"هَل أَنْتِ دُكْتورة يا أُسْتاذة؟"
Translation:Are you a doctor, ma'am?
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in standard Arabic this is someone respectfully asking a (female) teacher/professor if she has a PhD.
In dialect it means many different things depending on the dialect. (are you a doctor, ma'am? are you a PhD holder, ma'am? Are you a doctor, teacher?) etc.
Ustadzah is professor not ma'am, in arabic we call sayyidah for an honourable woman, not ustadzah. Ustadz is for male profesor (isim mudzakar) while ustadzah is for female (isim muannats)
I have a different confusion than "ma'am". The word Ustaaza should mean professor as was the case in previous exercises. So how we decide that it should mean professor or ma'am. Appreciate if any one can help.
Ustadzah is professor not ma'am, in arabic we call sayyidah for an honourable woman, not ustadzah. Ustadz is for male profesor (isim mudzakar) while ustadzah is for female (isim muannatsa)
mea domina -> ma dame -> madam -> ma’am (for centuries one word).
I thought the student was asking the professor if she had a doctorate. But not so: this is someone asking a lady if she is a doctor, correct? For example addressing a lady in a lab coat at a hospital whom one has not yet met.
Both meanings are correct, though the question is more likely to be asking about her being a medical doctor rather than a professor.
I don't see the point in using "ma'am" rather than "madam".
Ok from what I see in Wiktionary it's rather an American way of politeness. My English education is mainly British so I was very puzzled:
Wiktionary: In British English, ma'am has become uncommon In American English, the full form madam is limited as a form of address to certain highly formal environments, while ma'am is the usual term. Ma'am is not often used in the other sense of madam, but is used as a polite form of address toward: - a female teacher or school official in a school which emphasizes formality
In American English, madame or madam either means you are the female president of the United States (or some other high formal situation) or you are the female proprietess of a brothel.
In American English, ma'am is a common form of address to a female you do not know, especially if she is older than you are.
The choices that were given in English didn't match the meaning of this sentence. The word "ma" in English is a slang term for mother and did not register in my mind as a shortened form for "ma'am." I understood the sentence but could not translate it properly given the choices.
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Only in Egypt say that, in other countries it sounds really weird. Saying are you a doctor, professor? Will make people laugh at you
This is ridiculous, the correct spelling is madam, and the course has so far taught that 'ustadha' is professor.
- It is the respectful way to address an unknown woman in the United States. 2. It is also added after "Thank you", "Yes", or "No" when speaking to any woman (even someone you know) to show respect (especially common in the Southern states)
It is the female equivalent of "sir," often used as a term of respect or to get the attention of a stranger.
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Ma'am should really be one word. Also, as a female, a doctor, and a professor, its really confusing wording/phrasing -- even if it (maybe?) is culturally appropriate.
How we can know ma'am is teacher? Why not the word teacher instead of??
It just means professor Arabic does not have a proper word for Sr. or Mrs. they just have an almost transliteration سيدية mrs سيدت sir but do not believe me... ask someone who knows!
...هَل أَنْتِ دُكْتورة يا أُسْت the three full stops indicates that the word is not finished.... but because Duolingo does not have those things very well sort out they are shown before هل... and looks as if the divided the word teacher (or ma'am) but not!
The right translation is : " هل انت دكتورة يا سيدتي ؟" This is Egyptian dialect, not classic Arabic.
Twice did mistake 1st write ma with 'am app consider wrong 2nd time write only 'am still wrong But we all know Ma'am is only 1 word
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I think this must be an epic joke on the part of Duolingo. Of course they know that ma'am is one word, but they separate it into two words for a joke, and they must think it's a pretty good joke, since they don't correct it, and watch the students arguing over it. Actually, it makes me laugh each time I see it, so I suppose it is quite a good joke.
My problem, being from England, is that there isn't really an equivalent in English English. We simply don't address people as ma'am or sir (although I notice that "sir" is creeping - back - into the language, but it sounds American). So to translate أُسْتاذة here we have to resort to the American ma'am.
so i can use استاذة as ma'am? i thought استاذة can only means professor (f)
"ma'am" is NOT a proper English word. It's a slang used in American Southern states, and it's completely inappropriate to use it in the educational software like this one.
PLEASE READ: 1. The usage of "ma'am" in the South is NOT slang. It is the expected and polite way to address a woman, just as "sir" is used to address a man. It is reinforced in the schools, by parents, and heard everywhere in the South. 2. "Thank you, ma'am" is also heard in restaurants or retail stores in other parts of the United States, especially when food is served, money is paid, or anything else is done for another person by a woman. I know this, because I've lived in several states in different parts of the country, not just the South.
I hope I fully agree with you, Mr. Michelle. Translations are done as per rules of the language. Addressing a woman, a teacher, a nurse or any working woman in any establishment or in official capacity, they are now a days addressed as "ma'am" and not the old practice as "madam". Madam is still in use for addressing a lady. As per the liguistic rules, when a word, not only english word, but any word from other languages also, comes in common use, it becomes part of the literary script as also in the common usage. This is what I have studied as a student of English litrature. Thanking you.