Do you say I can't hear you through the phone or over the phone?

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I have been saying that "I can't hear you through the phone", but I think someone pointed out to me long ago that saying "I can't hear you through the phone" is incorrect. Which phrase is correct?

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There is not necessarily a correct answer. However, most native speakers would say: "I can't hear you on the phone." or "I can't hear you over the phone." It's a toss-up which they would say, but i suspect Americans would most likely say "on the phone."

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@luniawar20,

Personally, I would say "I can't hear you."

If I were describing a particular background noise, I would say, "I can't hear you over the static," "I can't hear you over the crowd," etc.

If I were describing it after the fact I would say, "I couldn't hear you on the phone earlier."

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@luniawar20,

luniawar20 wrote:

I have been saying that "I can't hear you through the phone", but I think someone pointed out to me long ago that saying "I can't hear you through the phone" is incorrect. Which phrase is correct?

"I can't hear you through the phone," is a perfectly acceptable sentence, and there is nothing incorrect about it.

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@luniawar20,

Quote:

I have been saying that "I can't hear you through the phone", but I think someone pointed out to me long ago that saying "I can't hear you through the phone" is incorrect. Which phrase is correct?

'correct/incorrect' is a poor word to use to describe situations like this, L. While 'through' does not sound natural, in the sense of common, to me, it's certainly possible that it is the preposition of choice for other speakers.

It makes as much sense as over or on. Even more when you compare it to,

I couldn't hear her through the wall.

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@InfraBlue,

I agree with InfraAzul!

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@Setanta,

Here you go. ever got the same trap with you, under the advice of my uncle, I bought a wireless jammer product online, really cool and helpful, you can have a try, quite funny!

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Do you say I can't hear you through the phone or over the phone?

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