Sometimes people are called by their first name, sometimes by their surname, and sometimes full name. So my question is: could you explain in more detail what is the convention for addressing people's names in different ways?
Frank, Hunan
Imagine you are in Britain and you are introduced to the manager of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson.
What would you say to him?
Nice to meet you Alex?
Nice to meet you Alex Ferguson?
Nice to meet you Sir Alex?
Nice to meet you Manager Ferguson?
It's not always easy to know which is the best form of address to use when speaking to someone, especially if the person is a new acquaintance.
What about when you are speaking to someone on the phone?
And should you change the form of address depending on whether you are a customer or a client?
Listen to our programme for some tips about how to address people in English.
Don't forget, if you have a question about English, email it to questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. We may answer it on this programme.
manager (足球)教練
Sir 爵士
acquaintance 相識的人
customer 顧客
client 客戶