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Gene93 Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary

to answer a phone call

Hello,
Is it true that the sentence: "I called her twice tonight, but she didn't answer." sounds odd? I think that "answer" can be used both transitively and intransitively here. "...she didn't answer" or "she didn't answer the call."
"She didn't answer the phone" would be weird, wouldn't it?

Thank you
  

Top answer

First, the sentence is written correctly and doesn’t sound odd at all. Yes, it sounds OK with or without .. an object.

— Wilpeter

  • First, the sentence is written correctly and doesn’t sound odd at all.
  • Yes, it sounds OK with or without ..
  • an object.
  • It would be redundant to include the word ‘phone’ unless you were distinguishing between her land line and her cell.
  • It wouldn’t be ‘weird’, just unnecessary.
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4 Answers
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First, the sentence is written correctly and doesn’t sound odd at all.
Yes, it sounds OK with or without .. an object.
It would be redundant to include the word ‘phone’ unless you were distinguishing between her land line and her cell. It wouldn’t be ‘weird’, just unnecessary.
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Thank you. There's something I forgot. "I called her tonight, but she didn't take the call." I wouldn't use it, but I am asking out of idle curiosity.
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Yes, it is safe to use it, if you know she could have answered it. That is, if she had her cell phone with her or if she was home at the time you called her. If you called her while she was away from the house or from her cell phone, she might not have known that you called. It is true that she didn’t take the call, but it is safer to hope that she was either sleeping or not home.
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