Addressing a female doctor of medicine

Question

Αγαπητέ Βασιλικί

Excuse please if I have spelt your name wrongly - I am still getting my head around the Greek ι and η and when to use them!

However, my question is this:

My medical specialist is Greek and if I address her - is the vocative for γιατρή - γιατρέ?

I think that a male doctor is ο γιατρός and I was told that the female is ο γιατρή (not η γιατρός!)

So if I were to speak to her directly and  say  "Γεια σας αγαπητέ γιατρέ" would this be correct and acceptable?

Ευχαριστώ πολύ

Ιάκοβος 

Answer 1

Γεια σου Ιάκοβε.

The correct way to address directly a female doctor in Greek is : ''γιατρέ” (the same as we address a male doctor).

Example:

“Γεια σας γιατρέ”
“Ποια είναι η γνώμη σας γιατρέ;” (= what is your opinion doctor?)

“αγαπητέ (male)/αγαπητή(female)” could be used in a formal speech or a letter that we write and not so much in everyday speech.

Τhe female doctor in Greek is “η γιατρός”( genitive: της γιατρού, accusative: τη γιατρό, vocative: γιατρέ).You may also hear some people saying “η γιατρίνα” (της γιατρίνας, τη γιατρίνα, γιατρίνα), but it is much more informal. When we address a woman doctor we almost always say γιατρέ and not γιατρίνα.

As for my name, the correct spelling is Βασιλική. It comes from the adjective “βασιλικός, βασιλική, βασιλικό”, which means royal in Greek.