Mrs\Miss\Ms

Which do you use?


  • Total voters
    274

smsm_1985

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Joined
Aug 24, 2007
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Student or Learner
i always use ms,but please can you explain the pronunciation of each one,are they same in pronunciation?mrs/miss/ms...
 

Niskelton

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Joined
Sep 25, 2007
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Other
There is no single answer here - as the three words have different meanings
MRS is pronounced missuz (with the stress on the i) and is used for married women
MISS pronounced as written is used for an unmarried woman.
MS is usually pronounced MUZ, and is a fairly new term - used only in the past thirty years or so - and was devised in conjunction with the women's Liberation movement to steer away from the need to classify a woman as married or not - as if it had a value.
Many women objected to having to state their marital condition, and so Ms was devised by using only the letters which occurred in both titles. The difficulty is in pronouncing it - and for many people older than thirty five they are still not comfortable about using this term, as it is not a common construction and has no clear precedent for pronunciation.
As for when to use each of these terms - I suggest you ask the recipient - "How would you like to be addressed?" and most women these days will give you there first name - so if you have to use the formal address you may need to persist.
 

A-N-A

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
Hi all:up:.

Its better to use MS in case u dont know if that person married or not;-)
MRS is used for a person who is married;-)
MISS is used for a person who is not married;-)
 

parrot

New member
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Member Type
Academic
:cry:Recieved a sympathy card from fiance's child, who has not spoken to me in months. Card was addressed as Ms. My first name was spelled wrong. Have been with her father 10 years. She is a teacher in her late 20's. The card was nice. Ignore envelope and bad taste? Or am I a Ms.
 

Tdol

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If I were in her shoes, I might use Ms too; as it's supposed to be a neutral term, it is possibly the easiest under the circumstances, though as a teacher and after ten years, she might have got the spelling right.
 

Horsa

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Member Type
English Teacher
I use Ms until I get a letter from the addressee then if I have to write again I am guided by their own signature block.
 

Batfink

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Mar 2, 2008
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China
I use Ms until I get a letter from the addressee then if I have to write again I am guided by their own signature block.

Absolutely! Always use the Ms (I pronounce it as "Mizz" like, "Fizz") until you know one way or the other how the lady in question wishes to be addressed.
 

chat_b

New member
Joined
Feb 12, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
I usually use Miss in the salutation, because I know that it is safe to use it that way so as to speak. It could also be flattering to the one that you are referring to.
 

geetha reddy

Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
Mrs\Miss\Ms is only correct because we should mention all categories of men and wommen.

For instance, in a party the comperer starts only as" ladies and gentlemen". so we should mentin all categories.
 

Mihai_alexandru

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
Hello, my name is Mihai and I am a young Romanian high-school student wanting to prepare for the Cambridge FCE exam. First of all I would like to thank the moderators and administrators of this site for such a wonderful idea. For people like me that don't go to special English courses it's good to have a place where you can ask questions about grammar issues you don't understand.

Firstly, I would like to ask a few questions about this type of abbreviations.

Mr= Mister?
Ms=...?
Mrs=Misses?
 

Lirazyeru

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
ive heard on waterloo road the pupils call their teacher 'miss',
although they are married and that.
is that right?
x
 

Huda-M

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Aug 7, 2008
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I mostly use MS ... because when you are not knowing if the refering person is married or not, saying MRS may get them angry!!!!;-)
 

shanz

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Sep 27, 2008
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I mostly use MS ... because when you are not knowing if the refering person is married or not, saying MRS may get them angry!!!!;-)

I do agree with you.
 

nezmon

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Aug 11, 2009
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Hi I'm A newcomer here
Glad to know you guys hehehe:lol:
 
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