Or: How to Lose a Client, a Contract, or a Date in One Word
If you’re a native English speaker, you’re probably quite relaxed when it comes to addressing people. Everyone is just “you,” whether it’s your grandma, your boss, or the guy who just served you flat white with oat milk.
But in many languages, that simplicity doesn’t fly. Using the wrong form of address can instantly make you sound rude, arrogant… or just plain clueless.
Let’s talk about the fine art of formality in translation – and why it matters more than you think.
French: the elegant tightrope
French is the classic example of linguistic etiquette.
- “Tu” is for your dog, your little brother, and maybe your Tinder date (after three drinks).
- “Vous” is for your professor, your lawyer, and your boss’s elderly mother.
Mess it up, and you might be seen as disrespectful – or, worse, too familiar too fast. It’s like walking into a boardroom in slippers.
German: hierarchy and structure
The German “Sie” vs “du” distinction is taken very seriously, especially in business.
Colleagues often stay on Sie-terms for years – sometimes decades.
Even when invited to use “du”, Germans often engage in the famous “Duzen-Ritual”:
“Sollen wir uns duzen?”
“Gerne.”
“Also, ich bin Heike.”
“Ich bin Tobias.”
It’s an official handshake, just… more grammatically involved.
Russian: the plural of respect
Russian takes the idea of respect literally.
To show politeness, you address someone using “вы” – the plural form of “you.”
It’s like you’re speaking to the person and their personal entourage of dignity.
Using “ты” (informal “you”) too soon? Risky. It signals either great intimacy or reckless boldness. Use with caution.
Polish: the monarch speaks
Polish formal language has evolved from aristocratic rituals to modern etiquette, but echoes of the past remain.
- You don’t just say “I’m pleased.”
- You say: “Jestem zadowolona” – fine. But in high formality (very rare today), you’d even say:
“Jesteśmy zadowoleni” – meaning “We are pleased” … even though it’s just you.
It’s called the plural of majesty (like royal “we”) and was once used by kings, professors and very stern aunties.
Nowadays, we mostly stick to polite forms like:
“Czy mogłaby Pani przesłać dokument?”
Literal translation: “Could Madame please send the file?”
Formal, precise, and… absolutely untranslatable word-for-word.
Japanese: where formality becomes an art form
And if you think German is formal… meet Japanese.
There are entire verb forms, prefixes and expressions that exist purely to indicate social hierarchy.
The same sentence can be expressed in at least three levels of politeness:
- Casual
- Polite
- Humble/Respectful (keigo)
Suffice it to say: if you’re translating for a Japanese audience, your best friend is a culturally aware linguist – not a dictionary.
So what does this mean for translation?
A lot.
Because a machine might translate all those forms of “you” the same way.
But a human translator?
- Will consider who’s speaking,
- To whom,
- In what context,
- With what power dynamics.
In other words: they won’t just translate your words – they’ll translate your intention.
At Lingonika…
We know that a single pronoun can open doors – or slam them shut.
That’s why we match every translation to the cultural expectations of your target audience.
Because in multilingual communication, it’s not just what you say – it’s how respectfully you say it.