can you say ms. for the woman's first name if she's married?

Answer 1

Yes.

"Ms." means either married or unmarried.

Answer 2

Yes, you can use Ms. for either a married or unmarried woman.

A little interesting history on it comes from dictionary.com:

—Usage note

Ms. came into use in the 1950s as a title before a woman's surname when her marital status was unknown or irrelevant. In the early 1970s, the use of Ms. was adopted and encouraged by the women's movement, the reasoning being that since a man's marital status is not revealed by the title Mr., there is no reason that a woman's status should be revealed by her title. Since then Ms. has gained increasing currency, especially in business and professional use. Some women prefer the traditional Miss (still fully standard for a woman whose marital status is unknown and for an unmarried woman) or, when appropriate, Mrs.Newspaper editors sometimes reject Ms. except in quoted matter. Others use whichever of the three titles a woman prefers if her preference is known. Increasingly, newspapers avoid the use of all three titles by referring to women by their full names in first references (Sarah Brady; Margaret Bourke-White) and by surname only, as with men, in subsequent references: Brady, Bourke-White. Since all three titles—Ms., Miss, and Mrs.—remain in use, the preference of the woman being named or addressed or the practice of the organization or publication in which the name is to appear is often followed.

Answer 3

I think you mean title not first name - her title would be Miss, Ms or Mrs. Her first name is something like Anne or Sarah.

Most married women adopt Mrs but some who are stuck in the whole feminist idea like to be called Ms. It depends on her preference though. Maybe ask her what she would like to be addressed as. Also, you can use Ms in letters and communication when you do not know if the woman is married or not.

Answer 4

Izzy is correct. Ms. was invented to eliminate the sexism of using alternate titles for women dependent on their marital status, as though their identity or importance was linked to whether they were married.

There is no need to announce a woman's marital status when addressing them, we don't do this with men. Prior to the 1970s, most women did consider their importance linked to marriage and wanted to be recognized as the wife of so and so especially if so and so was powerful. A lot of older women still take offense to not being addressed as Mrs and the really old ladies get offended if you say Mrs Jane Doe instead of Mrs John Doe (which by the way is actually the true proper use of Mrs, you are the Mrs version of the guy so your name would not even be used).

I don't know any woman under 40 that would have issues with the use of the word Ms but many who would with Miss. Personally, I say my marital status is not your immediate business and I should not be judged by it, so call me Ms. It is the generic, non-sexist way to go.

Answer 5

Yes, you can say Ms. for a woman's first name if she is married. Ms. is normall y used for an older woman if you are not sure of her marital status out of respect. Usually, 'Mrs.' is used for a married woman and 'Miss' is used for an unmarried female. In either case it is okay to use 'Ms.'.

Answer 6

Yes. "Ms." is a term that was made for both married and unmarried women because people thought it unfair for men to have "Mr." that could mean both. Some people don't like the "Mrs.", so they use "Ms." And vice versa. It depends on the person. If you're writing a story or something, you can choose whichever you like, depending on the character.

Hope I helped.

-Izzy

Answer 7

Some married woman preferred to be addressed as Ms.

Answer 8

Inky Pinky Ponky was the ONLY person who saw the lack of logic in this question!! Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Miss are ONLY titles - NEVER first names!!

But yes, you CAN use the title 'Ms.' for a married woman - although she might prefer you to use 'Mrs.' and so she'll correct you.

Ms. is very useful if you're not sure whether the woman is married or not ...
: )

Answer 9

Yes you can Ms. can be used in place of Miss or Mrs. I think it should be used when someone doesn't need to know if you married or not.

Answer 10

Sure. "Ms." can be used for married or unmarried women. It's a safe way from calling someone married "Miss" by accident, or vice versa.

Answer 11

1) Ms does not take a period as it is not an abbreviation for anything, 2) it is not a first name, it is an "honourific", 3) any female may be referred to as Ms regardless of marital status which was the whole point of the term's coinage.