Addressing a divorced woman in English. Application forms for

A person learning a foreign language must realize that the beauty of a language lies in its diversity. Of course, this is primarily a tool that allows us to convey our thoughts to the listener or reader, but the form is no less important than the content. Moreover, native speakers, listening to your speech, will truly appreciate your rich vocabulary. And this, you see, is a significant reason to be proud of the results of your labors. This requirement applies not only to advanced English lovers, but also to those who are just starting to learn English for beginners and with silent horror are opening an English dictionary or grammar for the first time. Useful words and their synonyms need to be sought out, written down, memorized and used in speech whenever possible. With this, I hope the LINGVISTOV team will provide you with all possible assistance.

I don’t know about you, but I very often get tired of the hackneyed “dear”, “baby”, “bro” and other banalities. In calls in spoken English there is also room to expand in terms of vocabulary, which can be replenished with slang expressions heard in films in English or read in books and magazines.

But let’s first take a look at the polite addresses. The most common forms are Mr.(Mister) Mrs.(Missis) and Ms.(Miss - for a young girl or unmarried woman), to which the surname of this person is added. For example, “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to DIE! If you do not know the last name of the person you are addressing, use Sir, Madame or Miss; however, the latter can cause trouble if the girl is married (tested by bitter experience). The use of Ma'am, short for Madam, is very controversial:

In the UK it is hardly used and is considered an obsolete form.

In the US, the use of "madam" is limited to very formal occasions, while "ma'am" is common in everyday speech when addressing an adult woman who you assume may already have a family and children, especially if she is older. you. In the South and Southwest of the United States, “ma’am” is an address to any woman or girl.

There are many friendly addresses, as well as affectionate ones, in the English language. Addressing friends varies depending on which version of English you prefer, however, it is not limited to them.

British English:

chap: “Dear old chap, I’ve missed you!” (Old man, I missed you!)

mate(also Australia, New Zealand): “Hey, mate, do you want to hit the pub?” (Mate, let's go to the pub?)

pal(also popular in the US): “My most useful acting tip came from my pal John Wayne. Talk low, talk slow, and don't say too much.” - Michael Caine (The most useful acting advice was given to me by my friend John Wayne. Speak low, speak slowly and say little. - Michael Caine)

crony: “I"m going to the pub with me cronies” (I went to the pub with my friends.)

mucker(Ireland): “What about ye, mucker? Are you in or out?” (So, buddy? Are you in?)

American English:

homie: “Time to go, homie.” (Time to go, buddy.)

home slice: “You’re coming with us tonight, home slice?” - Sure.”

amigo: “Hey, amigo, long time no see.” (Hey, amigo, how many years, how many winters!)

buddy: “I'm going to have some beer with my buddy tonight.” (My friend and I will have a couple of drinks today.)

bestie: “You and I are besties for life!” (You and I are best friends for life!)

dawg: “Waddup, dawg? “Nothing, jus’ chillin.”

fella: “Good to see you, fella.” Most often used in the meaning of “guy, person (male)”: “Who are these fellas?” (Who are these people?)

dude: “Dude, where’s my car?” (classic)

Affectionate addresses to loved ones are also very varied. Here are some of them, in most cases used regardless of gender:

Honey (abbreviated as hon)

Sugar (also sugarplum, sugar pie, sugar cake, etc.)

And finally, some endearments divided by gender:

Nicknames for a Boyfriend

Nicknames for a Girlfriend

Handsome - Handsome
Sweetie Pie - Darling, Sun
Tiger - Tiger
Hot Stuff - Sex bomb
Cuddles (Cuddle Cakes, Cuddle Bunny etc.) - Cutie
Prince Charming - Prince on a white horse, handsome prince
Mr. Perfect (Mr. Amazing etc.) - Mr. Perfect
Honey Bear
Captain - Captain
Lady Killer - Heartbreaker
Marshmallow - Marshmallow
Stud - Stallion
Teddy Bear - Little Bear
Zeus - Zeus
Superman - Superman

Sweetie - Darling
Babe (Baby Doll, Baby Girl etc.)
Gorgeous - Beauty
Honey Bun - Bun
Cookie Monster - Cookie Monster (character from the series "Sesame Street")
Biscuit - Cookie
Cherry - Cherry
Cupcake - Cutie
Kitten - Kitten
Precious - Darling, Precious
Peanut - Baby
Pumpkin - Cutie, Lovely
Sexy Mama
Snowflake - Snowflake
Sugarplum - My Sweet
Sweet Cheeks - My Sweet
Dumpling - Cutie

Here it is important to avoid excessive familiarity, because, as one of my good friends says: “I"m not your honey, darling, sweetheart, dear, ducky, or any other diminutive creature.”

Girls are different... And appeals to them too. Let's look at the peculiarities of English address to women of different social status, because the rules of good manners oblige us to know this.

In Western culture, when introducing a woman (in oral and written speech), it is customary to indicate not only her first and last name, but also her “status”. This status is usually denoted by a special word, which often acts as an address. There are no analogues of such treatment in Russian culture. Addressing a woman to indicate her status was typical for holders of a noble title. In general, this division of statuses is not typical for Russian culture, therefore the English “Miss” and “Mrs.” cannot be unambiguously compared with similar addresses to women in Russian culture.

Ms[UK spelling], Ms. [ˈmɪz], , [ˈməz], [ˈməs]) - “Madam...”. This address is neutral in English-speaking countries. Ms is placed in front of the surname of both married and unmarried women if her marital status is unknown or the woman consciously emphasizes her equality with a man. This appeal appeared in the 1950s and came into use since the 1970s on the initiative of representatives of the feminist movement.

According to The American Heritage Book of English Usage, “the use of Ms. eliminates the need to guess whether the addressee is Mrs. or Miss: using Ms., it is impossible to make a mistake. Regardless of whether the female addressee is married or not, or whether she has changed her last name or not, the use of Ms. always correct." In its style guide, The Times states: “Today, Ms is entirely acceptable if a woman chooses to be called that, or if it is not known exactly, Mrs.” she or Miss.” The Guardian, which uses "women's titles" exclusively in editorials, advises in its style guide: "use Ms for women...unless they have expressed a desire to use Miss or Mrs."

Appeal Ms. is the standard address for a woman if she is not given another preferred address. For standard use Ms. Also speaking are authors of books on etiquette, including Judith Martin (also known as "Miss Manners").


Address to an unmarried girl

Miss- English-language address to an unmarried woman. Is short for mistress(an outdated form of addressing a woman). Can be used before a surname or as a direct address. An analogue in Russian can be the word “girl” or the pre-revolutionary “young lady” or “mademoiselle”.

The address “Miss” is also used to refer to a teacher, regardless of her marital status. This rule is associated with a period when only unmarried women could engage in teaching.

Address to a married woman

Mrs.- an appeal to a married woman. Nowadays, addressing a woman using her husband's name is rare, although it is possible to address a couple jointly, such as Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. It is generally considered polite to address women using Ms. rather than Mrs., especially if the woman's preferences for being addressed are unknown, especially in written communications.

Punctuation after abbreviation

On the letter there is a dot after the abbreviations:

  • Dear Miss Jones! – Dear Miss Jones!
  • Dear Mrs. Wilson! - Dear Mrs. Wilson!
  • Dear Ms. Smith! – Dear Mrs. Smith!

If the appeal is written in full, then there is no full stop:

  • Miss Dana Simms - Miss Dana Simms.

Let's summarize:

  • Ms– a polite form of addressing a woman in letters without directly indicating marital status.
  • Miss- an appeal to an unmarried woman.
  • Mrs- an appeal to a married woman.


Adapted texts in English
Rhyming words in English
English female names

In English there are many options for polite forms of addressing a person.
Towards man the forms Mr., Sir, Esq are used. , and in relation to a woman - Mrs., Ms., Miss, Madam.

Now let's look at each of them separately.
Form Mr. can be used when addressing a man, regardless of his age and marital status. The only limitation is the fact that it must be followed by the surname of the person being addressed:
Dear Mr. Ivanov, Dear Mr. Ivanov!

When addressing several persons it is used Messrs, and to the surnames themselves there is a plural ending. –s is not added and a period is not placed after the polite form:
Messrs Thomas and Smith

If the addressee's surname is unknown, then use Sir(Sirs when addressing several persons):
Dear Sirs, Dear Sirs!

As a synonym for the form Mr. in England they sometimes use the form Esq. However, it is placed not before the name, but after it, and, naturally, in this case the form Mr. absent:
Michael S. Johnson, Esq.

For reference: This form goes back to the word esquire esquire. In medieval England, an esquire was a knight's squire, and later this word came to mean one of the lower noble titles. This form was used in letters for some time, but is now becoming less and less common.

Form Mrs. (Mmes when addressing several women) is placed before (1) the surname or (2) the first and surname of a married woman or (3) the first and surname of her husband:
Mrs. Brown - Mrs. Brown
Mrs. Laura Brown - Mrs Laura Brown
Mrs. Peter Brown - Mrs. Peter Brown

For reference:
Mrs form is an abbreviation for mistress, which is read as . It is incorrect to assume that this is an abbreviation for missus/missis (although the readings of Mrs. and missus/missis are the same).
Why is this so?
The fact is that abbreviated forms of polite address are formed by adding the first and last letters:
Mr. = MisteR
Dr. =DoctoR
Mrs. cannot be a contraction of missus/missis since missus/missis does not have an r consonant, so it makes sense that
Mrs. = MistResS

In this case, missus/missis are used in the meaning of “wife, mistress”. They do not have abbreviations, since this is not a form of address that is placed before the surname. These words are typical for informal speech, for example, in a husband’s speech about his wife:
I promised the missus I"d be home by eleven - I promised my wife to be home by eleven.

Form Miss used in relation to an unmarried woman and must be followed by the surname:
Dear Miss Willis, Dear Miss Willis!

Form Ms.(read or) is the linguistic equivalent of the form Mr., since it is used in relation to a woman regardless of the fact of her marital status. This form was recommended by the UN in 1974 as a result of campaigns by various organizations for women's equality. It should be noted, however, that in everyday life this form is not used as often as in official correspondence, since most women prefer to use the Mrs form. (married) or Miss (unmarried). However, modern formal and even semi-official correspondence tends strictly to use the Ms form. This form must also be followed by the last name:
Ms. S. Smith to Mrs. S. Smith

Madam(Mesdames when addressing several women) is the most formal way to address a woman. This form can be called the linguistic equivalent of Sir, since it is also used when the recipient's last name is unknown:
Dear Madam, Dear Madam!
Dear Mesdames Dear madams!

In addition, this form is used in writing to refer to a high-ranking woman, married or unmarried, to a queen, princess, countess, daughter of a duke, maid of honor, as well as to a woman holding an official position; with job title ( Madam Chairman!)

Forms of address related to family relationships. Affectionate and friendly forms of address. Polite forms of address. Unfriendly, offensive forms of treatment. Features of the use of various forms of address in the USA.

An address is a word or combination of words that names the person to whom the speech is addressed. Addresses primarily serve as names of people, names of persons by degree of relationship, position in society, profession, occupation, position, rank, nationality or age, relationships between people. Without it it is difficult to imagine communication. It is used, first of all, to attract the attention of the person to whom the speaker is addressing. The structure and meaning of addresses vary depending on the form and degree of speech. In colloquial speech, less common addresses are more common, calling a person by name, by first name and patronymic, by last name. There are common addresses in written speech. In them, the name of a person is often accompanied by definitions that express the speaker’s attitude towards the named person. Addresses in the language of artistic works are extremely diverse in structure and meaning, especially in poetic speech. They draw the reader's attention to the addressee. When forming appeals, writers use different types of definitions: agreed and inconsistent, applications, and use a series of homogeneous appeals.

We believe that considering English forms of address in various aspects is very important. Our work is devoted to the consideration of various forms of address, which we have combined into several groups.

1. Forms of address related to family relationships.

2. Affectionate and friendly forms of address.

3. Polite forms of address.

4. Unfriendly, offensive forms of treatment.

5. Features of the use of various forms of address in the United States of America.

Forms of address related to family relationships.

The address father (to father) continues to remain either in this form or in such colloquial forms as dad, daddy, pa, papa and so on.

The address mother also has many colloquial variations: ma, mam, mum, mamma, non, mummy and so on. The address son (to a son) is more typical for fathers, while the address daughter (to a daughter) is rarely used by parents nowadays.

Geminis are often referred to as twins.

Individually, children are addressed by personal names, household nicknames, or use endearing words for this purpose.

Children traditionally address older family members (grandparents) with the words grandpa, granddad, grandma, granny, and so on.

The latter use personal names to address their grandchildren instead of words such as grandson or granddoughter. Addresses to other close relatives include the words uncle, aunt, auntie, sometimes combined with the personal names Uncle Jack, Aunt Margaret.

Addresses between husband and wife are personal names, endearing nicknames, or endearing words.

The addresses brother and sister are rare nowadays. Usually the personal names of brother and sister are used. Note that outside of family relationships, the addresses brother and sister are used more often.

Affectionate and friendly forms of address.

Numerous forms of address that express the speaker’s positive attitude towards the addressee are very popular in modern English. Among them we can mention baby, boy, dear, angel, dearest, dear boy, dear girl, friend, honey (the latest addresses mean “dear, dear”) kid, love, lovely, sweet, sweatheart, sweets. This also includes various forms of friendly addresses with my or my dear: my precious, my dear son, my dear doughter, my dear sweet, swest heart and so on.

The formula with old is very typical for friendly treatment: old boy, old chap, old man (old man).

Polite forms of address.

The most commonly used form of polite address is the use of the combination Mr., Mrs., or Miss (for a young girl or unmarried woman) + the surname of the person being addressed: "Mr. Jones", I`d like to tall to you. "The address Miss can be used by schoolchildren if their teacher is a young woman: "Good morning, miss." A polite form of addressing a woman is Madam. For example, a salesperson in a store addresses a female customer: "Can I help you, madam?" The corresponding form of addressing a man (especially to one of higher position) Sir. This is how schoolchildren turn to male teachers, military personnel to senior ranks, store clerks to customers, police officers to passers-by, and so on.

The address Sir is used without a first and last name. When addressed in a group, it is replaced by the word gentlemen, and Madam - by the word ladies: ladies and gentlemen! Consider the appeal to titled persons: to the queen, king when introduced - Your majesty ("your majesty"): to the queen's husband, as well as to the heirs of the monarch - Your Royal Highness (Your Royal Highness "); in the future, these titles are replaced in circulation by Ma'am and Sir; To the Duke - Your Grace ("your Grace"); the address to his wife is the same; To the Marquis, Count, Viscount and Baron - Madam, your Lardship, as well as My Lady (the latter addresses are usually used by servants ); To a baronet and to the holder of a knighthood awarded for special merits - Sir (when the title of a baronet or knight, the word Sir is placed before the name or before the name and surname: Sir John or Sir John Jones); when the wife of a baronet or knight is titled, the word Lady is used together with the husband's surname: Lady Anderson, the name may be placed in brackets: Lady (Barbara) Anderson.

Let's list the appeals to representatives of the English church: to the archbishop (governs the diocese and his bishops) Your Grace or My Lord ("Your Eminence"); to the bishop (is the main church administrative territorial unit) - My Lord (z. "your eminence") to the archdeacon (in charge of the administration of the diocese) - Mr. Archdeacon [ `a: tS`di: kn ] ; to the rector of the cathedral - Mr. Dean to canon (is the senior priest of the cathedral) - Canon (address by title); the same title is used to address other priests of the English Church - \ icar / Rector (parish priest), Chaplain (military or ship chaplain, as well as a priest at parliament, a hospital, an educational institution, etc.); a Catholic priest is addressed using f2ather + name; in Ireland, he is addressed using the phrase Your Reverebce ("your reverence") Let's also consider other polite addresses to people holding certain positions or having a particular profession, and so on.

In Britain, the Lord Mayor is addressed using the combination My Lord; the mayor of the city is simply addressed as Mr Mayor. The official address to the ambassador is Your Excellency or Sir+ first name or Mr + last name. Addressing people in the medical profession politely usually involves using their professional titles. So, calling a doctor is doctor. As for the concept of “nurse”, it provides the following synonyms: nurse is used in relation to representatives of both sexes performing the duties of junior medical personnel; it is appropriate to address a female nurse who occupies a higher official position in the hospital with the word sister; matron is used to refer to the head nurse of the hospital. In the armed forces, addressing military personnel usually includes their rank (with or without a surname): Admiral (Smith), General, Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant,. Corporal and so on The address in the form "rank + surname" is more official. A policeman is also addressed by his rank: Sergeant (z. “police sergeant”), Inspector (z. “police inspector”) and so on. Colloquial address to a police officer.

In the scientific world, in official cases it is customary to address people by title: Professor, Senior, Tutor, Dean, and so on. Note that some addresses directly related to the names of professions can hardly be considered polite. They are neutral and are used quite often. For example, to attract the attention of a waiter in a restaurant, you address him: “Waiter!”, call a porter at the station: “Porter!”, Say to a taxi driver: “Stop here, driver.” Many forms of address in the plural sound neutral. So, in words and expressions, everybody, both of you, all of you, etc. the emphasis is more on the expression of plurality itself, rather than on politeness or friendship. Calls become much more aggressive if they are preceded by you: “You two”, “You lot” and the like.

Unfriendly, offensive forms of treatment.

It is generally accepted to interpret most addresses like you + adjective + noun as negative (unfriendly, offensive). Typical examples of the implementation of this model: You bloody fool, you bloody swine, you dirty bastard, you old cow and so on.

Often the qualifying adjective is omitted: you bastard, you fool, and so on. Among the negative references there are many words related to the animal world (zoonyms): ass, cat, cow, goat, hog, jackass, louse, pig, shrew, skunk, swine, turkey, vermin and so on.

In English, married women and girls are addressed differently. This culture took hold in the 17th century, and continues to this day, despite the position of modern society on the principle of gender equality.

Address in English miss or mrs

Etiquette norms that have taken root in English-speaking countries require distinguishing between speech and writing when addressing women of different social status. When a woman introduces herself in society, she gives not only her first and last name. The rules of good manners oblige her or the person who represents her to put before her name an address that characterizes her marital status.

The status of a woman in Western society is usually designated by a special word. There are no analogues to such treatment in Russian culture, or they are extremely weakly expressed. Addressing women to indicate her status was typical as part of her title of nobility, if she possessed one.

In general, this division of statuses is not typical for Russian culture, therefore the English “Miss” and “Mrs.” cannot be unambiguously compared with addresses in Russian speech.

In English-speaking society, there are norms for the use of such addresses:

  • Miss– an appeal to a girl, most often used in relation to young people under 18 years of age. In addition, with the prefix Miss you can address a teacher, saleswoman, or maid. Also, this appeal is considered most appropriate if the woman’s status is unknown.
  • Mrs.- a traditional form of addressing a married lady. In this case, after the address, you can call both the woman’s own name and the name of her husband. Divorced women and widows are named after missis by their maiden name and surname.

Pronunciation

The Miss address in transcription looks like this:

The obsolete word Mistress, which is rarely used orally, is pronounced . More often this word has the meaning of “mistress”, “mistress” or “mistress”.

For example:

  • Mistress of the situation - Mistress of the situation.
  • Costumemistress - Chief costume designer.
  • The dog ran alongside his mistress - The dog ran next to its mistress.

A derivative of Mistress, which over time became the independent word missis, it is pronounced as follows: . Literally translated, missis means “wife.”

Usage

In English, in oral speech miss and mistress are used in specific situations:

  • Miss – an address to an unmarried person or a school teacher, regardless of her marital status, for example:
  • He was finished at Miss A.’s – She was educated at Miss A.’s boarding house.
  • Which Miss Smith do you mean? – Which Miss Smith do you mean?
  • Mistress or missis- a form of polite address to a lady, married or divorced, as well as to a widow.

Examples of oral addresses


Full addresses are not used in the letter; they are replaced with abbreviations:

  • Miss– if it is known for sure that the lady is not married;
  • Mrs– if there is confidence that the woman has entered into marriage or is currently married;
  • Ms- a polite form of address in letters, which indicates that a person is female, but does not directly indicate marital status.

Accepted requests in letters

  • Dear Miss Jones! – Dear Miss Jones!
  • Dear Mrs. Wilson! - Dear Mrs. Wilson!
  • Dear Ms. Smith! – Dear Mrs. Smith!

Punctuation after abbreviation

It is customary to put punctuation marks after abbreviations in writing:

  • Jane Johnson – Mistress Jane Johnson
  • John Kelly – Mrs. John Kelly

There is no period after the word Miss, since the full form of the word is used:

  • Miss Dana Simms - Miss Dana Simms.