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I would like to address a person with a medical Dr. title formally in mail. In English it is simple, just adding the title: "Dear Dr. X." In German, on the other hand, it is a bit more complex: I also need to add a proper gender prefix (Herr or Frau): "Sehr geehrter Herr Dr X" or "Sehr geehrte Frau Dr X".
How is it done in Spanish?
As stated on wikipedia
Formal salutations. Only written.
- "Estimado" (+ name or title "Señor". "Sr." is the abbreviation). For male. Example for a man called Juan García: "Estimado Juan" or
- "Estimado Sr. García". The last is more formal.
- "Estimada" (+ name or title "Señora". "Sra." is the abbreviation). For female. Example for a woman called Ana Sánchez:
- "Estimada Ana" or "Estimada Sra. Sánchez". The last is more formal.
- "Estimados amigos" (plural) When your letter is addressed to a group of people.
- "Estimado amigo" or "Querido amigo" (male or unknown gender). You may or not know the name of the person.
- "Estimada amiga" or "Querida amiga" (female).
- "Estimadas amigas" (a group of females).
- "Excelentísimo Señor" (+name or without it) or "Excelentísima Señora" (female). This is extremely formal and is usually reserved
for certain formal procedures with the government. You can also use
"Ilustrísimo" (male) or "Ilustrísima" (female) instead of
"Excelentísimo".
Sr. or Sra. include the gender, so there is no need to add an extra word as 'Frau'.
If he/she has the title Dr. / Dra. , then it should be added instead of Sr. / Sra.
Summarizing: A formal way to address can be 'Estimado/Estimada' + 'Dr.'/'Dra'/ or 'Sr.' /'Sra' or (highest rank) + surname
Ref:
In Spanish the proper way is Dr. (male) or Dra. (female). Both are abbreviations of doctor and doctora, respectively. If you use the whole word, it can be used in lower case, but if you use the abbreviation, it is used in upper case, even in the middle of a sentence. In all cases, the title is followed by the person's surname.
Examples:
- Tengo que concertar una cita con la doctora López.
- El Dr. Ibáñez no puede atenderle hoy.
- ¿Dónde es la conferencia del doctor Carreras?
The use of doctor replaces the use of señor or don, so you must not use things like señor doctor don, as it could sound like you are mocking the person alluded.
Simply write "Querido Doctor (o Doctora) X"
Dear, Spanish Querido is reserved for people you have a genuine affection for. I would always say Estimado Doctor Lastname or Querido Firstname. It's difficult to think of a situation where someone might use Querido Doctor, though it's not impossible, perhaps for someone suffering from a long illness where they have built up a relationship. Then wih Querido I'd use the firstname, but keep the Doctor for respect also.
May 23, 2016 at 23:04