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Home > Grammar > Nouns > Nationalities in English

Nationalities in English

Expressing nationalities in English can be a little confusing. There are exceptions to some grammatical rules for political or historic reasons.

Nationalities are expressed in the following ways:

  • Country
  • Origins
  • Adjective
  • Language
  • Describing a group 

Generally speaking, you must use a nationality with a plural verb. This is because you are referring to all people with said nationality. 

Examples: 

  • Italians make incredible wine. 
  • The Chinese have a New Year festival that lasts up to 16 days.

As we mentioned, there are some exceptions to how nationality is expressed. In a historical and political context, sometimes the grammar-appropriate expression has taken on a racist association. Therefore, they should be expressed in a different way to be sensitive to the nationality referred to. 

Examples:

  • Instead of ‘a Pakistani’, say ‘someone from Pakistan’.
  • Instead of ‘an African’, say ‘an African person’ or ‘someone from Africa’. 

Typically, the suffixes -ish-ese and -an are used to express nationality. However, when referring to specific cities, there are some additional exceptions to suffixes. 

Examples: 

City Adjective Noun
London London Londoner
New York New York New Yorker
Cape Town Cape Town Capetonian
Brighton Brighton Brightonian
Sydney Sydney Sydney-sider
Paris Parisian Parisian
New Delhi New Delhi Delhite
São Paulo São Paulo Paulistano

 

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