Learn Spanish (Spain): ¿De parte de quién, por favor?

¿De parte de quién, por favor?

Who's calling, please?

Breakdown of ¿De parte de quién, por favor?

por favor

please

¿de parte de quién?

who's calling? (on the phone)

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Questions & Answers about ¿De parte de quién, por favor?

Why doesn't this say ¿Quién llama? for "Who is calling?"?

While you can say ¿Quién llama?, the phrase ¿De parte de quién? is the standard, polite way to ask "Who is calling?" on the phone in Spain. It is normally used right after the caller has asked to speak to someone else. It literally translates to "On the part of whom?"

How do I answer this question when I am the caller?

You reply by repeating the phrase De parte de followed by your name. For example, if your name is David, you would simply answer De parte de David.

Does parte literally mean "part" here?

Yes! The phrase de parte de is a fixed expression meaning "on behalf of" or "from". You can use it in other everyday situations too, such as passing on regards from a friend: Saludos de parte de Carlos means "Greetings from Carlos".

Why is there an accent mark on quién?

In Spanish, question words always get an accent mark to show they are asking for information. Because this sentence is a question, quién needs its accent, even though it appears in the middle of the phrase rather than at the very beginning.