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Thread: Ms. and Mrs.

  1. #1
    jiang is offline Key Member
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    Default Ms. and Mrs.

    Dear teachers,

    I have problem understanding grammar in the following sentence:


    Many younger people assume that Ms. is a title for unmarried women too old to use Miss.

    Does it mean:
    Younger people don't like the title Ms. because it is too old and they prefer to use Miss.
    Shouldn't it be "too old to use"? I mean the word "Miss " should not be included in the sentence. Is that right?

    Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Thank you in advance.

    Jiang

  2. #2
    Barb_D's Avatar
    Barb_D is offline Moderator
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    Default Re: Ms. and Mrs.

    I'm afraid you are wrong on both issues.
    It means that some younger people think (wrongly, by the way) that if a woman is unmarried and older, she should not use "Miss" and should instead use "Ms."

    Many people assume "Kate" is the nickname used by women too fun-loving to use "Katherine." -- Can you follow that sentence?
    I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Ms. and Mrs.

    Quote Originally Posted by jiang View Post
    Dear teachers,

    I have problem understanding grammar in the following sentence:


    Many younger people assume that "Ms" is a title [which should be used] for unmarried women [who are] too old to use [or too old to be addressed by] "Miss".

    Does it mean:
    Younger people don't like the title Ms. because it is too old and they prefer to use Miss.
    Shouldn't it be "too old to use"? I mean the word "Miss " should not be included in the sentence. Is that right?

    Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Thank you in advance.

    Jiang
    I have added some words in brackets and some punctuation, all in red. Do those help you to understand the sentence?
    Last edited by emsr2d2; 26-Feb-2012 at 19:45. Reason: typo
    jiang likes this.

  4. #4
    yousrati is offline Junior Member
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    Default Re: Ms. and Mrs.

    Hello,
    As far as I know :
    Mrs: used for married woman's .
    Miss used for women who is not married in order to speak politely.
    Miss /m I z/ : when you don’t know the statue of the women (whether married or not).

  5. #5
    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
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    Default Re: Ms. and Mrs.

    Quote Originally Posted by yousrati View Post
    Hello,
    As far as I know :
    Mrs: used for married woman's .
    Miss used for women who is not married in order to speak politely.
    Miss /m I z/ : when you don’t know the statue of the women (whether married or not).
    Mrs can be used for married women.
    Miss can be used for unmarried women.
    Ms can be used for any woman. (In AmE it is pronounced /mɪz/, but in BrE it is /mʌz/)
    emsr2d2 likes this.

  6. #6
    Rover_KE is offline Moderator
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    Default Re: Ms. and Mrs.

    Quote Originally Posted by yousrati View Post
    As far as I know :
    Mrs: used for married women.
    Miss used for women who are not married.
    Miss /m I z/ : when you don’t know the status of the women (whether married or not).
    Please state that you are not a teacher, yousrati.

    Rover

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    jiang is offline Key Member
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    Default Re: Ms. and Mrs.

    Dear Barb_D,

    Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I understand it. I should add "who are" to the sentence then it should be:
    Many younger people assume that Ms. is a title for unmarried women who are too old to be addressed as Miss. Is that right?


    Your sentence should be:
    Kate is the nickname used by women who are too fun-loving to use Katherine.
    That means fun-loving women use Kate. Is that right?

    Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Thank you in advance.

    Jiang

  8. #8
    jiang is offline Key Member
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    Default Re: Ms. and Mrs.

    Hi emsr2d2,

    Thank you so much for your explanation. It's easy to understand.

    Have a nice weekend,

    Jiang

  9. #9
    jiang is offline Key Member
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    Default Re: Ms. and Mrs.

    Dear Todl,

    Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.

    I can't see the difference between American and Britishi pronuonciations. I shall consult the dictionary.

    Have a nice weekend.

    Jiang

  10. #10
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    BobK is offline Harmless drudge
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    Default Re: Ms. and Mrs.

    Incidentally jiang, this isn't really a question of grammar. The issue is 'Why should a woman have to announce her marital status when a man doesn't?' This is a good question, but it's not to be discussed here: you know the usage.

    b
    jiang likes this.

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