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
Title | Abbrev. | Plural | | English |
Monsieur | M. | Messieurs | | Mister, Mr., sir |
Madame | Mme | Mesdames | | Madam, Mrs., ma’am |
Mademoiselle | Mlle | Mesdemoiselles | | 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
Docteur | Dr | | Doctor |
Maître | Me | | ~Mr./Ms (for lawyers, professors, etc) |
Professeur | Pr | | Professor |
Religious titles
Frère | F. | | Brother |
Mère | M. | | Mother |
Père | P. | | Father |
Révérend Père | R.P. | | Reverend |
Saint | St | | Saint (male) |
Sainte | Ste | | Saint (female) |
Sœur | Sr | | Sister |
Rare, old-fashioned or obsolete titles
Title | Abbrev. | | English |
Monseigneur | Mgr | | Your Eminence, Your Grace |
Veuve | Vve | | widow |
Votre Majesté | V.M. | | Your Majesty |
Sa Majesté | S.M. | | His / Her Majesty |
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