Is there an equivalent to Ms. in other languages?

In Japanese there is “San”. That doesn’t imply marital status nor gender for that matter. It is just a sign of respect. You say it after the name: “JLeslie san”. A more formal term is sama but that is for really formal, high station people.

In French you say madame, whether or not she’s married, although that is technically used for a married woman/older woman, whether you know she’s married or not. If the woman is young, you say mademoiselle. Both these words are based on marital status, so technically, an older unmarried woman should be called mademoiselle, but this is Québec and we don’t give a shit. :)

Miss, mademoiselle, Mrs, madame. although I may be getting my English mixed up here

In Spanish – “Sra”
In French – “Mme”
In Greek – ”Κα”

All the languages I know have an equivalent.

@Symbeline I don’t know if I consider it an equivalent? I didn’t realize Madame is now used for anyone who is older? Is it taught that way in school? Or, just used that way, still knowing it really is supposed to indicate marital status? And, is it only verbally, or on a written document also? Are basically all written documents in business written Mme Lastname?

@DelfinAshley So you use Sra., and don’t assume the person is married? In writing? I didn’t know Sra. now is neutral for marital status. Basically same question for you, if you write someone a business letter and don’t know their age or marital status, you would use Sra.?

I thought Spanish has Señorita/Señora similar to Mademoiselle/Madame and Miss/Mrs. for in married and married.

English has a male equivalent Master/Mister, but we don’t use Master anymore, and I think that was age-based rather than marital status.

I don’t think there is an equivalent in any Eurolanguage. I’d really like to know as well. The Ragingloli or Cazzie might be good people to ask.

@Symbeline: I’ve been wondering about this, as I have been doing a lot of correspondence by email with bureaucrats I don’t know, haha… Is it more respectful to address them by default as Madame? That is what I have been doing. But, since I’m a ‘murican, I’ve worried that it might insult them, as it might insult an American woman to be addressed as “Mrs.” by default (because it has implications both of marital status and of age).

@JLeslie They teach us that in school yes, but yes again, it is just used that way, whatever the marital status it originally implicated.
As madame is used for a married woman, we pretty much have to assume that a woman 40 or so is married, so out of respect you say madame, and if she’s not married, she’ll expect to be called that anyway. The formalities are really blurred in between when religion ruled everything and today, so being called madame if you’re older is not a sign of disrespect and most unmarried women don’t mind. Originally it is completely stupid I think though even though I’m totally happy that people still call me miss, I should enjoy it while I can, lol I mean for a man, it’s monsieur as soon as he’s no longer a teen, whether he’s married or not. Should be the same for women.

@bookish1 Well I guess this depends on where you live and what the culture is like, but for formal stuff here, unless you know the person is married or not, mrs or mme is usually the default setting you would use. (in Québec) If you’re sending formal e-mails to beaurocrats in France, I would say play it safe and stick to the guidelines by using mme, unless again, you know the person personally. They’re a bit more upitty over there than we are here in Québec when it comes to pragmatism.
However, to avoid uncomfortable situations or confusion, often times, you can omit the entire thing out of it, and say just write Dear Symbeline Fuckface. Of course, NOT adding mrs or mr can insult some people or seem unprofessional, so mme is usually the default. OR if you really want to avoid any kind of discrimination issue, you can play the ignorance card and go; Dear mr/mrs Fuckface.

In French, “Mme” is the abbreviation for “Madame.” But, women automatically become Madame when they reach maturity or attain a certain status in life; they never need to get married. “Mademoiselle” is used only for young, unmarried girls and women. Thus, it’s safe to say that “Mme” works very similarly to “Ms.”

Madame Fuckface, Thank you very much for your advice. It will be of enormous help to me. Would you please accept the expression of my respectful sentiments, @bookish1 French-lover

no probs bro ’‘fist bump’’

Interesting. Thanks for all the clarification so far.

A Venezuelan friend of mine once pointed out to me that her driver’s license says she is married, maybe it even says her husband’s name, I don’t remember. I think here in the US there would be a big uproar about that. In Latin American countries also the woman usually keeps her fathers surname and then adds “de Husband’sLastName” So, her full name makes it obvious she is married. Although, they aren’t obligated to use the full name as far as I know. My MIL’s passport still has her maiden name, while other accounts she has are under her full married name.

@SadieMartinPaul There is an equivalent in Danish. If the woman is unmarried she is referred to as frk.(frøken), and if she is married she is referred to as fru.(frue). But mostly you just say the woman’s first name.

I was under the impression that in all the European languages, the mode of address for a woman was now based on adult/minor status, not marital status (even though those terms originally were based on marital status), which makes much more sense than adding an unnecessary third term.

Señora / Señorita
Frau / Fräulein
etc.

^Edit: change “all the European languages” to “French, German, and Spanish”.

In Hebrew, no.

Ms = Frau.

You hear Fräulein when you watch movies from the 70s and before. It’s completely gone. In a company it might actually get you into trouble. I haven’t heard or read it in real life for decades.