



4. Mixing with Subject and ~에,한테,에게

메건이 집에 전화했어요.  Megan called home.
메건이 나한테 전화했어요.  Megan called me.
메건이 나에게 전화할 거예요.  Megan will call me.



5. Hang Up !!   

전화(를) 끊다 : to hang up
전화(가) 끊기다 : to be hanged up

전화 끊으세요! : Please hang up.
전화가 끊겼어요.  The phone was hanged up.





Homework
Translate the following sentences and post them in the comments:
1. My friend called me yesterday
2. I got a phone call from America.
3. Jo-Anna will call Sanghyun tomorrow.
4. Make your own sentence.