Polite forms of addressing people

Russians usually call each other by the first name when they are friends, peers or members of the family. In official situations and when talking to seniors Russians use the first name along with the patronymic.

Every Russian has a patronymic which is derived from the person's father's first name. Male patronymics are formed by adding -ОВИЧ or -ЕВИЧ to the person's fathers's name. Female patronymics are formed with the help of -ОВНА or -ЕВНА.

Look at the following examples to get a better idea of how patronymics are formed and used.

Father's name         
Male patronymic         
Female patronymic          
Пётр Петрович Петровна
Николай                              Николаевич Николаевна
Сергей Сергеевич Сергеевна

Thus, if your Russian language teacher's first name is Anna and her father's name is Sergei you would normally address her as Anna Sergeevna in a polite manner.



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