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

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)