Thread: Politeness question...

I came across this sentence:

"Скажите Лена, не хотели бы вы поужинать со мной сегодня?"

The thing that seems strange to me about this is that the speaker is using the woman's first name, but still using "вы". Since they are on a first-name basis, why aren't they using "ты"?
Or is this simply a mistake in the teaching material?

Originally Posted by Johanna

I came across this sentence:

"Скажите, (coooooommaaaaaa) Лена, не хотели бы вы поужинать со мной сегодня?"

The thing that seems strange to me about this is that the speaker is using the woman's first name, but still using "вы". Since they are on a first-name basis, why aren't they using "ты"?
Or is this simply a mistake in the teaching material?

That's a common thing. You can use "ты" or "вы" regardless of the first-name or the name+patronymic basis.

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by Johanna

the speaker is using the woman's first name, but still using "вы"

That's a common thing.

Yes, it's ok in Russian.

Ok! I understand..
Thanks both!