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Does it sound awkward if I ask someone "Call me when you are free to talk"

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2 Answers 2

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Does it sound awkward if I ask someone "Call me when you are free to talk"

It does not sound awkward it you tell someone "Call me when you are free to talk." It is considered a respectful request.

You can also ask them: "Call me when you are free to talk?" But asking a question in this manner can make the asker sound either tentative in asking or appear to have a predilection for using imperative word order when asking a question. The voice would have to rise in pitch all the way through the sentence (peaking at 'talk') to get the idea of a question across.

Also, note, in my dialect of American English, it would be irregular and sound awkward to say "Call me when free to talk." I don't know about other varities of English, including Indian English(es).

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It doesn't sound awkward, because the sentence is grammatically correct.

Although, to improve the sentence, you can say "Call me when free to talk". The subject "you" is hidden as it is understood when you are talking to the person.

Another, concise sentence would be "Call me when free." This would imply that the person you are talking to should call you in the near future whenever they are free. Also, since the word "you" is not mentioned, it decreases the affirmative tone. Even more, the tone becomes casual.

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  • I prefer the OP's sentence. I wouldn't omit you're.
    – user230
    Oct 9, 2014 at 7:15
  • What do you mean by OP? Oct 9, 2014 at 8:49
  • The Original Poster, Deniz Çağlayan.
    – user230
    Oct 9, 2014 at 8:51

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