在较正式的场合以及被指称者的社会影响足以让我们对其表达敬意时,"先生"、"女士"这一对称谓语的使用是对称的。除此,两个称谓语在分布上是不对称的,具体可分为两种情形,一种情形是可以用"先生"来称呼男性,但一般不用"女士"来称呼女性;另一种情形是可以用"女士"来称呼女性,但一般不用"先生"来称呼男性。
When the social influence of a man makes us show respect for him in formal occasion, the use of gentleman and lady are symmetrical. Except this, the two forms of address are asymmetrical in distribution which mainly derides into two situations: One is to call a man "gentleman" but usually not call a woman "lady". Another is to call a woman "lady" but not usually call a man " gentle- man". This paper makes description and explanation for this two situations.