She was talking the business phone call?

[Polyester]

Can it be said "She was talking the business phone call?"?

 

[tedmc]

You can say "she was taking the phone call", not " she was talking the phone call".

not a teacher

 

[emsr2d2]

Can [strike]it be said[/strike] I say/use "She was [strike]talking[/strike] taking the business phone call (no question mark here)"?

Note my corrections above. You correctly put a question mark right at the end of your question but there was no need for one at the end of your suggested sentence because it was not a question "She was taking a business call" is not a question. Note that it's "taking" not "talking" in this case and that I have suggested "a business call" - there's no need to specify that it's a phone call, in my opinion.

 

[Polyester]

No.

I mean she has a phone call and talking with other by phone now.
Not the phone ring, then she was taking a phone call.
This is not exactly what I want.

Am I wrong? Please correct me, all of teacher.

 

[SoothingDave]

You don't "talk" a call. You take a call. Or you talk on the phone.

"She was taking a business call" is correct.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is it OK to say 'She is talking about business on the phone'?

Not a teacher.

 

[SoothingDave]

Is it OK to say 'She is talking about business on the phone'?

Not a teacher.

Sure.

 

[emsr2d2]

Polyester, I think you are misunderstanding what "taking a call" means. It means that you are speaking on the phone. When the phone rings and you pick it up, you are "answering the phone" or "answering a call". After you answer it, if you continue talking ​to the other person, you are taking a call.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'Take a call' = 'answer a phone call'.
'Taking a call' = 'talking on the phone'.
Am I right or wrong? Not a teacher.

 

[tedmc]

'Take a call' = 'answer a phone call'.
'Taking a call' = 'talking on the phone'.
Am I right or wrong? Not a teacher.

"Take" means to accept/answer/attend to a call.
A change of tense does not change the meaning of the word.

not a teacher

 

[Matthew Wai]

But the following sounds to me as if 'taking a call' means 'talking'. Am I wrong?

After you answer it, if you continue talking ​to the other person, you are taking a call.

Not a teacher.

 

[tedmc]

I am confused too.

 

[emsr2d2]

The phone rings.
I answer it. It's my friend Dave.
I decide that I'm going to keep talking/continue the conversation with Dave.
I say to my friend, Sue, who is in the room waiting for me to share a meal with her "Sorry, I won't be long. I need to take this call".
I then talk to Dave on the phone for 20 minutes.
I hang up.
I apologise to Sue again for taking the call and talking for so long while she was waiting for us to eat together, but that it was an important call.


To take/taking a call means to take part in a telephone conversation with someone who rang you. It doesn't work if you make the call.

If Dave had phoned and I was too busy to talk to him, I could have said "I'm really sorry. I can't take your call at the moment. I'm busy with Sue".

 

[Matthew Wai]

I mean she has a phone call and talking with other by phone now.

"She was taking a business call" is correct.

SoothingDave's suggestion makes me think that 'taking a call' means 'talking on the phone' when the call was made by someone else.

Not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Matthew, this is getting silly. "Taking" and "talking" are two distinct things. If you take a call you talk if there is someone there to talk to.

 

[emsr2d2]

SoothingDave's suggestion makes me think that 'taking a call' means 'talking on the phone' when the call was made by someone else.

Not a teacher.

Your understanding is right. You take a call if you talk on the phone to someone who rang you. That's pretty much what I said in post #13.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Do you agree with the following?
'take a call (=speak to someone on the phone when someone else has answered)'── quoted from http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/call_2

I often consult the Longman Dictionary because its English-Chinese versions have existed for decades.

Not a teacher.

 

[emsr2d2]

The use of "when someone else has answered the phone" doesn't make any sense there. It suggests a third party was involved. It makes me think that A is talking to B on the phone but C answered the phone.