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Situation: The batteries in your cellphone are running out of charge.

How would a native English speaker quickly and naturally describe this situation?

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I'd have combined this with your near-identical question on cell phone account credit: english.stackexchange.com/questions/10085/… – CJM Jan 26 '11 at 12:25
5  
I'd keep them separate. We already have enough questions asking for several things at once. – RegDwighт♦ Jan 26 '11 at 12:35
@Reg: A question about a phone account and an almost identical question about a phone battery?? And the similarity between the answers too... – CJM Jan 26 '11 at 13:18
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@CJM: my point is that if there are X possible answers to question 1, and Y possible answers to question 2, then combining the questions gets you X*Y possible answers to choose from. Besides, I have a feeling that we are only having this discussion because the two questions have been posted by the same user in rapid succession. Had they been posted by different users on separate occasions, we probably wouldn't want to merge them (though we might cross-link), as they are ultimately asking about two different things. – RegDwighт♦ Jan 26 '11 at 13:55

4 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

My phone is out of juice

This is how a nerd would describe the situation

My phone has died on me

This is how many people refer to this situation

My phone needs to be recharged

This is also a way to express the same fact

I need to charge my phone

Indirect method

Is there a cell-phone charger nearby

Another indirect method.

Can I use your cell-phone?

Cannot always be used effectively :-(

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up vote 3 down vote

My cell phone battery is almost flat

or

My cell phone is almost out of power

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3  
Another more colloquial alternative is 'My phone's almost dead.' – user3444 Jan 26 '11 at 12:27
I'd go with "My phone's battery is almost dead"... because w/o "battery" it could mean your phone itself is dying. – Jürgen A. Erhard Jan 26 '11 at 12:41
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@Elendil: My [phone|cell|mobile|mobile phone|handy|cell phone|cellular phone|moby] ['s battery] is [almost] [dead|flat|out of power|out of juice|drained]. There are a thousand colloquial combinations, but my suggestion will be understood by vast majority of English-speakers. – CJM Jan 26 '11 at 13:23
@jae - I think the majority of people in the English-speaking world will assume that when a [battery-powered device] is dead that the battery has run out, rather than the device being broken. – CJM Jan 26 '11 at 13:25
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@CJM: I know, I wasn't criticising, just adding. – user3444 Jan 26 '11 at 13:25
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up vote 2 down vote

The most common expression I've heard for expressing that a cell phone no longer had power is:

My cell phone battery is dead.

While holding the cell phone, many people omit the words cell phone since it is understood that the thing they are holding is the subject of the statement:

My battery is dead.

Alternatively, many people omit the word battery since it is understood that the battery is the dead part of the cell phone:

My cell phone is dead.

People will also say their cell phone is dead if it is broken via some other means, though, such as it being dropped.

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up vote 0 down vote

All the examples given so far are good, but I would also offer as common expressions

My (cell) phone is almost out of batteries

or

I’m almost out of batteries

or

My phone’s battery is dying

or

My phone is dying

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Or: My phone is running out of charge. Or: I am running out of charge. – Noah Apr 12 '12 at 12:56

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