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como se dice "Ms." en espanol

como se dice "Ms." en espanol

1
vote

Ms. is not senorita or senora.

6318 views
updated Nov 9, 2010
posted by jambra
"Hallo Ms." "Hola Guapa" - lagartijaverde, Nov 9, 2010
"Hola Guapa" could earn a guy a well placed slap, or a boyfriend's fist, if addressing an unknown woman!! - Gekkosan, Nov 9, 2010

10 Answers

1
vote

Essentially Kevin and Mediterrunio have explained it nicely, so I'll just complement both answers.

The key to this was forever burnt in my mind by the stately British Grandmother of a friend of mine. The subject came up one day, and she said. "There is no such thing as Ms!" (which she prononced as "Muss", vibrating the "ss" against her teeth). "What the devil is a Muss anyway? A woman is either a Miss or a Mrs, not some sort of edible confection!"

Anyway, as Kevin explains, Ms. is simply an invention so that a woman does not have to implicitly state whether she's single or married, but in Spanish we do not make such a distinction.

As Mediterrunio states, you either use the person's plain name, Señora, or Señorita, depending on the circumstances.

It is more and more frequent in the business world to just go with the plain name. However, when addressing someone with a certain status, regardless of whether she's married or not, the custom is to call her "Señora". You'd never address the CEO of a company as "Señorita Pérez"; on the other hand, most young employees, specially if they are secretarial or clerical staff, you'll probably address as "Señorita."

updated Nov 9, 2010
posted by Gekkosan
Thks Gekkosan for such detail/context, and also Mediterunio, who verged on the poetic! ;-) - jambra, Nov 9, 2010
"explicitly" rather than "implicitly" - samdie, Nov 9, 2010
2
votes

I can't speak about the customs in latin america, but in Spain we don't have an equivalent of Ms, that's for sure. In a formal setting, women are always addressed as "señora" (sra.) or "señorita" (srta.).

By the way, "seño" is an abbreviation of "señora/señorita" used by small children to refer to their female teachers, regardless of their marital status. And yes, it stands alone.

updated Nov 9, 2010
edited by bill1111
posted by bill1111
1
vote

Welcome to the forum. Ms. is an Englishism that doesn't have a Spanish translation.

updated Nov 9, 2010
posted by KevinB
Yes I agree it kind of boders on Political correctness in my opinion - FELIZ77, Nov 9, 2010
"Kind" of borders?!?! Nay, sir, it goes to the very heart of the matter. - samdie, Nov 9, 2010
0
votes

Hola:

How about calling someone "dama"... Since there is no direct translation, this could be a polite choice.

updated Nov 9, 2010
posted by LuisaGomezBartle
That doesn't work everywhere, Luisa. In some places / circumstances that just may sound too formal, stuffy or old-fashioned. - Gekkosan, Nov 9, 2010
Es verdad, pero es una opción para el "repertorio". - LuisaGomezBartle, Nov 9, 2010
0
votes

My wife just told me that she's heard "seño" and it would stand alone w/o a name after it.

updated Nov 9, 2010
posted by Bob-Dressler2
As Bill indicates, "Seño" is used only in School settings in some places to refer to the teachers. Please do no *ever* address an unknown woman as "Seño", especially if you mean "Ms"!! There simply is no translation for "Ms." in Spanish. - Gekkosan, Nov 9, 2010
0
votes

"Ms." abbreviates "Miss", meaning a unwed or young lady, which i have learned translates to señorita

updated Nov 9, 2010
posted by lchsnicolita
No, Ms. was invented to avoid calling someone Miss or Mrs. It means someone who doesn't wish to disclose their marital status. - KevinB, Nov 8, 2010
Miss is an abbreviated form of mistress. - 0074b507, Nov 9, 2010
While Q is right, that statement could be confusing for learners. Both Miss and Mrs. are originally abbreviations for "Mistress". But Miss became the standard form of address for unmarried women, whereas Mrs. refers to married women. Ms. is as Kevin says - Gekkosan, Nov 9, 2010
0
votes

Ms. is not senorita or senora.

If Ms. is not señorita or señora it must be message, which into Spanish translates as mensaje.

question

Now, if the rest of the answers are on the right track, I think that depending on the context (as always) you can address a woman with different expressions equivalent to Ms.

Is a formal or informal situation? Are you trying to establish a personal relation or just eliciting information? Do you just want to be polite or are you trying to catch her attention?

Sometimes it can be señora, others señorita. Most of the times you say nothing at all and in certain cases you can flatter her with a sweet word. wink

updated Nov 9, 2010
posted by mediterrunio
0
votes

Kevin is right on this one. People use it to try to be less sexist.

updated Nov 8, 2010
posted by Bob-Dressler2
0
votes

I haven't been able to find "seño" anywhere. I don't believe they indulge such Englishisms.

updated Nov 8, 2010
posted by Echoline
or care - lagartijaverde, Nov 8, 2010
0
votes

it is señorita.

updated Nov 8, 2010
posted by rtyreyrey
No, Ms. was invented to avoid calling someone Miss or Mrs. It means someone who doesn't wish to disclose their marital status. - KevinB, Nov 8, 2010