Do you know nationalities in English? Here are some patterns to help you learn and remember:
-an or -ian
All countries in America take an -an or –ian to form the nationality.
For example:
A person from Canada is a Canadian.
A person from Honduras is Honduran.
A person from Uruguay is Uruguayan.
The one exception is the United States. A person from the United States is called an American, not a ‘United Statian’.
Many other nationalities take the same ending:
Russia – Russian
Australia – Australian
Italy – Italian
India – Indian
Egypt – Egyptian
South Africa – South African
-ish
Denmark – Danish
Finland – Finish
Sweden – Swedish
Ireland – Irish
Poland – Polish
Spain – Spanish
England – English or British
-ese
China – Chinese
Japan – Japanese
Vietnam – Vietnamese
Portugal – Portuguese
The Republic of Congo – Congolese
Sudan – Sudanese
Lebanon – Lebanese
-i
Bangladesh – Bangladeshi
Iraq – Iraqi
Israel – Israeli
Pakistan – Pakistani
-er
Iceland – Icelander
Greenland – Greenlander
New Zealand – New Zealander
Some nationalities are shortened forms of the country.
Thailand – Thai
Switzerland – Swiss
Czech Republic – Czech
Some nationalities don’t follow any of these patterns.
France – French
Greece – Greek
The Netherlands – Dutch
Philippines – Filipino
Further Reading:
Making Sense of Adjectives From Country Names from VOA Learning
