| Cultural notes | | Forms of address |
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In German, people working together often address each other by name and title, when saying 'hello' and 'goodbye'.
This is because considerable emphasis is placed on qualifications in Germany. So, if you know someone's title, use it when you greet that person. For example:
Guten Morgen, Herr Doktor Schmidt!
Guten Tag, Frau Schwarz!
Close colleagues and friends, on the other hand, are more likely to be on first name terms. For example:
Hallo, Almut!
Guten Morgen, Anna!
Note that Fräulein - meaning 'Miss' - has more or less been dropped nowadays in favour of Frau when addressing women, whether married or single; in all official communications, Fräulein has been abolished. |
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