# Equivalent of "Ms" in foreign languages?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-of-ms-in-foreign-languages/499864>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 15, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-of-ms-in-foreign-languages/499864 "2009-06-15T18:47:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-of-ms-in-foreign-languages/499864/1 "2009-06-15T18:47:37Z")

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Is there an equivalent of “Ms” in foreghn languages? I wanted to greet my ophthalmologist, who is of German descent, this morning mit “Guten morgan, Frau Doktor.” But then I realized I did not know if she was married.

Any “Ms” is German, French, Spanish, etc these days? Or, for that matter, in Great Britain?

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**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-of-ms-in-foreign-languages/499864/2 "2009-06-15T18:49:53Z")

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In present-day German, “Fräulein” is obsolete, so you address an unmarried adult woman as “Frau”.

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**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-of-ms-in-foreign-languages/499864/3 "2009-06-15T19:16:47Z")

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We did this just a few days ago: [Married/single in languages other than English](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=520470).

> [@](#):
>
> In the last 30+ years, English speakers have adopted the term “Ms.” to hide the single/married status of a woman, especially in business. Good idea, I think.
> 
> Have the French, the Germans, the Spanish, the Italians, who all have differing words for a married woman and a single woman, also adopted such a term? If so, what is it?

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**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-of-ms-in-foreign-languages/499864/4 "2009-06-15T20:17:40Z")

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Thanks, **Sailor** , me bad, didn’t think to search. Very intgeresting thread.

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**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalent-of-ms-in-foreign-languages/499864/5 "2009-06-15T21:12:38Z")

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In Swedish, it’s **fröken** , but it it decades since anybody used it. It’s very old fashioned, to say the least.

We don’t use such titles anymore. I’m always a bit surprised when an American gentleman says “Sir” to me. The equivalence in Swedish would be **herr** , which, again, hasn’t been used for decades. You get the impulse to say: “Hey, I’m just a bloke, no need to ‘sir’ me”, but of course I understand it is out of politeness. It just feels strange.

The other week I was at a restaurant, and a middle aged man’s jacket had fallen to the floor, and I pointed it out for him: “Ursäkta, din kavaj har fallit i golvet.” I did’nt know he was foreign, but since I pointed to the floor behind his back, he understood what I meant and said: “Oh, thank you, sir”, which felt very weird. But you Americans are alway very polite, whatever you and others say, to my repeated experience.