How to address a stranger in Russian

In modern Russian there is no form that would correspond to English ‘sir’ and ‘madame’ or, for example, Spanish ‘señor’ and ‘señora’. In Soviet times, this function was performed by the universal appeal ‘товарищ’ (=comrade), but after the collapse of the USSR it lost its ideological relevance. Pre-revolutionary forms ‘сударь’ and ‘сударыня’ sounded inappropriate and old fashioned. As a result, there is a gap in the language. 

When Russian-speakers need to address a stranger, they usually start the phrase with a neutral ‘извините’ (=excuse me) and avoid addressing. Sometimes people use words ‘девушка’ (=a girl), ‘женщина’ (=a woman), ‘молодой человек’ (=a young man), ‘мужчина’ (=a man). That may seem rude to foreigners, but in the Russian language culture, such appeals are perceived as normal (at least until a decent alternative comes along). 

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