don/doña

CULTURAL NOTE

don/doña

The words don, for men, and doña, for women, are courtesy titles used before someone's name, when they are being spoken or written to. They are used for someone who is senior professionally, in age or socially. Doña is usually used only for married or widowed women, except in official documents, when it refers to any woman.

Don and doña always precede a person's first name. "¿Se va ya, don Juan? " When talking about a third person you can use don and doña before their first name, which is followed by their surname: "Don Juan Montesinos ". In correspondence, don and doña can be abbreviated to D . and Dn ., or Dña. and D^A, respectively, and can be preceded by the appropriate title señor or señora : "Sr. Dn. Juan Montesinos "; "Sra. Dña. Ana Castellón ".