Using Personal
Titles
#7:
U.S.
Government Titles
(#1)
Another group of special titles is used
for
people who hold U.S. government
offices. Here are some common ones:
The President and
Vice
President of the U.S.
If you are speaking directly to a
president
or vice president of the U.S.,
use Mr. President or Mr. Vice President but
do
not use a name. You can also use
sir
(without a name), but Mr. President
and
Mr. Vice
President are
more polite and
formal:
It's an honor to meet you, Mr. President. (It's
an honor to meet you, sir.)
It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Vice
President. (It's
an honor to
meet you, sir.)
If you write a letter to a president or
vice president of
the U.S., use this
form:
address:
The President (The Vice President) The
White House Washington, DC
20500
greetings
(in the letter):
Dear Mr. President (Mr. Vice
President):
Mr.
President: (Mr. Vice President):
Dear Sir:
A U.S. Senator
If you are speaking directly to a
U.S.
Senator, use Senator <
/FONT>and
a surname
(family name). You can also use
sir
(for a man) or ma'am
(for a woman) without
names, but the title
Senator
is more polite and formal:
It's an honor to meet you, Senator
Jones. (It's
an honor to meet you, sir /
ma'am.)
If
you write a letter to a U.S. Senator,
use this
form:
address:
The Hon. Senator + complete
name (or
Senator +
complete name) U.S.
Senate Washington,
DC 20510
greetings
(in the letter):
Dear Mr. Senator: / Dear Madam Senator:
Dear Mr. + surname:/ Dear
Ms. + surname:
Dear Senator +
surname
A U.S.
Representative
If you are speaking directly to a U.S.
Representative,
use Representative
and a
surname (family
name). You can also use sir (for a man) or ma'am (for
a woman) without names, but
the title Representative
is more polite and more
formal:
It's an honor to meet you, Representative
Smith. (It's an honor to meet you, sir /
ma'am.)
If
you write a letter to a U.S. Representative,
use this
form:
address:
The Hon. Representative + complete
name (or
Representative + complete name) U.S.
House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
greetings (in the
letter):
Dear Mr. + surname:/ Dear
Ms. + surname:
Dear Representative +
surname
A U.S.
Ambassador
If
you are speaking directly to a U.S.
Ambassador, use Ambassador
and a surname (family
name).
You can also use
sir
(for a man) or
ma'am
(for
a woman)
without names, but the
title Ambassador is more polite and
formal:
It's an honor to meet you, Ambassador
Johnson. (It's an honor to meet you, sir /
ma'am.)
If
you write a letter to a U.S. Ambassador,
use this
form:
address:
The Hon. + complete name, American
Ambassador (address)
greetings
(in the letter):
Dear Mr. Ambassador: / Dear Madam Ambassador:
Sir: / Madam:
_________________________________________
Special Notes:
| 1. |
|
The U.S. has
not yet had a woman president, but
when this
happens, use Madam President or ma'am
when speaking directly to her
and use Dear Madam President:
or
Madam President: in
the greeting of a letter. |
| |
|
|
| 2. |
|
For a U.S. Senator, a U.S. Representative,
or a U.S. Ambassador, the title The Hon. means The
Honorable.
"Honorable"
is almost always abbreviated to "Hon." in
writing. |
| |
|
|
| 3. |
|
Although ma'am is actually
an
abbreviation for
madam, madam
is not generally used,
in the U.S., in
speaking. |
|