Although German has a clearer separation between formally and informally addressing people, the formality in English language is often overlooked. German uses words such as Sie and du, the later being more formal and used when talking to adults, educators, and anyone who may stand at a higher position. Other words may be added when speaking, such as Frau (Misses), and Herr (Mister). Along with titles, last names may also be used.
Titles in English are not unheard of, in fact, and can be used quite often as well. English also may narrow down titles into more specific categories like Ms., Mrs., Mr., and Dr. Coming from the English language, when using titles and addressing someone by their last name can be looked at as being polite, rather than in the German language as being necessary to use and rude if not used (german.about.com). When first meeting someone, in German, a distinction must be made on whether or not to use formal or informal you. English may even waver back and forth between the two, and unless specified, formally addressing someone happens more rarely.
I liked how you gave examples about how different German and English are when compared to addressing people...It was very informative.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you addressed the fact that English speakers not only use Mr. and Mrs. for formality, but also for politeness.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that there are titles other than Mr., Ms., and Mrs. that we use to address certain people.
ReplyDeleteThank you for defending the English language. I found interesting the distinction you made between the use of formality in English versus German, especially how in English it is viewed as courteous but not necessary but in German it is very necessary.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about how the titles we use in English we use such as Dr. are similar to du and Sie. Great point!
ReplyDelete