What do I call my boyfriend’s mom?

r/

My [19F] boyfriend [23M] is Dominican, and I’ll be meeting his mom soon. His mom doesn’t speak a lot of English so I’ve been brushing up on my Spanish. I can string a few sentences together but I’m not sure what to call her? Is just mam ok? Yes I can ask my boyfriend but I’m also curious what it’s like for the rest of Latin America.

Comments

  1. ThorvaldGringou Avatar

    Here in Chile is Suegra. Idk if is similar in RD. Probably not.

  2. mindlessly777 Avatar

    we just say señora [name], that way it’s more formal than just calling her name

  3. Whole-Lack1362 Avatar

    Señora (insert name).

  4. Salt_Winter5888 Avatar

    The best approach is to call her by her name at first. Calling her “señora” is too distant, and calling her “suegra” is too presumptuous.

  5. AdeptAd3224 Avatar

    Don’t call her Suegra (Mother in law) not when you have just started dating. In a year, maybe two it might be ok. 

    I would go with Doña or Señora …first-name. 

    So if her name is Rosa : Doña Rosa placer de conocerla. 

    You might get corrected to call her something else like a family nickname. 

  6. VeronicoElectronica Avatar

    Ik some might say to call her “Doña” which is ma’am in Spanish. But tbh depending on how old she is, a Dominican mom might be like “did she just call me ma’am?” 😭😭 IMO “Señora” would be fine until you spend the day with her and learn her name. Then after that calling her by her name should be good.

  7. yblaze27 Avatar

    Suegrita, doñita, señora pendeja

  8. Fernando3161 Avatar

    Ask her.. depending on how chill she is (and she must be also young for habing a 23 YO son):

    —-Only First name if she is chill
    Doña Maria
    Señora Maria
    Maria

    Suegra… may be to early and may make her feel too old!

  9. TheKeeperOfThePace Avatar

    It amazes me the fact that at your age we would call her ‘tia’ here, which me means ‘aunt’, just weird.

  10. Disastrous-Example70 Avatar

    Here it would be Señora and her name.

    It’s too soon to call her suegra, and “doña” may be offensive to some women because it’s like calling them grandma. Some countries use doña instead of señora tho

  11. infamous-hermit Avatar

    Señora First name.
    Until she says otherwise.

    Sí señora.
    Buenos días señora First name.

  12. Atuk-77 Avatar

    Traditionally “Señora (name)” … However, nowadays the “señora” title makes people feel old, and new generations (millennials and x generation moms) rather be call by the name only, which is also respectful. I would just call her by her name.