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I am wondering if it's common to address a non-married woman age 38 madame when they know for certain she isn't married? A French man I MET KNOWS I am not married and calls me madame. Forgot to mention he has romantic interest in me.

Stéphane Gimenez
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Mary
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2 Answers2

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Sure, mademoiselle usage is quickly dropping when applying to adults, regardless of the known marital status. Not to mention that nowadays, one fourth of the people living in couple in France are not married anyway.

Madame is a considered a mark of respect. Of course, I expect for someone having a romantic interest in you to quickly switch from madame to Mary (or whatever your first name is) without ever needing to use mademoiselle.

jlliagre
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  • Un peu plus de détails peut-être ? – Luke Sawczak Jan 30 '18 at 18:57
  • @LukeSawczak Rien de particulier à ajouter par rapport à ce qui a été dit dans la question déjà posée il y a plus de cinq ans sur le sujet, sauf que la tendance se confirme. On ne dit plus vraiment mademoiselle à une femme de plus d'une petite vingtaine d'années sauf bien sûr si elle en exprime le souhait. – jlliagre Jan 30 '18 at 21:07
  • Thanks for letting me know. I guess he is probably giving me a hint :) Is madame meaning more of MRS. Or my lady? – Mary Jan 30 '18 at 21:49
  • Madame is more like Ms. – jlliagre Jan 30 '18 at 21:57
  • Oh, than that's not a way to address a married woman which is equivalent to Mrs. I guess American definition is wrong. Glad I asked a french person. – Mary Jan 30 '18 at 22:04
  • Sorry I was unclear. My point was just that Madame is becoming a "neutral" Madame/Mademoiselle compound. I guess you never use Ms. alone in English while in French, madame is both Madam (or Ma'am) and Mrs. When used alone, madame is like Sir, formal and respectful, It is also when used with the last name: Madame Blanc = Mrs White. You normally never use madame or mademoiselle followed by the first name. When you know the first name, you just use it without any title prepended. – jlliagre Jan 30 '18 at 22:53
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    @Mary Il peut être intéressant de noter que le mot Mademoiselle est considéré par certaines personnes comme "nommant la femme selon son statut avec/sans mari, donc la plaçant en position inférieure dans le couple". La loi française a pour cette raison retiré l'option "Mademoiselle" des formulaires officiels, et interdit son usage (dans certains cadres). – Turtle Jan 30 '18 at 23:16
  • @Nathan Oui, c'est vrai et déjà abordé dans la question liée à celle-ci (cf. commentaire de Toto). La loi a suivi une tendance déjà amorcée dans la vie de tous les jours depuis longtemps. – jlliagre Jan 30 '18 at 23:39
  • I guess the man that knows me called me madame was being respectful and not hinting to anything else :) – Mary Jan 31 '18 at 00:06
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Yes it is common to call women madame if they look mature enough. You would not call a 40 year old mademoiselle even if she looked younger. I suppose it all depends on how you perceive the person. You could call a 25 year old Madame or mademoiselle, it is up to teh individual.

murielle
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