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Study in the app →English · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 40
Call me later!
Dialogue
I'll call you or I'll call to you?
- Minsu It was great to meet you today. I'll call to you tonight.
- Emma Just "I'll call you" — no "to". In English these verbs take the person directly.
- Minsu Ah, in Korean we say "to you". So I'll call you, and I'll text you too.
- Emma Perfect! And be careful with "tell" and "say": tell ME, but say HELLO. You can't "say me".
- Minsu Got it. Tell me your number and I'll save it. Then I'll call you tonight!
Dialogue
Sorry I missed your call
- Jack Hi Emma. Sorry, I didn't answer this morning — I was on the bus.
- Emma No problem. I just wanted to tell you about the party. Did you get my message?
- Jack Yes! I read it, but I couldn't reply. Can you send me the address again?
- Emma Sure, I'll text it to you now. Call me if you get lost, okay?
- Jack Great. Thanks, Emma. See you at the party!
Vocabulary
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| phone | n. / v. | phone | |
| call | n. / v. | call | |
| text | n. / v. | text | |
| message | n. | message | |
| answer | v. | answer | |
| ring | v. | ring | |
| number | n. | number | |
| voicemail | n. | voicemail | |
| hang up | phr. v. | hang up | |
| reply | v. | reply |
Grammar
Call me, tell me — no "to" Call me, tell me — no "to"
In English, the verbs we use for phoning and messaging take the person directly, with NO preposition in front. Say "call me", "phone her", "text him", "ask them", "answer the phone" — never "call to me" or "phone to her". This is different from many languages, where you "call TO someone". The person is the object pronoun you met in chapter 9: me, you, him, her, it, us, them. Example: "Call me tonight", "I'll text you the address", "She never answers her phone". There is one more trap here — "tell" versus "say". You "tell" a PERSON (tell me, tell him the news, tell us a story), but you "say" the WORDS (say hello, say yes, say something); you cannot "say me" and you rarely "tell hello". Quick rule: TELL + person, SAY + words. Learners' most common slips: "I'll call to you later" ✗ → "I'll call you later" ✓; "He said me the time" ✗ → "He told me the time" ✓.
In English, the verbs we use for phoning and messaging take the person directly, with NO preposition in front. Say "call me", "phone her", "text him", "ask them", "answer the phone" — never "call to me" or "phone to her". This is different from many languages, where you "call TO someone". The person is the object pronoun you met in chapter 9: me, you, him, her, it, us, them. Example: "Call me tonight", "I'll text you the address", "She never answers her phone". There is one more trap here — "tell" versus "say". You "tell" a PERSON (tell me, tell him the news, tell us a story), but you "say" the WORDS (say hello, say yes, say something); you cannot "say me" and you rarely "tell hello". Quick rule: TELL + person, SAY + words. Learners' most common slips: "I'll call to you later" ✗ → "I'll call you later" ✓; "He said me the time" ✗ → "He told me the time" ✓.
- Call me when you arrive. Call me when you arrive.
- I'll text you the address later. I'll text you the address later.
- Can you tell me your phone number? Can you tell me your phone number?
- He didn't answer, so I left a voicemail. He didn't answer, so I left a voicemail.
pronunciation
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