Mr as a title

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nouamaneer

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Morocco
Current Location
Tenerife
Dear all,

I have got a question for you. Is "Mr", the title only combined with family names? Or is it for both?

In other words, is one or both of the following correct:

1- Mr John (first name)
2- Mr Smith (family name)

Thanks,
 
It is used only with family names by native speakers. When I lectured in Oman, the university insisted that students address us as Mr/Ms/Mrs/Dr X (first name). This was unnatural for us, though my wife and I eventually got used to being Mr Jed and Dr Andrea.
 
I once dealt with an accountancy practice called Rushton and Rushton (two brothers - John and James).

The clerical staff routinely referred to the partners as Mr John and Mr James, so that's what the clients usually called them, too.

Rover
 
Rover's post has reminded me that, back in the 1960's, I worked for a company run by a father and son, both called Gerald Day. The father was known to the employees as Mr Day, the son as Mr Gerald. It sounded very old-fashioned to me, even at the time.
 
And when addressing envelopes, you can use Mr John Smith
 
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