Single girl Miss or Mrs. Active use of appeals in society

How to approach a stranger in Russia? There is no universal appeal: girl, young lady - everyone uses these and other options in accordance with their own taste. For foreigners, things are somewhat better with this: fröken and fru in Sweden, frölein and frau in Germany, senorita and senora in Spain, mademoiselle and madam in France, miss and missus in England, the USA, Australia, Canada and a number of others. There doesn't seem to be much difference between these words. And yet there are nuances that not everyone knows.

It would seem, why so strictly separate Mrs. and Miss? The difference is two letters, but a lot of questions arise. What is the best way to approach a stranger? A large number of doubts arise if it concerns not personal communication, but business correspondence.

The difference between Miss and Mrs. is that the former is applied to unknown young and unmarried women, while the latter is applied only to married and widowed women. "Mrs." can be called an older lady if there is no certainty about her marital status.

When a surname is added to the address, you need to carefully choose between “Mrs.” and “Miss.” The difference is still the same - However, in this case, ladies are a little more likely to be offended if you say "Mrs." to an unmarried woman. Therefore, if in any doubt, it is better to use the “girlish” option. As a last resort, you can apologize and give some nice compliment.

As for here, the situation has long been simpler, since the neutral version of “Ms” is increasingly being used, which does not focus on the marital status of the interlocutor. Although in some

In cases that will be discussed a little later, "Miss" and "Mrs." are also used in official letters. There is a difference here too, although in general the neutral "Ms." is used. or “Ms” - the presence or absence of a dot depends on whether the correspondence is with a European or an American.

And yet, in some cases, marital status can and should be emphasized. This is done, for example, in official invitations to certain events when they are intended

the whole family. Then there is a listing: Mr, Mrs and Miss, if we are talking about a man, his wife and daughter. Obviously, in such cases, the use of neutral addresses is absolutely inappropriate; “Mrs.” and “Miss” will look more organic. The difference between this and other cases is that here the emphasis on the kinship and marital status of the ladies is absolutely natural.

But perhaps in the future something neutral will be used in these cases, since feminist sentiments are raging in Europe. Women are not inclined to advertise their marital status, so they consider the use of separate addresses to married and unmarried ladies to be sexist. Last year in France it was already prohibited to use the address “mademoiselle” in official documents, which was replaced by “madame”.

So, in the addresses “Mrs.” and “Miss” the difference is still quite large. And the point here is not in his marital status, but rather in the attitude of those around him. In the future, perhaps, there will still be one thing left not only in business correspondence, but also in personal communication, but for now it remains to puzzle over which word is best to use.

In European culture, the rules of etiquette include addressing a woman in a form that corresponds to her status, age and marital status.

Definition

Madam- obligatory word usage in France and some European countries during official communication with representatives of the fairer sex. Initially, this form of polite address indicated that a woman belonged to the upper class or a noble family. Later appeal madam lost its pronounced class connotation, passed into the category of words used in etiquette formulas of speech, and began to be used in relation to women in general.

Ma'am– short form of address madam, which was actively used in England in the 18th – 19th centuries in relation to a woman who occupied a significant position in society. Currently in English the form ma'am is outdated and practically not used. In the meanings " madam», « mistress», « mentor“It has taken hold in the countries of North America and has become part of the active vocabulary of modern Americans.

Miss and Mrs- forms of polite address to a woman in England and America. Appeal Mrs. in combination with the husband's surname, it is used in relation to married persons. In relation to an unmarried woman, the rules of etiquette prescribe the treatment miss.

Mademoiselle- a polite address to girls and young women before their marriage, which in France until recently was considered a sign of good manners. With the spread of the French language and French etiquette among the Russian nobility of the 18th – early 19th centuries, this form began to be used in Russian speech. Modern use of the address mademoiselle limited: under the influence of the feminist movement, since 2012 in France it has been excluded from official use.

Comparison

It is customary to address married women in the form madam And Mrs..

Miss- a form of address to unmarried women, which is used in countries that inherit the rules of English etiquette, regardless of the age of the fair sex.

Form mademoiselle as a polite address to a girl is gradually losing its meaning: since February 2012 in France it has been officially replaced by the commonly used form madam.

Appeal ma'am widespread in America: it is used by subordinates in relation to a woman who has a certain official position.

Conclusions website

1. Appeal madam to married women, is customary in France and some English-speaking countries in Europe.
2. In American communication the word madam transformed into a short form ma'am and has partially lost its meaning indicating the social status of a married woman.
3. Use of addresses miss And Mrs. common in England. Form Mrs. in combination with the husband's surname used in relation to a married woman; miss It is customary to use it in combination with the surname received at birth.
4. Appeal mademoiselle may only apply to young unmarried women and young girls. It is excluded from official business communication in France, but traditionally remains in speech use.

It was impossible on a social network or on someone’s personal page. Men could only guess whether the girl was married or not, or maybe just ask directly. In different countries, unmarried girls differed from their counterparts in their outfits, and in particular in their hats. In Western European countries, girls did not differ from each other in any way, so the only way to find out whether she was Miss or Mrs. was to ask her herself.

Differences

Let's try to figure it out. What is the difference between Miss and Mrs? And the fact that the address “Miss” plus the girl’s name indicated that the girl was not married. Sometimes, when meeting, the ladies introduced themselves, thereby showing their unmarried status. Unlike “Mrs,” this was used exclusively to address married ladies. This was customary and considered very polite. In Russia this was not the case; the female gender was addressed as “young lady,” but it was unclear, because it could refer to a married maiden or not.

When in a foreign country, your attitude towards strangers is very important. The main thing here is to choose the right politeness formula, of course, if you want to get answers to your questions and not offend the person. And so as not to be showered with sidelong glances, try to remember how to correctly address the delicate English female sex, Miss or Mrs. By the way, in England it became an exception that teachers and lecturers were called only “Miss”. This situation was adopted only in order to preserve traditions, since previously only unmarried girls were hired to work in schools.

Miss or Mrs.

Etiquette required adherence to clear rules for addressing women. "Miss" and "Mrs" are expressions of respect for a lady. As a rule, the address “Mrs.” was used in combination with the woman’s name and the surname of her husband. According to some scholars of English, this division of concepts occurred only in the seventeenth century.

When a woman becomes a widow or divorces her husband, she retains the right to be called Mrs. and bear only her husband's surname. But today these rules have become softer. And a divorced woman can take her maiden name but remain Mrs.

Lady

Well, now we have dealt with “Mrs” and “Miss”. “Lady” is also a kind of address. But it is applied to women who have a title and a high position in society, and also have an elegant appearance. This address is also used in combination with the lady’s name. The lady always behaves tactfully, correctly, she is not too talkative. Will never insult or humiliate the dignity of another person. The lady drives men crazy without much effort, and when she refuses advances, the gentlemen remain her slaves forever. This address corresponds to the titles of men "sir", "lord" and "gentleman".

Conclusion

This means that the addresses “Miss” and “Mrs.” are an expression of feelings of respect for the fair sex. Because a woman remains beautiful and attractive to men, regardless of whether she is married or not.

Now you know how to address this or that girl. You can use either Miss or Mrs, depending on her status.

Depending on the situation, we approach the people around us differently. An address is understood as an intonationally and grammatically isolated independent component, which is used to designate a person or (less often) an object acting as the addressee of speech. Here are some examples of addresses in English:

As you can see from the above examples, the type of address depends on many factors, in particular, on how formal or, conversely, informal the communication situation is, on whether the form of communication chosen is oral or written, as well as on your and the interlocutor’s age, gender , social status, profession and relationships of subordination.

Formal forms of addressing one person in English

To address a person in a formal situation, the English language offers several polite forms. For example, to address a man, the following options are used:

If we talk about each of the above forms, it is worth noting the following:

• the treatment can be applied to any man, whatever his age, social status and marital status; such an address is placed before the addressee's surname, for example: Mr. Johnson - Mr. Johnson;
• The address Sir should be chosen if the addressee’s last name remains unnamed or unknown; in rarer, but more honorable cases, Sir is an address to a person holding a knighthood (in the United Kingdom) and is placed either before the name, for example - Sir Richard / Sir Richard, or before the full name and surname, for example - Sir Elton John / Sir Elton John;
• The address is placed after the full name. Message from Mr. in such cases it should no longer be used, since it will be redundant. This treatment has its roots in the medieval term Esquire, which first denoted the squire of a knight, and only later belonging to the lower strata of the nobility. The form is currently used quite rarely, more often in the written version.

To address a woman in an official setting, the following forms apply:

The differences between the above forms of addressing a woman are sometimes quite significant, in particular:

• appeal Mrs. is sometimes addressed to a married woman and requires after it her last name / first name and last name / first and last name of her husband, for example: Stevenson / Mrs. Jane Stevenson/Mrs. Paul Stevenson. The last option will seem rather unusual to a Russian person, but there is a simple explanation for this, because the form Mrs. – this is an address expressing belonging to a certain man (Mrs. as a form of the possessive case from Mr.);
• the address Miss is applicable to an unmarried girl and requires a surname after it, for example - Miss Brown, less often - a name, for example Miss Alice;
• appeal Ms. occurs more often in business correspondence, while in oral speech preference is given to one of the two forms indicated above. This treatment, which applies to any woman regardless of whether she is married, is the result of numerous campaigns for women's equality. After the address Ms., recommended in 1974 by the United Nations, it is necessary to use the surname, for example - J. Simpson;
• Madam is used if the addressee's last name is not mentioned or is unknown, for example – Dear Madam / Dear Madam. In addition, the address Madam is also typical for use in relation to a high-ranking female person, and the post she occupies can be named after it, for example: Madam Managing Director / Madam General Director.

Formal address to several addressees

When speaking orally to a mixed-sex audience, the most typical and acceptable form becomes Ladies and gentlemen! – which is translated into Russian as "Ladies and Gentlemen!" . In a less formal situation, you can find wording such as Dear friends! - "Dear friends!"; Dear colleagues! - "Dear Colleagues!" or Esteemed colleagues! - "Dear Colleagues!" .

In an official written address to several persons (presumably mostly male), whose surnames are unknown, the wording is used Sirs / Gentlemen , For example:

If there is a written appeal to a group of women whose names and surnames are unknown, the wording is used Mesdames () / Ladies , For example:

If the message in correspondence is aimed at several addressees, and their last names are known, you can use the wording Messrs ( [ˈmes.əz]) / Gentlemen , after which these surnames are indicated, for example: MessrsJohnson, Smith and Robinson - Messrs. Johnson, Smith and Robinson. However, this formulation is now considered somewhat outdated.

Unofficial appeal

Without going too far from the topic of addressing a letter, it should be noted that when addressing a friend or good acquaintance, it is enough to call him by name or address him using the wording Dear + name (Dear...) or Hello/Hi,+ name (Hello, ...) .

In oral speech, the most acceptable address is also considered to be addressed by name. In this case, a diminutive form of the name can also be used, as in Russian, for example:

However, such forms do not exist for all names, and calling the full name is still more common.

Another question is that, unlike the Russian patronymic name, in English-speaking countries people sometimes have several names, which is associated with the Catholic tradition of “tying” the name of a patron saint or some relative to one name. However, there is no patronymic in English. But out of several names given to a person at baptism, the first one does not always become the one that the person perceives as the main thing and would like to be called that way. For example: William Bradley Pitt is better known as Brad Pitt.

But in order to avoid misunderstandings associated with calling by name, it is worth clarifying with your interlocutor: “ What should I call you ? - “What should I call you?” .

Be polite and friendly in your communication and the necessary forms of address will definitely serve you well.