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When talking to people on the telephone there are situations when we need to interrupt the conversation to look something up or to ask someone near by. We can do this by saying:

"Einen Moment, bitte"

What do I say when coming back?

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1 Answer

up vote 12 down vote accepted

I usually say something like

"So, da bin ich wieder."

If it has to be a bit more formal, I'd say

"Hören Sie?"

to announce I'm back and at the same time make sure they're ready to continue.

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+1 for both phrases. If the interruption was something unrelated to the call (e.g. a third person interrupting) one could also include an apology: "Entschuldigung/Entschuldigen sie bitte, ich wurde kurz gestört" or something similar. – 0x6d64 Jan 10 '12 at 11:03
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Although you have to be a little bit careful with "hören Sie?", because it can sound demanding/condescending, so watch your tone. – fzwo Jan 10 '12 at 11:19
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@fzwo: I agree, I wouldn't use this at all in face-to-face conversation, but on the phone, this seems to be standard practice. Yes, one could pronounce it in such a way that the other party gets offended. But then, that's probably true for many phrases and might as well be the a problem relating to the speaker's pronunciation in general ;-) – Jan Jan 10 '12 at 11:36

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