margaret caulfield Nov 5, 2009:

Well, Nicole, I'm so glad I was able to help you! It's nice to get such good feedback. Many thanks!

Nicole Schnell (asker) Nov 5, 2009:

Hi, Margaret! I used: "Lo siento. Se ha equivocado de número." My American husband had a few years of Spanish in high school and he could help me with the pronunciation - sort of. It worked. My next answer would have been: "Usted marcó mal. No hablo español.", as suggested by Gamaliel Novelo.

margaret caulfield Nov 5, 2009:

Which worked, Nicole?

Nicole Schnell (asker) Nov 5, 2009:

It worked! It worked already! Nice. :-))))

Nicole Schnell (asker) Oct 28, 2009:

You are incredible. Thank you so much!

Javier Wasserzug Oct 26, 2009:

Está equivocado or simply "equivocado" / "número equivocado" is a common answer in Southamerica. "está equivocado" is not referring to the person but the dialed number.
"Se ha equivocado" is hardly used.

Marina Soldati Oct 26, 2009:

Hi Nicole! I agree with Noni, equivocado is not very easy to pronounce, you can change it for "incorrecto". Though the right word here would be equivocado, any Spanish speaker would understand incorrecto and you only have to add an "o" at the end of the English word "incorrect". My 2 cents.

Noni Gilbert Riley Oct 26, 2009:

Phonetic transcriptions Perhaps each of those who have made suggestions could provide a phonetic transcription?

Quite understand yr reluctance to recite long numbers!

Nicole Schnell (asker) Oct 26, 2009:

@Noni: Pronunciation will certainly be hilarious Leo and other online dictionaries are offering audio files, which are somewhat helpful, I guess: http://dict.leo.org/esde?lp=esde&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType...
I would rather not volunteer as a dispatcher for any bank... Vanity numbers consist of 7 digits in length plus the 1-8xx prefix. No way! :-)))

Noni Gilbert Riley Oct 26, 2009:

Observations One of the things I always find frustrating when I misdial here in Spain is that I rarely get a chance to find out if it has been a matter of me pressing the wrong buttons, or if I have the number written down wrong. In Britain most people answer with the number (or the company name) so you have a chance to identify the reason behind the error. Perhaps you could think about being extraordinarily helpful to those stray Bco Popular clients, Nicole and read the correct number to them!

I was also wondering about what is going to be the easiest phrase for Nicole to memorize and pronounce! Spanish is a phonetic language, so there are no major pitfalls for you, but "equivocado" is not the easiest of words to get your mouth round...

My Spanish is not of the Lat Am variety, but I wonder if sth along the lines of "tiene que marcar el xxxxxxxxx" wd be easier - "you should dial xxxxxxxxxx"

Careful about getting the pronunciation too perfect though, otherwise you may get pulled into complicated conversations!

David Russi Oct 26, 2009:

Not "anyone" For example "Disculpe, ¡número equivocado!" seems more appropriate for the caller who realizes they dialed the wrong number than for the person that knows the caller dialed the wrong number (why would you apologize like that because someone else made a mistake?). "Está equivocado" simply means "you're wrong"... (maybe "se ha equivocado").

Javier Wasserzug Oct 26, 2009:

Anyone I would say that from all these answers, I would use anyone. They are all good.