diàn huà

telephone

The Chinese word for telephone, '电话' (diànhuà), is used in the same way as in English. It refers to both the device and the act of making a call. For example, '请接电话' (qǐng jiē diànhuà) means 'please answer the phone'. You can also use it to say '我要打电话给他' (wǒ yào dǎ diànhuà gěi tā) which means 'I want to call him'.