Friday, February 12, 2010

I am starting to learn the German language. Is it true that the term ';Fr盲ulein'; is no longer used?

In modern German, every woman may demand to be addressed as Frau XY, married or not. There are extremely few elderly unmarried women who insist on being addressed as Fr盲ulein. Most unmarried women addressed as Fr盲ulein will feel insulted.I am starting to learn the German language. Is it true that the term ';Fr盲ulein'; is no longer used?
you can use it, but it is a little dated and it seems to be more popular with english speaking people than with germans. it is certainly not used in formal letters, but more jokingly sometimes when a man tries to be polite. i would, however, not automatically replace ';fraeulein'; with ';maedchen';. it is more a term for young girls (typically children and teens) rather than unmarried women.I am starting to learn the German language. Is it true that the term ';Fr盲ulein'; is no longer used?
Older women who have never been married may still be addressed as ';Fr盲ulein (Name)'; if they wish. Other than this it's always ';Frau'; nowadays in official matters and colloquially as well. Speaking indirectly of a young woman you use ';das M盲dchen';. Here ';das Fr盲ulein'; is definitely obsolete.
Fr盲ulein isn't used very often. You can use words like M盲dchen (used when talking about a girl that isn't married. Meine Frau heisst Susan = My wife's name is Susan. You wouldn't ever call your wife a girl, or a girl a wife.
Nowadays it's not common at all to call an unmarried woman Fr盲ulein. It's nothing to anybody if a woman is married or not. So it would be kinda demeaning to carry around your marital status always with you.

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