Thank you. Now that we have it, we’d like to ask you a question: do you prefer when people address you by your name or by your title?

Each one of us has our own preferences. Yet, it turns out that the issue of addressing people is interesting (and important!) on a big scale. In every particular country, there are some prevailing rules. We, at ProLingua Global, decided to sum them up.

Let’s have a closer look at some examples.

Germany

Definitely a surname, even title culture. There, addressing people by their names is generally considered disrespectful. You might want to be careful especially while doing business. Apart from “Frau” (Ms.) and “Herr” (Mr.), you should also use an adequate academic title, like “Doktor”, to avoid an awkward situation. 

Hungary

Surname culture as well. However, unlike in Germany, when it comes to the business environment people tend to move from “Klára Asszony” (Ms Clara) and “Kovács Úr” (Mr Smith) to the first name basis a bit faster. But doing so doesn’t mean that communication becomes informal. You can call someone by their first name but still use “Ön” (the formal “you”) when talking to them.

In Hungary addressing people gets a little bit more complicated in the case of women. When you’re not familiar with the first name of your female companion, you should address her using her official title, eg. “Miniszter Asszony”. You can also use the phrase “Hölgyem” which literally means “my lady”.

Italy

Like Hungary and Germany, Italy is also a surname culture. “Signora” (Ms.) and “Signore” (Mr.) are frequently used to address a person when we don’t know their surname. If a surname is known though, you can simply add it after “Signora” or “Signor”. Then, while talking, you should address the person with “Lei” instead of “Tu” (respectively formal and informal ways to say “you”).

The issue of titles is not so harsh here – if you’re aware that someone is “Professore” (Professor) or “Dottore” (Doctor), you should address them using these titles. If not, it’s okay to stick to “Signora” and “Signore”.

Poland

Polish people are no exception to the pattern – they are also pretty formal. “Pani” (Ms.) and “Pan” (Mr.) are used in everyday situations when addressing adults, with family as an exception. In business, colleagues also stick to the formal manner of communication until they agree otherwise. 

Academic titles are important at universities. When students address their teachers, they should find out whether they have a title and then use “Doktor” or “Profesor” accordingly. What is interesting, at universities lecturers always address their students formally, using “Pani” and “Pan”.

Vietnam

To say that Vietnam is a surname culture is an understatement. It gets much more complicated. There are special pronouns that indicate position, age, the degree of familiarity, the situation in which we are in… Vietnamese addressing culture developed much further than “Ms.” and “Mr.”.

There is even a difference in how to address yourself depending on who you are talking to!

It’s easy to get lost in this high level of hierarchy. Here you’ll find a very detailed and clear summary. For sure it’ll help you better understand the matter.