cellphone is noisy when talking to someone

[Ferdie11]

Hi teachers,

Can you please tell me what americans say to someone they are talking to, when their cellphones are noisy.

Here's what came to my mind:

1. Sorry, I can't hear you very well.
2. Sorry, there's a technical problem with the line.


Thanks in advance.

[emsr2d2]

Hi teachers,

Can you please tell me what americans say to someone they are talking to, when their cellphones are noisy.

Here's what came to my mind:

1. Sorry, I can't hear you very well.
2. Sorry, there's a technical problem with the line.


Thanks in advance.

Regardless of whether it's an American speaking or not, your two suggested sentences are completely different. To ask people to choose between two unconnected sentences to describe a situation which has a multitude of possible answers won't really work.

If I was having trouble hearing someone specifically because there was a lot of background noise on my phone, I would say just that:

Sorry, there's so much background noise on my phone, I can't hear a thing you're saying.

However, there are countless other things we might say:

Sorry, I can't hear you at all.
Sorry, this phone is terrible. The line's crackling really badly.
There's so much noise on the line, I can't hear you. I'll call you back later.
This phone is driving me nuts! I'm taking it back to the shop. There's so much noise on the line, I can't hear a thing you're saying.

Unless I were in a work situation where I needed to speak formally to people, I wouldn't use "There's a technical problem with the line".

[Tdol]

You're cracking up can also be used when the voice is not coming through clearly.

[Ferdie11]

Regardless of whether it's an American speaking or not, your two suggested sentences are completely different. To ask people to choose between two unconnected sentences to describe a situation which has a multitude of possible answers won't really work.

Thanks so much for you usefull suggestions.

Uh... actually, I did not intend people to choose between my sentences. I just gave you what came to my mind when I encountered this particular situation. Thanks again.