German term
Frau FN Gräfin LN
What is the proper way to translate "Frau FN Gräfin LN"? Is Mrs Countess FN LN?
I assume that "Gräfin" is her title, rather than part of her last name.
| 4 +6 | leave it untranslated |
philgoddard
|
| 3 -2 | Mrs Countess |
Kartik Isaac
|
Feb 20, 2019 04:36: philgoddard changed "Field (write-in)" from "Letter" to "(none)"
Non-PRO (1): Edith Kelly
When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.
How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:
An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)
A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).
Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.
When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.
* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.
Proposed translations
United States
Six languages into flawless English
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 4 more.
leave it untranslated
If you really want to translate it, I'd say "Countess FN LN" or "FN countess LN".
| I received another good explanation: "Since aristocratic titles were abolished in Germany, they are now just part of the last name." I found another example online to support this conclusion. Her last name is "Gräfin Lambsdorff". |
| agree |
Sibila T
14 mins
|
| agree |
Kim Metzger
54 mins
|
| agree |
writeaway
: our just use Countess to replace Frau Gräfin: Countess FN LN. Asker plans to use Mrs Countess though. /oh- just saw you suggested the same thing. Oh well
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Thomas Pfann
: Yes, it is her name; strictly speaking Gräfin is not a title in German but part of the name. And if you were to translate it then it would need to be without first name – Maria Gräfin von Viersen --> The Rt. Hon. the Countess of Viersen/Dear Lady Viersen
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Gordon Matthews
: Since "Gräfin" is part of her name, as others have explained, it should not be translated. Another point: In this particular case it may be correct to assume that she is married, but as a general rule "Frau" should be translated as "Ms."
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Lonnie Legg
: w. Gordon
2 days 10 hrs
|
Switzerland
The Translating Engineer
Native in: English (Variants: UK, US) 
Works in: German to English, French to English
Mrs Countess
| How about "Mrs. FN Countess of LN"? |
| neutral |
Edith Kelly
: sounds very odd
5 hrs
|
| disagree |
AllegroTrans
: this would never be used in English
6 hrs
|
| disagree |
Thomas Pfann
: Definitely not an option. The form of address for a countess would be [The Right Hon.] the Countess of XY on the envelope and Madam or Dear Lady XY as the salutation at the beginning of the letter.
6 hrs
|
Discussion