Titles

Titles
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Titres

While not as diverse as they used to be, a few honorifics are commonly used in French and are as important as any other polite vocabulary. Here are the French titles you need, along with their abbreviations.

General titles

TitleAbbrev.Plural English
MonsieurM.Messieurs Mister, Mr., sir
MadameMmeMesdames Madam, Mrs., ma’am
MademoiselleMlleMesdemoiselles Miss

General titles are used when talking to and about a person and may or may not be followed by the person’s last name. However, titles are only capitalized when followed by a name – learn more.

Bonjour Madame Terbois. Hello Mrs. Terbois.
J’ai parlé à Monsieur Gueldry hier.  I spoke to Mr. Gueldry yesterday.
Au revoir, monsieur. Good-bye, sir.

 Related apheresis: messieurs dames – used to address a group of people when entering a room, e.g., Bonjour messieurs dames – "Hello everyone, Hello ladies and gentleman."

Professional titles

DocteurDr Doctor
MaîtreMe ~Mr./Ms (for lawyers, professors, etc)
ProfesseurPr Professor

Religious titles

FrèreF. Brother
MèreM. Mother
PèreP. Father
Révérend PèreR.P. Reverend
SaintSt Saint (male)
SainteSte Saint (female)
SœurSr Sister

Rare, old-fashioned or obsolete titles

TitleAbbrev. English
MonseigneurMgr Your Eminence, Your Grace
VeuveVve widow
Votre MajestéV.M. Your Majesty
Sa MajestéS.M. His / Her Majesty

 Related lessons

Learn Spanish En español

Learn Italian In italiano

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French titles

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