When we refer to a nation or region, we can use:
– the name of the country or region:Turkey, Japan, Germany, Brazil, Asia
– a singular noun that we use for a person from the country or region:a Turk, a Japanese, a German, a Brazilian, an Asian
– the plural expressionthe …used for the whole population of a country or region:the Turks, the Japanese, the Germans, the Brazilians, the Asians
– an adjective:Turkish, Japanese, German, Brazilian, Asian
The name of a national language is commonly the same as the national adjective. In this case, the words are nouns and may be modified by adjectives. We don’t usetheor the wordlanguage:
Do you speakChinese?
Not:Do you speak the Chinese?orDo you speak Chinese language?
Russianis difficult to learn, isn’t it, especially the alphabet?
She speaks fluentFrench.
We use a capital letter when we refer to a nationality, a language, a country and a region:
They have studiedAmericanliterature.
Not:They have studied american literature.
When we talk about the United Kingdom (UK),Englishis not the same asBritish. Englishis not used for Scottish or Welsh or Northern Irish people.(Great) Britainrefers to the territory of England, Scotland and Wales.The United Kingdomrefers to England, Scotland, Wales and the six counties of Northern Ireland. Some people from Northern Ireland refer to themselves asBritishin the context ofthe United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. However, everyone from Northern Ireland has the right to Irish nationality and can hold an Irish passport.Irishalso refers to citizens of the Irish Republic.
The Scots themselves prefer the adjectiveScotsand it also occurs in the compoundsScotsmanandScotswoman. We use the adjectiveScotchto refer only to food and drink from Scotland e.g.Scotch broth(broth is a kind of soup).
Nowadays we use the nounBritononly to refer to the ancient tribes that lived in Britain:
The ancientBritonsbuilt huge earthworks to bury their kings and leaders.
The short form ofBritish,Brit, is often used as a noun (or less commonly as an adjective) in journalistic style and in informal situations to refer to British people:
TheBritshave a bad reputation in some countries.
We useArabicfor the language spoken in Arab countries; the normal adjective isArab(e.g.theArabWorld, theArabPress). We useArabianin a few fixed expressions and place names (e.g.ArabianNights is a famous film; theArabianSea).
Countries and regions and their adjectives and nouns
The singular noun is normally the same as the adjective (e.g.Moroccan), and the plural expression is the same as the adjective +-s(e.g.the Moroccans).
Country/Region | Adjective | Person (noun) | People (plural noun) |
Algeria | Algerian | an Algerian | the Algerians |
Australia | Australian | an Australian | the Australians |
America/the USA | American | an American | the Americans |
Belgium | Belgian | a Belgian | the Belgians |
Brazil | Brazilian | a Brazilian | the Brazilians |
Europe | European | a European | the Europeans |
Italy | Italian | an Italian | the Italians |
Hungary | Hungarian | a Hungarian | the Hungarians |
Morocco | Moroccan | a Moroccan | the Moroccans |
Norway | Norwegian | a Norwegian | the Norwegians |
Greece | Greek | a Greek | the Greeks |
Iraq | Iraqi | an Iraqi | the Iraqis |
Israel | Israeli | an Israeli | the Israelis |
Thailand | Thai | a Thai | the Thais |
China | Chinese | a Chinese | the Chinese |
Portugal | Portuguese | a Portuguese | the Portuguese |
Russia | Russian | a Russian | the Russians |
Slovakia | Slovaks | a Slovak | the Slovaks |
Switzerland | Swiss | a Swiss | the Swiss |
Here are some exceptions:
Country/region | Adjective | Person (noun) | People (plural noun) |
Britain | British | a British man/woman | the British |
England | English | an Englishman/woman | the English |
France | French | a Frenchman/woman | the French |
Ireland | Irish | an Irishman/woman | the Irish |
Spain | Spanish | a Spaniard | the Spanish |
The Netherlands/ | Dutch | a Dutchman/woman | the Dutch |
Holland | |||
Wales | Welsh | a Welshman/woman | the Welsh |
Denmark | Danish | a Dane | the Danes |
Finland | Finnish | a Finn | the Finns |
Poland | Polish | a Pole | the Poles |
Sweden | Swedish | a Swede | the Swedes |
Turkey | Turkish | a Turk | the Turks |
The+ country name
A few countries havetheas part of their name, for example,The United States, The United Kingdom, The United Arab Emirates. We often abbreviate these toUSA,UKandUAE.
See also:
Geographical places