ECSTRA/Addressing

Typical situations to be focussed on:

1. informal vs. formal address pronoun(s)

2. typical pronoun used when addressing the following persons:

2.1. parents

2.2. older relatives

2.3. relatives of equal age

2.4. good friends

2.5. colleagues

2.6. your boss/employer

2.7. your employees

2.8. your teacher

2.9. your pupils

2.10. administration officials

2.11. your business partners

2.12. customers in a store

2.13. strangers in the street

3. types of address forms

A. given name (e.g. Alexander)

B. family name (e.g. Black)

C. title (academic titles like Dr., occupational terms like (Mr.) Director, neutral terms like madam, Mr.)

D. title + given name (e.g. Mr. Alexander)

E. title + family name (e.g. Mr. Black)

F. nickname (e.g. Alex)

and the situations in which they are used

1. in informal situations, e.g. with close friends

2. in formal situations, e.g. with administration offials

4. combinations of pronoun and address form

A. formal pronoun and title + family name (e.g. Fr. vous ... Monsieur Noir)

B. formal pronoun and title (e.g. Fr. vous ... Monsieur)

C. formal pronoun and given name (e.g. Fr. vous ... Alexandre)

D. informal pronoun and given name (e.g. Fr. tu ... Alexandre)

Which combination is the commonest in the situations described under 3.?

(Please remember our guidelines.)

AT: Austria

1. informal du vs. formal Sie

Vienna, Lower Austria (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. du: 1, 2, 3, 4; Sie: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (possibly du later), 12, 13; du or Sie: 5
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: E
• 4. 1: D; 2: A

informand without indication of his home region (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. du: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7; Sie: 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13; du or Sie: 5, 9 (dependent on your age)
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: C
• 4. 1: D; 2: A; Meine Verehrung, Herr Dr. Mayer 'My reverence, Mr. Dr. Mayer' (professional contexts, administration)

BE: Belgium

1. French: informal tu formal vous; German: informal du vs. formal Sie; Dutch: informal gij/ge vs. formal U

Brussels (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. tu: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 (at school); vous: 6, 7, 8, 9 (at university), 10, 11, 12, 13; du: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9; Sie: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13
• 3. 1: F, 2: C (French + German)
• 4. 1: D, 2: B (French)

CH: Switzerland

Lausanne (French-speaking area) (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1. informal tu vs. formal vous
• 2. tu: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9 (up to 16 years); vous: 8, 9 (if older than 16 years), 10, 12, 13; tu/(vous): 5; (tu)/vous: 6, 7, 11
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: C
• 4. 1: D; 2: B

CZ: Czech Republic

1. informal ty vs. formal vy

Bohemia (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. ty: 1 (today), 2, 3, 4; vy: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13; ty or vy: 5 (depending on the familiarity)
• 3. 1: A, F (a lot of diminutives), also kinship term like "brother", also "human" or "little human", nickcurses (among young male people); 2: E, C ("miss" or "young lady" wide-spread; "you + family name" rather negatively connotated and arrogant)
• 4. 1: D

DE: Germany

1. informal du vs. formal Sie

Bremen (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. du: 1, 2, 3, 4; Sie: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13; du or Sie: 5, 9 (depending on age)
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: E
• 4. 1: D; 2: A

Saxony (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. du: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9 (if under 16); Sie: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (if 16 years old older), 10, 11, 12, 13
• 3. 1: F; 2: E
• 4. 1: D; 2: D

south (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. du: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9 (if younger); Sie: 7, 8, 9 (if older), 10, 11, 12, 13; du or Sie: 5 (mostly du), 6 (mostly Sie)
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: E
• 4. 1: D; 2: A

DK: Denmark

...

EE: Estonia

...

ES: Spain

Andalusia (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1. informal tu (pl. vosotros) vs. formal usted (pl. ustedes)
• 2. tu: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11; usted: 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: B
• 4. 1: D; 2: A

Castilia y León (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1. informal tu (pl. vosotros) vs. formal usted (pl. ustedes)
• 2. tu: 1, 4, 5, 8, 9; usted: 10, 11, 12; to older relatives and relatives of equal age: in little villages/mountain regions (esp. among elderly people) usted, otherwise tu; tu/usted: 6, 7; to strangers in the street: usted, unless among young people
• 3. 1: A, F; 2. E
• 4. 1: D, 2: C

FI: Finland

West Finland (Swedish-speaking area) (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1. informal du vs. formal ni
• 2. du: 1, 2 (unless to very old relatives), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: A (The army is probably the only exception. People ranked higher than you are addressed Herr + "military rank", people ranked lower "military rank" + name (if known). In formal situations ni is used, du is only used if allowed by the person ranked higher.
• 4. 1 + 2: D

Finnish-speaking area (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1. informal sinä vs. formal te
• 2. sinä: 1, 2 (except for some places in rural areas), 3, 4, 5 (unless the colleague is much older), 6 (except for some companies), 7, 9, 10; te: 8 (but after longer familiarity sinä), 11 (but after longer familiarity sinä); with 12: young workers sinä to all, older (over 50) workers say te to people older than themselves; with 13: te, but young people may say sinä to all
• 3. 1: A, F, and (among men) B; 2: C, E
• 4. 1: D, 2: A, B; among men also sinä + last name

FR: France

• 1. informal tu vs. formal vous

Paris (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. tu: 1, 4; vous: 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13; tu or vous: 2 and 3 (depending on relationship), 5 (depending on relationship), 9 (vous at the lycée), 11
• 4. 1: D, 2: B

informand without indication of region (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. tu: 1 (with some exceptions), 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13; vous: 2; tu or vous: 5, 9
• 3. 1: F, 2: E
• 4. 1: D, 2: B

HR: Croatia

...

HU: Hungary

• 1. informal: te; formal: Maga, Ön -- but pronouns are not used with inflected verbs
• 2. pronouns not used
• 3. 1: F (sometimes also A), 2: E
• 4. 1: D, 2: A (but pronouns are not used in Hungarian)

(all info: ECSTRA-Q)

IE: Ireland

1. + 2. you is informal and formal

Dublin (ECSTRA-Q)

3. 1: A, B, F; 2: C, E

IT: Italy

Lombardy (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1. informal: tu, formal: Lei
• 2. informal: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9; formal: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11; either informal or formal: 5 (depending on relationship and age), 12 (depending on the age), 13 (depending on the age)
• 3. 1: A, F, 2: B, C, E
• 4. 1: D, 2: A, B; formal address pronoun and last name, e.g. Lei ... Rossi when talking to your employees, your business partners

Sicily (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1. informal: tu, formal: lei, voi
• 2. tu: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11; voi: 2; lei: 6, 8, 10, 13; tu/Lei: 12
• 3. 1: A, 2: E

LT: Lithuania

• 1. informal tu vs. formal jos
• 2. tu: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9; jos: 6, 7 (after familiarization du), 8, 10, 11, 12, 13; tu or jos: 5 (depending on age)
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: C
• 4. 1: D; 2: A, B

(all info ECSTRA-Q)

LU: Luxemburg

• 1. informal du vs. formal dir
• 2. du: 1, 2, 3, 4; dir: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13; to colleagues: du/dir; to your pupils du before they've reached the age of 17
• 3. 1: A, F, among teenagers also B; 2: E
• 4. 1: D, 2: A

(all info ECSTRA-Q)

LV: Latvia

...

MT: Malta

• 1. + 2.: only int for both informal and formal
• 3. 1: F, 2: E
• 4. 1: D, 2: A

(all info ECSTRA-Q)

NL: Netherlands

Dutch: informal gij/ge vs. formal U

NO: Norway

...

PL: Poland

1. informal ty vs. formal Pan/Pani

informand without indication of home region (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. ty: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11; Pan/Pani: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: E
• 4. 1: D; 2: A

Silesia (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. ty. 1, 2, 3, 4; Pan/Pani: 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13; with 9: just last name, without pronoun
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: E
• 4. 1: D; 2: A; married couple that shows up together at some place: państwo + family name

PT: Portugal

1. informal: tu; formal: vós (in the north of Portugal), você

Alentejo (ECSTRA-Q)

• 2. tu: 3, 4, 5; você: 6, 8, 10, 12, 13; tu/você: 1, 2, 7, 9 (depends on the wealth of students), 11 (depend on familiarity)
• 3. 1: F; 2: title + given name + family name
• 4. 1: D; 2: C

SE: Sweden

• 1. informal du vs. formal ni
• 2. du: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; with 11 du or ni; with 12 and 13 ni if elderly people, otherwise du
• 3. 1: A, B; 2: A, B
• 4. 1 and 2: du + first name, du + last name

(all info ECSTRA-Q)

SI: Slovenia

...

SK: Slovakia

...

UK: United Kingdom

1. + 2. just you for informal and formal

Cambridgeshire (ECSTRA-Q)

• 3. 1: first name; 2: title plus last name
• 4. 1: you + first name; 2: you + title and last name

Glasgow, Scotland (ECSTRA-Q)

• 3. 1: A, B, F; 2: C, E
• 4. 1: D, 2: A, B

Non-European Nations

Colombia

• 1. informal tu or, in some regions, vos vs. formal Usted
• 2. tu, vos: 3, 4, 11; usted: 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13; with 1 both; with 5 and 7 both, depending on relationship; with 9 both, depending on age
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: C (including Dr., which is a title not necessarily related to the academic title of the person, it is instead an address term for people with a certain level of authority, like officials, CEOs etc.)
• 4. 1: D; 2: A

(all info ECSTRA-Q)

Greece

• 1. informal Esú vs. formal Eseís
• 2. informal: 3, 4, 9, 11; formal: 6, 8, 10, 12; informal/formal: 1, 2, 5, 7 (depending on relationship), 13 (depending on age relationship)
• 3. 1: A, B, F; 2: E
• 4. 1: D; 2: A, B

(all info ECSTRA-Q)

Lebanon

• 1. + 2. inta/inti for both informal and formal
• 3. 1: A, F; 2: C, D, E
• 4. 1: address pronoun + first name; 2: address pronoun + title + last name

(all info ECSTRA-Q)