In normal polite usage, a person's name is usually preceded by: * Monsieur, for males (etymologically, monsieur means "my lord", cf. English "sir"); pronounced [məsjø]; plural: messieurs, pronounced [mesjø]; abbreviation: singular M.; plural: MM.. The singular form Mr is very often found, but is considered incorrect by purists, although it appears (together with its rare plural form Mrs) in some dictionaries. * Madame, for females (etymologically, madame means "my lady", cf. English "dame"); pronounced [madam]; plural: mesdames, pronounced [medam]; abbreviation: Mme; plural: Mmes. Madame must also be used in the case where one does not know whether the addressed woman is married or not and in the case where one does not know whether the addressed woman consider the usage as discriminatin