Nationalities, languages, countries and regions

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 expression the … 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 use the or the word language:

• Do you speak Chinese?
• Not: Do you speak the Chinese? or Do you speak Chinese language?
• Russian is difficult to learn, isn’t it, especially the alphabet?
• She speaks fluent French.

We use a capital letter when we refer to a nationality, a language, a country and a region:

• They have studied American literature.
• Not: They have studied american literature.

When we talk about the United Kingdom (UK), English is not the same as British. English is not used for Scottish or Welsh or Northern Irish people. (Great) Britain refers to the territory of England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom refers to England, Scotland, Wales and the six counties of Northern Ireland. Some people from Northern Ireland refer to themselves as British in the context of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. However, everyone from Northern Ireland has the right to Irish nationality and can hold an Irish passport. Irish also refers to citizens of the Irish Republic.

The Scots themselves prefer the adjective Scots and it also occurs in the compounds Scotsman and Scotswoman. We use the adjective Scotch to refer only to food and drink from Scotland e.g. Scotch broth (broth is a kind of soup).

Nowadays we use the noun Briton only to refer to the ancient tribes that lived in Britain:

• The ancient Britons built huge earthworks to bury their kings and leaders.

The short form of British, 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:

• The Brits have a bad reputation in some countries.

We use Arabic for the language spoken in Arab countries; the normal adjective is Arab (e.g. the Arab World, the Arab Press). We use Arabian in a few fixed expressions and place names (e.g. Arabian Nights is a famous film; the Arabian Sea).

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 have the as part of their name, for example, The United States, The United Kingdom, The United Arab Emirates. We often abbreviate these to USA, UK and UAE.

See also

• Geographical places