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 – click for sound files.

General titles

Title Abbrev. Plural   English
Monsieur M. Messieurs   Mister, Mr., sir
Madame Mme Mesdames   Madam, Mrs., Ms., ma’am
Mademoiselle Mlle Mesdemoiselles   Miss

General titles are used when talking to and about a person. When followed by the person’s last name, they are capitalized.

Par exemple…

Bonjour Madame Terbois.   Hello Mrs. Terbois.
J’ai parlé à Monsieur Gueldry hier.   I spoke to Mr. Gueldry yesterday.

 Titles are not capitalized when used without a name – learn more.

Par exemple…

Oui madame.   Yes ma’am.
Au revoir, monsieur.   Good-bye, sir.

When do you need definite articles with titles?

 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

 Related lessons

Learn Spanish En español

Learn Italian In italiano

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French titles

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