Forming a nationality into an adjective or noun using the name of a country is not so easy in English. Use the ending to write an adjective -ese or -ish with a plural verb to refer to all people of nationality. The names of the adjectives on the list also match the name of the language spoken in a particular country, although this is not always the case.

Examples
  • A country: I live in Japan.
  • Adjective: He likes Japanese food.
  • Origin: She is a Japanese person. = She is from Japan. = She is Japanese.
  • Language: She speaks Japanese.
  • Description of a group of people: Spaniards often drink wine. = Spanish people often drink wine.
  • Description of a group of people: The Chinese enjoy fireworks. = Chinese people enjoy fireworks.

There are cases in which a nationality or a local noun may have a negative connotation for some people for historical or political reasons. In this case, many people will not use this word, but will speak using a more neutral adjective + "people" or "people from" + the name of the country. These examples are marked with an asterisk. Alternative formulations that are least capable of causing offense are given in brackets.

Geographic Region/Continent Adjective Noun
africa African an African* (an African person, someone from Africa)
Asia Asian an Asian* (an Asian person, someone from Asia)
Europe European a European
Central America Central American a Central American
Middle East Middle East a Middle Easterner
North Africa North Africa a North African
South America South American a South American
southeast Asia southeast Asian a Southeast Asian person
Country or region Adjective Noun
Afghanistan Afghanistan an Afghanistan
Algeria Algerian an Algerian
Angola Angolan an Angolan
Argentina Argentina an Argentina
Austria Austrian an Austrian
Australia Australian an Australian
Bangladesh Bangladeshi a Bangladeshi
Belarus Belarusian a Belarusian
Belgium Belgian a Belgian
Bolivia Bolivian a Bolivian
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian/Herzegovinian a Bosnian/a Herzegovinian
Brazil Brazilian a Brazilian
Britain british a Briton (informally: a Brit)
Bulgaria Bulgarian a Bulgarian
Cambodia Cambodian a Cambodian
Cameroon cameroonian a Cameroonian
Canada Canadian a Canadian
Central African Republic Central African a Central African
Chad Chadian a Chadian
China Chinese a Chinese person
Colombia Colombian a Colombian
Costa Rica Costa Rican a Costa Rican
Croatia Croatian a Croat
the Czech Republic Czech a Czech person
Democratic Republic of the Congo Congolese a Congolese person (note: also applies to people from the Republic of the Congo)
Denmark Danish a Dane
Ecuador ecuadorian an Ecuadorian
Egypt Egyptian an Egyptian
El Salvador Salvadoran a Salvadoran (also possible spelling Salvadorian & Salvadorean)
England English an Englishman/Englishwoman
Estonia Estonian an Estonian
Ethiopia Ethiopian an Ethiopian
Finland Finnish a Finn
France French a Frenchman/Frenchwoman
Germany German a German
Ghana Ghanaian a Ghanaian
Greece Greek a Greek
Guatemala Guatemalan a Guatemalan
Holland Dutch a Dutchman/Dutchwoman
Honduras Honduran a Honduran
Hungary Hungarian a Hungarian
Iceland Icelandic an Icelander
India Indian an Indian
Indonesia Indonesian an Indonesian
Iran Iranian an Iranian
Iraq Iraqi an Iraqi
Ireland Irish an Irishman/Irishwoman
Israel Israeli an Israeli
Italy Italian an Italian
Ivory Coast Ivorian an Ivorian
Jamaica Jamaican a Jamaican
Japan Japanese a Japanese person
Jordan Jordanian a Jordanian
Kazakhstan Kazakh a Kazakhstani (used as a noun, "a Kazakh" refers to an ethnic group, not a nationality)
Kenya Kenyan a Kenyan
laos Lao a Laotian (used as a noun, "a Lao" refers to an ethnic group, not a nationality)
Latvia Latvian a Latvian
Libya Libyan a Libyan
Lithuania Lithuanian a Lithuanian
Madagascar Malagasy a Malagasy
Malaysia Malaysian a Malaysian
Mali Malian a Malian
Mauritania Mauritanian a Mauritanian
Mexico Mexican a Mexican* (may sound offensive in the US. Use "someone from Mexico" instead.)
Morocco Moroccan a Moroccan
Namibia Namibian a Namibian
New Zealand New Zealand a New Zealander
Nicaragua Nicaraguan a Nicaraguan
Nigeria Nigerien a Nigerian
Nigeria Nigerian a Nigerian
Norway Norwegian a Norwegian
Oman Omani an Omani
Pakistan Pakistani a Pakistani* (may sound offensive in England. Use "someone from Pakistan" instead.)
Panama Panamanian a Panamanian
Paraguay Paraguayan a Paraguayan
Peru Peruvian a Peruvian
The Philippines Philippine a Filipino* (someone from the Philippines)
Poland Polish a Pole* (someone from Poland, a person from Poland)
Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese person
Republic of the Congo Congolese a Congolese person (note: this also applies to people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Romania Romanian a Romanian
Russia Russian a Russian
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian a Saudi, a Saudi Arabian
Scotland Scottish a Scot
Senegal Senegalese a Senegalese person
Serbia Serbian a Serbian (used as a noun, "a Serb" refers to an ethnic group, not a nationality
Singapore Singaporean a Singaporean
Slovakia Slovak a Slovak
Somalia Somalian a Somalian
South Africa South Africa a South African
Spain Spanish a Spaniard* (Spanish, someone from Spain)
Sudan Sudanese a Sudanese person
Sweden Swedish a swede
Switzerland Swiss a Swiss person
Syria Syrian a Syrian
Thailand Thai a Thai person
Tunisia Tunisian a Tunisian
Turkey Turkish a Turk
Turkmenistan Turkmen a Turkmen / the Turkmens
Ukraine Ukrainian a Ukrainian
United Arab Emirates Emirates an Emirati
The United States American an American
Uruguay Uruguayan a Uruguayan
Vietnam Vietnamese a Vietnamese person
Wales Welsh a Welshman/Welshwoman
Zambia Zambian a Zambian
Zimbabwe Zimbabwean a Zimbabwean

Cities can also become adjectives and nouns, although these are highly uncommon and the noun form will not always agree (there may be more than one). Some examples of city names are given below.

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Sometimes people say: “He speaks Germany. She is from French. You can understand, butthey say incorrectly. And all becausethat the names of countries-nationalities-languages ​​are very similar. It is easy to confuse ifdon't know for sure. Learn for sure! Peopleshould know where you are from.What is surprising: when you first look atcountries and nationalities (in English), andalso adjectives that describeproducts, services from these countriesnotice that they are written with a largeletters! How respectful! (ANDthe pronoun "I" they also write withcapital letter. They love and respect themselves! A We?!)

Nationality in English is an adjective , which describeswhere a person, food, etc.My grandfather often repeated: “Look! Lookwhat are you!” And in the nationalitiesI noticed a lot of words in English-ish ending: Danish, Spanish, Turkish, andetc. I remembered and remembered my grandfather ...

Here's some good news for newbies. English: many names of languages ​​andnationalities match! Learned the languageand voila: you already know automaticallynationality! Just beforenationality in the singularyou need to add the article a/an:And Belarusian smiled at me very friendly. -The Belarusian smiled at me kindly.There are, of course, a couple of exceptions (but what about without them!).

Table of mismatched spellings and the sound of nationalities and languages.

Country nationality (person) language
Australia Australian English
Belgium Belgian [ˈbɛldʒən] French or Flemish
Brazil Brazilian Portuguese
Britain british English
Canada Canadian English or French
China Chinese Mandarin (and Chinese)
Egypt Egyptian [ɪˈdʒɪpʃən] Arabic
Finland Finn Finnish
Mexico Mexican Spanish
Northern Ireland Irish (an Irishman) English
Poland Pole Polish
Scotland Scottish English or Gaelic [ˈgeɪlɪk]
Southern Ireland Irish English
Switzerland Swiss French / German / Italian
The UK british English

Learn the words:

Guess:

  1. She can see the Eiffel Tower from her balcony. What city and country does she live in?
  2. He drives a very expensive red Ferrari. What country makes such posh cars?
  3. My uncle lives in Warsaw more than 30 years. Of course he can speak ____!
  4. I adore sushi! Do you know which cuisine is it? (cuisine n kitchen)
  5. My friend from Moscow presented me Matryoshka yesterday! Oh, it`s a very awesome traditional ___ doll!
  6. I was in Rome last month. Oh, those ___ men! It seems to me they know only one word "belissima!".
  7. When we were in Texas we saw real cowboys. I asked one of them: “Do youspeak American? He smiled at me andanswered: “Nope, young lady! We speak ____!”

Activate!

  1. Do you know the nationalities of your grand-grandparents?
  2. Can you draw a flag of your country?
  3. How many languages ​​can you speak?
  4. What language is spoken in many countries of the world?
  5. Today is the 21st century. But why people still use the services of human translators?

As soon as the topic “Countries and Nationalities” in English begins in the textbook, some students immediately sulk. Like, why do we need all this geography!

Indeed, if you study countries and nationalities in the spirit of ‘London is the capital of England’, there is little fun))

Buy what? Turkish Delight!

We will pay with what? Turkish Lira!

So countries and nationalities in English make the most practical sense!

Let's look at this whole international?))

Countries and nationalities in English




















Oops, not only countries are here, but also a couple of continents))

Spanish or Spanish?

There is often confusion with the names of countries and nationalities (adjectives). When should you use the name of the country and when should you use an adjective?

Let me not reveal all the cards yet? Look at the “funny pictures” again and try to find a pattern or principle yourself.

Countries adjectives

I've been to Spain several times.

Switzerland is a very rich country.

Is Acapulco in Mexico ?

I went to the Czech Republic last fall.

I've always wanted to go to China .

I've never been to Germany …

my friend lives in Portugal .

I love the sound of the Spanish guitar.

We're going to the Swiss Alps in January.

I bought this funny Mexican hat in Acapulco.

This restaurant serves authentic Czech beer.

That's why I'm learning Chinese .

…but I have a German friend.

He isn't Portuguese, he moved there three years ago.

As you can see, adjectives are needed where we talk about:

  • nationality ( He isn't Portuguese; a German friend)
  • language ( I'm learning Chinese)
  • or describe the subject ( Mexican hat; spanish guitar)

Countries and nationalities in English. Table

For convenience, we group all countries and continents according to the endings of adjectives:

Ending -ish Ending -an ending -ian
England-EnglishGermany-GermanArgentina-Argentinian
Ireland-IrishMexico-MexicanBrazil-Brazilian
Poland-PolishThe USA–AmericanEgypt - Egyptian
Scotland-ScottishCuba–CubanHungary-Hungary
Spain-SpanishVenezuelanItaly-Italian
Turkey–TurkishKorea–KoreanRussia-Russian
Finland–FinnishAfrica-AfricanNorway–Norwegian
Sweden-SwedishNorth America-North AmericanCanada–Canadian
Denmark-Danish
South America-South American
Saudi Arabia–Saudi Arabian
Europe-EuropeanIndia–Indian

Ukraine-Ukrainian
Austria - Austrian
Australia-Australian
Asia-Asian
ending -ese Other endings
China-ChineseFrance-French
Japan–JapaneseThe Czech Republic
Taiwan - TaiwaneseSwitzerland-Switzerland
Portugal–PortugueseIraq–Iraqi
Vietnam-Vietnamese
Thailand-Thai

Greece-Greek

The Netherlands
Iceland - Icelandic
Peru-Peruvian

Of course, these are not all countries and nationalities that are represented on planet Earth)) Add other countries in the comments!

Be careful with these words, they are often confused:

Well, as you can see, all countries and nationalities in English are written with a capital letter.

Prepositions with country names

Prepositions are also often difficult. How to:

  • to Spain
  • in Spain
  • from Spain

All correct, but in different contexts:

TO

Pretext to indicates the direction - where? And most often used in the verb go at any time:

  • I'm going to Spain next week.
  • I went to Germany last year.
  • I've always wanted to go to Japan.

Except for the persistent cliché:

  • Have you ever been to Turkey?
  • I've never been to Europe.
  • I've been to Italy several times.

IN

Pretext in means that we are already in the country, or something has happened / is happening in it:

  • Where's Canberra? It's in Australia.
  • In 1999 I spent the entire summer in Hungary.
  • Where's your boss? – He's on vacation, in Turkey.
  • I bought this hat in Mexico.
  • I had a great time in Egypt.
  • The conference will take place in France.

FROM

Pretext from stands for where:

  • Where's this wine from? It's from France.
  • Jack is from the USA.

And finally, rhyming with the names of nationalities. Enjoy!)))

And if you want to practice a little, do the countries and nationalities in English.

  • What countries have you been to?
  • What did you buy / try / see in those countries?
  • Where would you like to go?
  • What would you like to buy / try / see there?

This lesson is devoted to the analysis of countries and nationalities in English. From the lesson you will learn: the names of countries, ways of forming nationalities from the names of countries in English.

Popular questions to remember

Examples

Whats your nationality? - I "m Mexican. What is your nationality? - I'm Mexican.

Do you speak Italian? - He is from Italy. He is Italian. Do you speak Italian? - He's from Italy. He is Italian.

Suffixes for the formation of adjectives from the names of countries

Italy - Italy Italian – Italian Italian - Italian

As you can see, the same word, formed from the name of a country, can be used in different ways. This adjective is the name of the language of this country and the name of the nationality.

Many students of these derivative words use just the name of the country (Japan food, Spain singer, and so on). The name of the country cannot be an adjective, cannot describe the nationality or language of the country, so do not make such mistakes.

It should be noted that the name of the nationality and the language of the country do not always coincide. For example, in Brazil Brazil, although the Brazilians live Brazilian, but they speak Portuguese Portugese. Also with the Arab countries, where the nationality of the country does not coincide with the language.

Suffix -ian

Adjectives are formed using this suffix, regardless of what letter the name of the country ends in and where it is located. If the country name ends in -ia , then only -n is added:

Argentina Argentinian

Egypt Egyptian

Norway Norwegian

Ukraine Ukrainian

Brazil Brazilian

Russia Russian

Australia Australian

Indonesia Indonesian

Suffix -an

If the name of the country ends in -a, then only -n is added, if the name ends in another vowel, -an is added:

Korea Korean

Venezuela Venezuelan

Chile Chilean

Mexico Mexican

Suffix -ese

Basically, this suffix is ​​used with Asian countries, some African countries, European countries and South America:

China Chinese

Vietnam Vietnamese

Japan Japanese

lebanon Lebanese

Sudan Sudanese

Taiwan Taiwanese

Portugal Portuguese

Suffix -ish

Some adjectives are formed with the -ish suffix:

Britain british

Scotland Scottish

Ireland Irish

Wales Welsh

Poland Polish

Turkey Turkish

Suffix -i

Almost all countries that go with this suffix are Islamic countries, or countries where Arabic is spoken.

Iraq Iraqi

Pakistan Pakistani

Thailand Thai

Kuwait Kuwaiti

Other suffixes

Other suffixes can also be called exceptions, since some of them are single, used to form one nationality.

France French

Greece Greek

Switzerland Swiss

The Netherlands Dutch

As mentioned earlier, many adjectives that can be formed using suffixes are the names of languages ​​spoken in a particular country. In addition, these adjectives, combined with nouns, describe something specific to this country:

French literature French literature

Japanese food Japanese food

Mexican traditions Mexican traditions

Egyptian culture Egyptian history

How to talk about nationalities in general in English?

1. The + ADJECTIVE

From the article on definite articles in English, you know that the article the can be combined with adjectives when the adjective refers to a group of people:

The Chinese are very traditional. The Chinese are very traditional.

The Americans like fast food. Americans love fast food.

Have you noticed that in the given examples the word Americans is used with the ending -s, Chinese - without the ending? There are a few rules to remember about this:

1. If nationality-adjectives have endings –sh, –ch, –ss, –ese, -i then they do not have a plural form (no -s is added to them):

  • the French - French
  • the Swiss
  • the Japanese - Japanese
  • the Scottish
  • the Iraqi - Iraqis
  • the Israeli - Israelis

2. Adjectives ending in -an and some others have plural forms. These adjectives (unlike the ones above) can also act as nouns:

  • the Ukrainians - Ukrainians
  • the Brazilians
  • the Greeks - Greeks
  • the Thais - residents of Thailand
    • Scotland - Scots

    Spain–the Spaniards Spain - Spaniards

    Turkey - the Turks

    If you are talking about one person, then if this nationality has a noun, you can use it:

    • an American - American
    • an Italian - Italian
    • a Pole - Pole
    • a Turk - Turk
    • a Spaniard - Spaniard
    • a Briton - British
    • a swede

    If there is no noun, or you want to clarify the gender of the person, then use the scheme: ADJECTIVE + MAN/ WOMAN/ BOY/ GIRL

    • an English boy
    • a Chinese woman
    • a French man (may be spelled together: a Frenchman)
    • an English man (may be written together: an Englishman)

    There is a term in English demonym(from Greek demos- the people and name- Name). This term is intended to describe people living in a certain area. These are the names of nationalities, ethnic groups, residents of a particular area or a particular city. All of the above adjectives and nouns derived from country names are demonyms. Demonyms are formed mainly by suffixing:

    London–Londoner London - Londoner

    Kiev–Kievan Kyiv - a resident of Kyiv

    Rome–Roman Rome - a resident of Rome

    As you can see, the topic "Countries and nationalities in English" is not so difficult if you consider this issue carefully.

In this article, we will touch on the topic nationality in english. Along with the nationalities in the summary tables, we present the countries, as well as exceptions according to the method of word formation of the noun that defines the representative of the country.

Nationality education in English

adjectives denoting nationality, can turn into a noun, denoting a representative of a given nationality, and can be used in the singular and plural.

Rules for the formation of nationality:

  • -an , then in the singular the form of the word is preserved, and in the plural the ending is added -s ;
  • if the adjective ends in -se , -ss , then the singular and plural forms of the noun that is formed from it coincide.

Below is a table of the formation of nationality from adjectives according to the above rules.

Table number 1. Nationality education in English
A countryAdjectiveCountry RepresentativeThe whole nation as a whole
🔊 Russia🔊 English🔊 in English🔊 the Russians
🔊America (the USA)🔊 American🔊 an American🔊 the Amaericans
🔊 Belgium🔊 Belgian🔊 a Belgian🔊 the Belgians
🔊 Brazil🔊 Brazilian🔊a Brazilian🔊 the Brazilians
🔊Bulgaria🔊 Bulgarian🔊 a Bulgarian🔊 the Bulgarians
🔊Europe🔊 European🔊 European🔊 the Europeans
🔊Italy🔊 Italian🔊 in Italian🔊 the Italians
🔊Germany🔊 German🔊 a German🔊 the Germans
🔊 Kenya🔊 Kenyan🔊 a Kenyan🔊 the Kenyans
🔊 Morocco🔊Moroccan🔊 a Moroccan🔊 the Moroccans
🔊 Norway🔊Norwegian🔊a Norwegian🔊 the Norwegians
🔊 Tyrol🔊 Tyrolean🔊 a Tyrolean🔊 the Tyroleans
🔊Greece🔊 Greek🔊 a Greek🔊 the Greeks
🔊 Iraq🔊 Iraqi🔊 an Iraqi🔊 the Iraqis
🔊Israel🔊 Israeli🔊 Israeli🔊 the Israelis
🔊Thailand🔊 Thai🔊 a Thai🔊 the Thais
🔊 China🔊Chinese🔊 a Chinese🔊 Chinese
🔊 Congo🔊 Congolese🔊 a Congolese🔊 the Congolese
🔊 Portugal🔊 Portuguese🔊 a Portuguese🔊 the Portuguese
🔊Switzerland🔊 Swiss🔊 a Swiss🔊 Swiss

Exceptions to the rules for the formation of nationalities in English

In addition to the formation of a nationality according to the rules defined above, there are exceptions. The formation of a nationality not according to the general rules is presented in the table below.

Table number 2. Exceptions in the education of nationality
A countryAdjectiveCountry RepresentativeThe whole nation as a whole
🔊 Britain🔊 British🔊 a British person (🔊 Briton)🔊 the British
🔊 England🔊 English🔊 an Englishwoman/man🔊 English
🔊 France🔊 French🔊 a Frenchman/woman🔊 French
🔊Ireland🔊 Irish🔊an Irishwoman/man🔊 the Irish
🔊 Spain🔊 Spanish🔊 a Spaniard🔊 Spanish
🔊 The Neterlands / 🔊 Holland🔊 Dutch🔊 a Dutchwoman/man🔊 the Dutch
🔊Wales🔊 Welsh🔊 a Welshman/woman🔊 the Welsh
🔊 Danmark🔊 Danish🔊 a Dane🔊 the Danes
🔊 Finland🔊 Finnish🔊 a Finn🔊 the Finns
🔊 Poland🔊 Polish🔊 a Field🔊 the Poles
🔊 Scotland🔊 Scottish, 🔊 Scotch🔊 a Scott🔊 the Scots
🔊 Sweden🔊 Swedish🔊 a swede🔊 the swedes
🔊 Turkey🔊 Turkish🔊 a Turk🔊 the Turks