# How to call [address] a female teacher in English



## asparagus

Hi!everyone!
I have a question, that is :how to call a female teacher,married or not married in English? if you are a student?


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## cyberpedant

Single or married: Ms. + her last name. Ms. is pronounced "miz."


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## sdgraham

The same respectful way you would address any other woman who is not part of your immediate family or friends. Being a teacher is irrelevant.


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## PaulQ

She should have introduced herself, if so, use that, if not follow sdgraham's or cyberpedant's advice.

You could ask her, "How do you like to be addressed?"


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## asparagus

You all gave me good advices, many thanks!


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## Egmont

In a situation where you would call a male teacher "sir," use "ma'am." While the original derivation of this title suggests that it once applied only to married women, that has not been the case for many years. (This is also how people in the U.S. armed forces address a female officer who outranks them.)


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## natkretep

Check with what the school culture is. There are many options.


In some schools, teachers are addressed by their first name (John, Margaret)
In some schools, teachers are addressed by their title and surname (Mr Smith, Ms/Miss/Mrs Jackson)
In some schools, teachers are called 'sir' or 'ma'am'/'miss'


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## Hermione Golightly

The only place I know of where all female teachers might be addressed as Miss (not 'Ms') is in primary school, below the age of 11, especially in the lower clases by the younger children. Male teachers in primary schools might be addressed as 'Sir'. I don't know if teachers might sometimes be informally addressed as Miss or Sir in secondary schools. I think it's possible that in all boys schools, Sir might be used occasionally, especially in the lower age classes. 'Miss' and 'Sir' is never used in any form of tertiary or adult education, as has already been said. But first names are often used informally.

Hermione


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## sound shift

When I was a pupil in secondary school, we addressed female teachers as "Miss". Female teachers are the only people I have ever addressed as "Miss".


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## GreenWhiteBlue

While exceptions are always possible, the usual method in primary and secondary schools in the United States is to address the woman by her last name/ surname/ family name, preceded by the honorific she prefers.

Some unmarried women prefer to be called "Miss [Surname]", while some unmarried women prefer to be called "Ms. [Surname]."
Some married women prefer to be called "Mrs. [Surname]", while other married women prefer to be called "Ms. [Surname]."

_Miss Jones, I lost my homework.
Ms. Smith, may I get a drink of water?
Mrs. Doe, do we have a test tomorrow?

_
In colleges and universities, if the teacher has a doctorate (and almost all do) you would address her as "Doctor [Surname]"; if she holds a professorship, she then becomes "Professor [Surname]."

If the teacher is a nun (as many of mine were), she would be addressed as "Sister [Firstname]" -- in other words, Sister Joan Smith is "Sister Joan", not "Sister Smith."


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## Egmont

GreenWhiteBlue said:


> ...In colleges and universities, if the teacher has a doctorate (and almost all do) you would address her as "Doctor [Surname]"; if she holds a professorship, she then becomes "Professor [Surname]."
> 
> If the teacher is a nun (as many of mine were), she would be addressed as "Sister [Firstname]" -- in other words, Sister Joan Smith is "Sister Joan", not "Sister Smith."


To amplify this: If a university teacher holds both a doctorate and a professorial title, follow the practice at that university. In Germany, one uses both. In the U.S., some universities prioritize the title, others the degree. I've taught at both kinds, being "Professor Egmont" at some and "Dr. Egmont" at others. This doesn't apply if a faculty member has only one of them.

Boston College, where I'm on the adjunct faculty for the term that's about to start, has quite a few nuns on its faculty. (It's a Jesuit university.) Were I a student, I'd address one of them as "Sister" only if she had neither a doctorate nor a professorial title. Below the university level that would be the normal situation, of course: doctorates at the primary and secondary levels are rare, and professorial titles are non-existent.


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## Thomas Veil

By the way, if you want to know what to call someone, then you should ask "What should I call...".  "How do you cal" has a slightly different meaning.


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## EnLearner

An English mistress


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## Egmont

EnLearner said:


> English mistress


Do not say that in the U.S. Here, it would mean a woman from England to whom you are not married and with whom you have an ongoing physical relationship.

(We don't use "master" or "mistress" to refer to teachers in AE, though a few schools call the person in charge "headmaster" because it sounds good.)


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## EnLearner

Egmont said:


> Do not say that in the U.S. Here, it would mean a woman from England to whom you are not married and with whom you have an ongoing physical relationship.
> 
> (We don't use "master" or "mistress" to refer to teachers in AE, though a few schools call the person in charge "headmaster" because it sounds good.)



Yes. But in British English it means a female teacher as well, though it is old-fashioned.


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## Egmont

I know that. That is why I began my post with "Do not say that in the U.S."


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## natkretep

_Schoolmaster_ and _schoolmistress_ removes the ambiguity, I suppose.


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## Egmont

natkretep said:


> _Schoolmaster_ and _schoolmistress_ removes the ambiguity, I suppose.


Completely. They would be understood in the U.S., since people here read BE literature*, though they're not widely used over here and might be considered either old-fashioned or British in tone. They have no other associations.

___________________________
*Perhaps not as much as they used to, but this is not the place to start yet another rant on the declining standards of society.


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## sdgraham

> how to call a female teacher,married or not married in English? if you are a student?



This thread seems to have wandered a bit, due, I suspect to asparagus' (OP) ambiguous question.

I'm not sure whether it's about "how to address ...?" or "what do you call ....?" or, even, what telecommunications device do you use to contact ...?"


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## sunrise13

Hello ! 
I would like to know how English pupils address their female teachers .
 Is it possible to say:" Good morning , Miss" to a woman who is married and not very young  or is it better to say " Good morning, Mrs Banks" or "Good morning, Madam".
Thanks for your answers.


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## Thelb4

Regardless of whether my teacher was called "Mrs Jones", "Miss Jones", or "Ms Jones", I would not be considered strange if I said "Good morning, Miss" to her.
However, if her name was "Mrs Jones", and I said by mistake "Miss Jones", that would be a faux pas.


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## asparagus

Hi ! sdgraham, I just mean "how to address",I think I have got it ,thanks you !





sdgraham said:


> This thread seems to have wandered a bit, due, I suspect to asparagus' (OP) ambiguous question.
> 
> I'm not sure whether it's about "how to address ...?" or "what do you call ....?" or, even, what telecommunications device do you use to contact ...?"


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## Meille

Thelb4 said:


> Regardless of whether my teacher was called "Mrs Jones", "Miss Jones", or "Ms Jones", I would not be considered strange if I said "Good morning, Miss" to her.


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## GreenWhiteBlue

Thelb4 said:


> Regardless of whether my teacher was called "Mrs Jones", "Miss Jones", or "Ms Jones", I would not be considered strange if I said "Good morning, Miss" to her.



Perhaps not in the UK, but in the US you would be thought distinctly odd.  We simply do not address teachers with an unadorned "Miss" over here.


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## Meille

Over _here_, "Miss" for women (regardless of age or marital status) and "Sir" for men is quite common.


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## GreenWhiteBlue

Meille said:


> Over _here_, "Miss" for women (regardless of age or marital status) and "Sir" for men is quite common.



Really?  I thought that Quebec was largely francophone, and that it would not be_ common _to address a schoolteacher in English at all.


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## Meille

Yes, really. Quebec is indeed _largely _Francophone, but not exclusively so. About 10% of the population is Anglophone and in the *English *schools the teachers _are _commonly addressed in English.


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## white_jasmin

Just say "Good Morning" instead of "Good Morning, ma'am/miss". If you go to speak to her after class say, "Excuse me, could I speak to you for a second" or "Good afternoon, I have a question" instead of "Excuse me miss/ma'am", etc. Avoid addressing teachers by their gender!!! There is no reason for a teacher to be addressed by his or her gender unless you write a letter, then use "Ms. Smart" or "Mr. Smart".



Meille said:


> Yes, really. Quebec is indeed _largely _Francophone, but not exclusively so. About 10% of the population is Anglophone and in the *English *schools the teachers _are _commonly addressed in English.



That might be, but you address them in a french way. In france you call everybody 'monsieur' or 'madam'.. so you Anglophonazed the french cluture. I would not call a teacher a "Sir" in english, never ever! If you meet a frenchman you say "Bonjour monsieur" or "Bonjour madam", but in english you would just say "Good morning" or "Hello". Even if I take a taxi I say "Bonjour monsieur" to the taxi driver, but in English I would not say "Good morning Sir" to a taxi driver.Mergin


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## ribran

GreenWhiteBlue said:


> We simply do not address teachers with an unadorned "Miss" over here.



I can assure you that many schoolchildren here do, much to their teachers' annoyance.


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## Hermione Golightly

Hello ! 
I would like to know how English pupils address their female teachers .
 Is it possible to say:" Good morning , Miss" to a woman who is married  and not very young  or is it better to say " Good morning, Mrs Banks" or  "Good morning, Madam".
Thanks for your answers. 				

 I'm writing about England and probably the whole of the UK. The English equivalents of the French titles are Miss/Ms, Mrs/Ms, and Mr. By 'titles' I mean what you write before their name if you are addressing a letter to them, assuming they are ordinary people, without a title like 'Lord (name)' or Lady(name). "Madam" is not an English title.

The titles Mrs (missis), Mr (mister) and Ms (miz) are never correctly used alone without being followed by the name. That is one huge difference between French and English. In a greeting like Good morning! the title with the name should be used and that includes the title Miss, followed by the name. If you do not know the person's name then you say nothing, just Good morning!

I expect you are asking about addressing teachers in schools up to the age of 16 or 18. Some people  leave school at 16 and go on to a college of further education, so they are out of the school setting.
In primary schools up to age 11, the teacher addresses the whole class each morning saying Good morning children, Class 3 and the children chant "Good morning, Miss (name) or Mrs (name) or Mr (name)"  The children might address the teacher casually as 'Miss', even if she is married, or 'Sir' if they have a requerstg or to get the teacher's attention. 

I don't know what happens in secondary schools these days but I'd expect Mr /Mrs/Miss + name. There's little occasion to address the teacher anyway. I think boys might use 'Sir' especially in private schools.

Hermione


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## etelberta

My dearly beloved, ALL OF YOU,

Here's the thing. I'm not a native speaker of English, but a mere translation (undergrad) apprentice. (You won't believe it's getting more and more like a craft!!). I live in Argentina, but the rare thing is, my Spanish-speaking faculty need to be addressed in English if they use that language in the classroom. 
I'm sitting for my Br. Literature 2 exam IN ENGLISH. I read/attended the subject with a young, possibly liberal, pro British-is-not-only-English and minorities literature-not-classics doctor-to-be female faculty member, whom I addressed by her first name. Now my exam is going to be given to me by a largely I'm-not-a-fanatic-though English literature expert, whose marital status I have no reason to know or care for (it's really none of my business,right?), and I've got to write an email to her and put some honorific before her last/surname. BUT WHICH ONE GOES?
She is not a Doctor, I've found (lest the information I've found is incorrect), but a _Licenciada_. _Licenciaturas_ are quite common in Argentina, and they are as common as they are ambiguous regarding degree. Of course I cannot address her by _that _title in my email.
Given that she took her graduate courses in the UK, I do not dare use Professor [lastname], as I understand that the use of that particular honorific is not the same as in the US and varies a lot between countries, districts, or even schools. What's more, her LinkedIn account ascertains that she is a "teacher". Anyone can get me through this tricky language nuance before the exam? Thanks to all,


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## Cagey

Hello eltelberta, 

We answer questions in English only. 

Members of the Spanish forum will be better equipped to tell you what the title _Licenciada_ represents in English.  I found this thread:
Licenciado/licenciada (professional title)
There may be more. 

I suggest you search the Spanish forum. If none of their threads quite answer the question, you should add a question to one of their existing threads.


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## etelberta

Well, maybe I should look there, thank you!! But in the mean time, I'd like to ask how an undergrad Briton would address the faculty member in charge of the class if they had to write an email and the faculty member in question was NOT a doctor and the student was NOT acquainted with that person at all. Take into account that we are talking about a female professor/lecturer whose marital status is unknown or irrelevant. Thanks in advance,

me!!


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## natkretep

I think you will be safe with Ms + surname.

I had a supervisor with a Master's degree but without a PhD in a British university who I addressed as Mrs White. (I've changed the actual surname.) I only switched to her given name after graduation, and on her request.


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## etelberta

Mmhh I thought so, though I was unsure. I think I'll give that one a go and see how she signs in her reply. BTW, is Ms. already standard or does it sound too PC oriented/feministic in tone?
Thank you both, Cangey and natkretep!!


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## BlaznFattyz

Generally speaking you would say Ms. for either single or married, because you dont know and its not important that you know.  in a classroom setting from a native english speaker with 6 years of university, you call the female teacher whatever they want you to call them.  If you dont know what that is yet, then just say Professor, or Dr. last name.


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## etelberta

thanks BlaznFattyz!! In this particular case, I'll use Ms. because she calls herself a teacher, not a professor. I checked that in her LinkedIn profile. She studied in the UK so that's only natural, as I understand that you cannot address just any faculty member as Professor [lastname] in many British undergrad schools. So, she calls herself a "teacher" even when she is certainly teaching higher education courses. I took that as an indicator that she does not expect to be addressed as Professor at all!!



> I had a supervisor with a Master's degree but without a PhD in a British university who I addressed as Mrs White. (I've changed the actual surname.) I only switched to her given name after graduation, and on her request.


*

natketrep* thanks again. You've been VERY helpful. That was the kind of example I was looking for


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## Egmont

etelberta said:


> ... BTW, is Ms. already standard or does it sound too PC oriented/feministic in tone? ...


In the U.S., the title Ms. is well accepted among all sorts of people. Even my wife uses it: she didn't take my name when we got married, so she's not Mrs. Egmont; she isn't married to Mr. Wifesname, so she isn't Mrs. Wifesname (though her mother was); she's certainly not Miss anything - which leaves only Ms. Wifesname. I can't speak for the rest of the world, but in the U.S. I think few women would be offended by it.


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## etelberta

Thanks Egmont. Accurate AND fun response, what can I say!!


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## lucas-sp

I have to say that academics of all kinds are almost never offended when they're addressed _above_ their station. "Professors" are at the top of the BE food chain, so you couldn't possibly commit a faux pas by addressing her as "Professor X." Actually, addressing someone as "Reader X" would be a bit demeaning, even if they were a reader, because it would seem like you're calling attention to their lower status. (In the US academy, for instance, you would address a lecturer as "Professor Y" - well, if you would stoop to address a lecturer at all... )

I would say that in higher education in both the UK and US all faculty should be addressed as "Professor" unless: 1. they're actually of a significantly higher (administrative) rank such as Dean or Chancellor or 2. they've already broken the first-name barrier with you, which normally happens fairly quickly nowadays.

Ms. X teaches in a high school. Professor X teaches in a university or college.


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## natkretep

Lucas, it is not the norm for British academics to be given the title Professor unless they professors. Most academics (including readers) are addressed as Dr X (because they have PhDs, DPhils, etc.). There are however enough British academics without PhDs for 'Mr', 'Mrs', 'Ms', etc. not to sound strange in a British university context (unlike in an American context). If I was a Ms Smith and was addressed as Professor Smith, I might just dismiss it as coming from someone who didn't know the appropriate title, though I probably wouldn't be offended. But this is still a distraction. From what etelberta has said, this person is happy to label herself as a teacher, and it is known that she hasn't got a PhD. I would still recommend Ms X.


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## lucas-sp

I'll gladly plead ignorance then and bow out! It was just my sense that "Ms. X" could sound more insulting than "Professor X" - that is, if either one needed to be defined as particularly insulting - but I'm convinced by your explanation.


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