# Miss, Mrs, Mr



## jana.bo99

Hope that I don't repeat again, what already was in the Forum?

Slovenian:   

Miss:       Gospodična! 
Mrs:        Gospa!
Mr:         Gospod

Croatian:  

Miss:       Gospođica!
Mrs:        Gospođa!
Mr:         Gospodin!

German: 

Miss:       Das Fräulein!
Mrs:        Die Frau!
Mr:         Der Herr!

In English there is also Ms, what we don't have here. I like it, because if you say Ms. Smith, nobody knows is she married or not. 
Many people say to older woman here: Mrs! 
I have once called one English woman: Mrs; she told me back, she is Miss and not Mrs. 
That means all never married women are Miss!
Unfortunately for men is all the same.

jana.bo


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## robbie_SWE

In Romanian: 

Miss: *domnişoară *and even the older version *madmoazelă*
Mrs: *doamnă *and *madam*
Mr: *domn*

Hope this helped! 

PS: but there are many more words, new and old. 

 robbie


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## jazyk

In Portuguese:

Mr. - senhor
Mrs. - senhora
Miss - senhorita (this isn't used very often, at least not where I live in Brazil, but I personally like to use it sometimes)
Ms. - I don't think we have this one


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## sokol

jana.bo99 said:


> German:
> 
> Miss:       Das Fräulein!
> Mrs:        Die Frau!
> Mr:         Der Herr!



Be advised that you have to be *extremely careful* if you ever want tu use "Fräulein" when speaking (or writing) German and *addressing *a woman with her name.
You don't say "Fräulein Schmidt, haben Sie kurz Zeit?" but "Frau Schmidt, ..." - no matter if she's married or not.
(Interestingly, this is not so in some other situations: so you _could _address a waitress or a nurse whose name you do not know with "Fräulein, dürfte ich Sie was fragen?" ---> but in this case there is no suggestion at all as to wether the woman addressed is married or not: this is just some polite formula to address a women you do not know by name.)

Although there do still exist some (older) women who will insist on being called a "Fräulein" this kind of women is dying out quickly.

Apart from that, most of the times it is considered impolite, probably even offending if you address a woman as "Fräulein".
One should use *"Frau" only* really (and accept the risk that probably once in a thousand times a woman will insist on "Fräulein").
And certainly you should *never, ever *use "Fräulein" with business contacts.

On a sidenote, many younger women still would not feel offended if they were called "Fräulein" by older people (say, above 60) but probably would object being called "Fräulein" by anyone else. This you could probably explain as tolerance of the younger generation towards the older generation.


(Well, at least this is the situation in *Austria;* I would guess that it is rather similar in other German speaking countries but of that I am not absolutely sure.)


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## Marga H

Polish:
Mr *Pan*
Mrs *Pani*
Miss *Panna *(but as concerned the use of it, it is almost the same situation as described above by sokol )


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## irene.acler

In *Italian*:

Mr - signore
Mrs - signora
Miss - signorina.


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## lulilanzi

In Spanish:

Mr: Señor
Mrs: Señora
Miss: Señorita


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## tru-life

In danish.

Mr: hr. (herr)
Mrs: fr. (fru)
Miss: frk. (frøken)


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## Nizo

Esperanto:

Mr.:  s-ro (sinjoro)
Mrs.:  s-ino (sinjorino)
Miss:  f-ino (fraŭlino)


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## Nizo

Afrikaans:

Mr = mnr (meneer)
Mrs = mev (mevrou)
Miss = mej (mejuffrou)

All these abbreviations in Afrikaans may take a period or not at the end.  In English, you may put a period after _Mr_ and _Mrs_.  However, there is no period after _miss_, because it is not an abbreviation, but a word.


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## בעל-חלומות

*Hebrew:*
I'm not sure of the exact diferences between Mrs, Miss, and Ms, but a polite and formal way of adressing a woman is גברת (gveret).

For men it can be אדון (adon) or מר (mar)


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## Stéphane89

In French:

*Miss = Mlle = Mademoiselle *_(I've also seen *Melle* sometimes, but I'm not sure it's right)_

*Mrs = Mme = Madame*

*Mr = M. *_(often written Mr. by a lot of people but it's a mistake!) _*= Monsieur*


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## cute angel

miss =Anissa(آنسة)

Mrs=saida(سيدة)

Mr=said(سيد)


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## jana.bo99

Hello Sokol,

In Slovenia, even if a woman is married and she looks young, people call her: das Fräulein (gospodična). She is very glad, to hear that. That is compliment for her. Women in fact want to look young as long as is possible. 
I have heard comments from some young women, not married, called die Frau (gospa): 
Do I really look so old?

From other side you hear that some people call every woman (young and old): die Frau (gospa)! It is shorter and easier.

Gruss nach Wien,
jana.bo


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## Zsanna

The situation is not easy to describe in *Hungarian*. 
We always had special problems with addressing people because we do not use those 3 titles systematically as done in other languages (like English, French, etc.). 
Although there is a wide range of terms but probably because none of them really proved their merit. 
I think, our language just does not work that way. (A Mr./Mrs./Miss-equivalent just does not sound "natural".)
I find the contemporary use (and abuse) of "*úr*/*hölgy*/*kisasszony*" (corresponding more to monsieur/madame/mademoiselle than to Mr/Mrs/Miss) very artificial and awful sounding and I don't think it has solved any of our traditional problems of addressing others.


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## Abbassupreme

In Persian, "Âqâ" is used for "Mr." and "Xânum" is used for "Mrs." and I'm pretty sure that it also means "Ms.".  I don't think Persian has an unmarried title for either.


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## Alijsh

Abbassupreme said:


> I don't think Persian has an unmarried title for either.


It's Dushize (دوشیزه).


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## deine

Lithuanian:
Mr.: ponas
Mrs.: ponia
Miss: panelė


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## kusurija

Czech:
Mr.: pan
Mrs.: paní (shortening: pí)
Miss: slečna


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## sokol

jana.bo99 said:


> In Slovenia, even if a woman is married and she looks young, people call her: das Fräulein (gospodična). She is very glad, to hear that. That is compliment for her. Women in fact want to look young as long as is possible.



Well yes, Austrian women too wand to look as young as possible - this might be a thing universal to all cultures   - however, the use of "Fräulein" + name still has come almost completely out of use in Austria and is not considered being polite.

I think if I would address a young woman as "Fräulein Maier" she would look at me as if I were an extra-terrestrial: this just don't happens anymore in Austria.
But probably she would accept this form of address without thinking how strange I am if I spoke with a foreign accent - because in this case she probably would assume that this is due to either interference from the mother tongue or alternatively simply lack of knowledge of correct form of address.

(I never realized that this difference between Slovenia and Austria exists when I was in Slovenia for two months, but then I stayed in Rožna dolina, Ljubljana where you are on first-name terms with your fellow students.)


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## jana.bo99

Hello Sokol,

There is very big difference between Austrian and Slovenian people. Especially men!

If one man in Slovenia kisses the hand of one woman, it looks strange. When Austrian man does the same that is normal. For me, that is very polite, because I always have some friend (male or female) from Austria (I live very close to the border).

Second thing about Austrians: I have never seen (and nowhere), that a woman married to some man with DR title is called (and in passport or phone book) also Mrs.Dr.! That woman can have only High school and is far away to be some DR; in your country that is not important at all.  

About Fräulein (gospodična) here: we say only GOSPODIČNA and not the name. When you come in the shop and ask for something, you say only Fräulein (Miss - gospodična): do you have that or that?

Schönen Gruß,
jana.bo


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## Zsanna

jana.bo99 said:


> Second thing about Austrians: I have never seen (and nowhere), that a woman married to some man with DR title is called (and in passport or phone book) also Mrs.Dr.! That woman can have only High school and is far away to be some DR; in your country that is not important at all.


 
How come? We are not too far away from you, in Hungary, and it is the same with Hungarian doctor wifes, too!
However, you can tell the difference between the wife of a doctor: doktor*né* (né = the wife of...) and a woman doctor: doktor*nő *(nő = woman).
To give an example for the full names: if the husband is called Dr. Fekete Péter, his wife can be called Dr. Fekete Péterné. (Among other possibilities because women have a wide choice of what to do with their names after the marriage.)


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## sokol

jana.bo99 said:


> Second thing about Austrians: I have never seen (and nowhere), that a woman married to some man with DR title is called (and in passport or phone book) also Mrs.Dr.!


You meaning the wife being called Dr. or not being called Dr.? - _Meinst du, die Frau wird Frau Dr. genannt oder nicht?_

Whatever: in fact it is quite common to call the wife of a doctor "Frau Doktor" here in Austria, no matter if she has more than secondary school education or not. - _Man sagt bei uns in Österreich "Frau Doktor" zur Frau eines Doktors, selbst wenn sie nur einen Hauptschulabschluss haben sollte._
(But let's stick to the Miss/Mrs/Mr-question, otherwise our mods rightfully will advise us to stay on topic.)



jana.bo99 said:


> About Fräulein (gospodična) here: we say only GOSPODIČNA and not the name. When you come in the shop and ask for something, you say only Fräulein (Miss - gospodična): do you have that or that?


In this case, Jana, there was a misunderstanding above, because in Austria this is exactly the same: you *almost never* call a woman **"Fräulein Maier"* (Miss + second name), but it is extremely *common *to ask in a shop *"Fräulein, *do you have that or that?" - as explained above, I'll confirm that now.

It is not at all considered impolite to address a woman with "Fräulein" in exactly this context - on the contrary, this is the usual verbal behaviour here in Austria.
What *is *out of fashion and should be avoided is the use of "Fräulein" + the name of the woman.


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## DrWatson

Finnish:

Mr: *herra*
Mrs: *rouva*
Miss: *neiti*

Although, I have to say one doesn't hear such titles used often anymore, just perhaps in formal letters.

Swedish:

Mr: *herr*
Mrs: *fru*
Miss: *fröken*


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## jana.bo99

Hello Zsanna,

About Hungarian people: I had enough to do (tourism and skiing), but there was no DR and his wife. So, I had no chance to see that or to hear it. I have never been in Hungary, so can't know that you use it, as well. In fact is not bad to be called: Frau or Mrs. DR! We don't have it. We can only say: she is wife of the DR X.

You must go back to History: there was Monarchy (Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic) and people visiting Vienna, Prague and Budapest say, there are many similarity between those three cities, people there and their behaviours: they are very polite. I have been in Vienna and Prague, but not in Budapest. I should visit Budapest and then have my opinion.

Hello Sokol,

Thank you for explanation for Miss. 

Greetings to both of you,
jana.bo


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## Koenigsberger

Zsanna said:


> The situation is not easy to describe in *Hungarian*.
> We always had special problems with addressing people because we do not use those 3 titles systematically as done in other languages (like English, French, etc.).
> Although there is a wide range of terms but probably because none of them really proved their merit.
> I think, our language just does not work that way. (A Mr./Mrs./Miss-equivalent just does not sound "natural".)
> I find the contemporary use (and abuse) of "*úr*/*hölgy*/*kisasszony*" (corresponding more to monsieur/madame/mademoiselle than to Mr/Mrs/Miss) very artificial and awful sounding and I don't think it has solved any of our traditional problems of addressing others.



I think it has to do with the fact that most languages use third person singular in the conjugation of polite forms of address. But in Hungarian we do not have grammatical genders unlike other European languages, instead, in most cases we can refer to someone/something in third person singular with no need for an explicit name or an address as it is obvious in a given context or situation. When we use "mister" etc., most of the time we do it only for an emphasis, not for an address. _(Here, I refer to the everyday spoken language. Also, this 'emphasising' role could be responsible for the "abuse" of the terms, i.e. the derogatory use of "mister" etc.)_


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## VAUGHN_RAIN

TAGALOG (PHILIPINES)

MR.: Ginoo (G)
MS.: Binibini (Bb)
MRS.: Ginang (Gng)


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## Zsanna

Hello another rare Hungarian here! 


Koenigsberger said:


> I think it has to do with the fact that most languages use third person singular in the conjugation of polite forms of address.


It may well be, although the feeling of discomfort or hesitation about which term to choose is more of a social question than linguistic. We've got the terms, only none seem to fit so smoothly as those mentioned in the title...


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## apmoy70

Greek:

Miss: *«Δεσποινίς»* [ðespiˈnis] (fem.), abbreviated *«δις»* [ðis] which is a Katharevousa Greek feminine diminutive of the ByzGr fem. *«δέσποινα» déspoi̯na* --> _mistress of the house_ < Classical masc. *«δεσπότης» dĕspótēs* --> _master of the house, lord_, later _despot_ (PIE *dems-pot- _master of the house_ cf Skt. दम्पति (dampati), _lord of the house_).
Δεσποινίς has been replaced by *«κυρία»* regardless of age, or married/unmarried status.

Mrs.: *«Κυρία»* [ciˈɾi.a] (fem.) abbreviated *«κα»* [ka] < Koine fem. *«κυρίᾱ» kŭríā* --> _(lady) who rules_, it's the (later) feminine form of:

Mr.: *«Κύριος»* [ˈciɾi.os] (masc.), abbreviated *«κος»* [kos] < Classical masc. *«κύριος» kúriŏs* --> _lord, ruler, possessor_ (PIE *ḱeuh₁- _to swell, be strong_ cf Skt. शूर (śūra), _hero_).


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## nimak

*Macedonian*

Miss = *госпоѓица* (gospoǵica) [gɔs'pɔɟit͡sa]; *г-ца*
Mrs. = *госпоѓа* (gospoǵa) ['gɔspɔɟa]; *г-ѓа*
Mr. = *господин* (gospodin)  ['gɔspɔdin]; *г. *_or_* г-дин *_or_* г-н*


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