How to Learn English: Names and Titles

English Names and Titles What's in a name? Let's look a little closer at English names. We have the first name or first given name. For example, Samuel or Sally. Then we have the middle name or second given name. Such as Adam or Anne. Finally, we have the last name or surname. Family name. For example, Jones or Smith. People sometimes use nicknames. For example, a nickname might be a shortened form of a name. Such as Rick instead of Richard. Or it can be based on a characteristic of that person. For example, Striker. Married women sometimes refer to their maiden name. Which is the name they had before they got married. So this person, Mae Knox Owens, was called Mae Knox before she was married to Mr. Owens. So Knox is her maiden name. Then we have hyphenated names. Sometimes husbands and wives will combine their names with a hyphen. Such as Trip Steinway. Titles. We often use respectful titles along with names in English. For example, for men we say Mr. For women we say Ms. Some women also like to use other titles. Such as Miss for unmarried women. And Mrs. for married women. Doctor is an earned title. Which means you've been to medical school or gotten a PhD. Other titles in colleges and universities might be Professor or Dean. Officially, in government or military or religious organizations, we have titles such as Senator, Ambassador, Captain or Bishop. How do we use names with titles? The general rule is this. With the first name, you say no title. With the last name, you need to use a title. For example, Troy. That's the first name only, no title. Mr. Penrod. That's the last name with the title. That's correct. We don't say Mr. Troy or Penrod without the title. That would be considered incorrect. And it's not always polite. However, there are some special situations in which we can do this. And we'll talk about those later. Formal versus informal. For formal situations, business, academia, government, we use titles and last names. This is the general rule. For informal situations, such as parties, social occasions and friendship, we use first names only. Here's some more information on that. When introduced to someone, use both first and last names. Address the other person by his or her title and last name initially in the beginning. For example, this is Jared Foster. Hello, Mr. Foster. I'm Maria Sanchez. People will often give permission to use first names in formal situations. For example, nice to meet you, Mr. Stark. Oh, please call me Mike. This contributes to a more friendly atmosphere among colleagues. It is usually considered disrespectful to call an authority figure by his or her last name only. For example, I don't like Smithers. He's so boring. That's disrespectful coming from a student to a teacher. A better way to say it would be Mr. Smithers could use some help in making his lessons more interesting. Do not address people directly by their last name only. For example, Kendall, what is your position on this issue? That would be considered rude. Better to say, Governor Kendall, what is your position? Another example, Lawson, could I ask you a question? No, that would be impolite. Professor Lawson, could I ask you a question? There are some special situations. For example, on sports teams, coaches sometimes address players by last names only. And players might address coaches by title only. For example, Collins, get in there and win. Sure thing, coach. In this case, Collins is the last name. People sometimes prefer informal titles. For example, they call me Dr. Bill. Or nicknames. Everyone just calls me Meg. It's better to wait for permission before using these. Family names and titles. These may vary depending on individual and family preferences. For example, Uncle Mark and Ruby. Title plus first name. This is respectful from children to adults. Sometimes we use titles as names. For example, Grandma and Grandpa. Or Mom and Dad. Now, if you have more than one grandfather, you might distinguish or identify one as Grandpa Jim. Some grandparents prefer a little more formality, like Grandmother. British versus American. In England and the UK, there are additional titles such as Sir, Lady, and Prince. I'm not an expert on these. So, please ask your British friends for more information. That's all for today. Thanks for watching. Remember to give us a like and subscribe to our channel. And check out our platforms. Websites, eslgoal.com and freeenglishstudy.com Channel, youtube.com at English Free For You In China, eslgoal.com slash humix