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¿Dígame? ¿Quién es?

¿Dígame? ¿Quién es?
Hello? Who is it?
From Lesson 121:Phone calls and messages (¿dígame?, un recado)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about ¿Dígame? ¿Quién es?

Why does the speaker say dígame instead of hola to say "hello"?
In Spain, people rarely use hola when answering the phone. Dígame (or just diga) is the standard way to answer a call. It literally means "tell me."
How is the word dígame built?
It combines two parts: diga, which is the formal command for "tell" or "say" (from the verb decir), and the pronoun me ("to me"). Because a pronoun is attached to the end of the command, a written accent is added over the first "i" to keep the natural pronunciation of the word.
Can I just say diga instead of dígame?
Yes! Both diga and dígame are perfectly natural and common ways to answer the phone in Spain. They are used interchangeably in this context.
Why ask ¿Quién es? (Who is it?) instead of ¿Quién eres? (Who are you?)?
Just like in English when we ask "Who is it?" on the phone or at a door, Spanish uses the third-person verb es (is). It is treated as an unknown "it" or "this" until the caller introduces themselves.

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