ABSTRACT
There are three levels of politeness when speaking to someone in Catalan, as visible in the stressed singular pronouns tu / voste / vos. Tu is used in conversations with known equals; vostè is the most polite form used to address superiors in a non-familiar relation; vos is a polite form used to show respect to superiors (normally in age) without completely breaking familiarity. Regarding titles preceding surnames, there is an important difference compared to English: the definite article is compulsory in Catalan, except when the person is being addressed directly. Honorific titles introduced with a possessive (as in the English 'Your Majesty'), are simple in Catalan as the possessive depends only on the possession and not on the possessing person. Treatments of this type take verbs in the third person singular, and possession is also indicated in the third person singular (el seu, etc.).
