How to write nationalities in English?

How to write nationalities in English?

Are you interested in the question How are nationalities in English? This article provides a list of nationalities with their country/language, and the rules for writing in English.

Firstly, let’s see the meaning of nationality. Nationality shows anyone belonging to a specific country, either as they were born there, or they were naturalized. Nationality adjectives are also used to describe the things that come from a country, such as American music, Indian spices and Egyptian sweets.  

Rules of composition 

Adjectives which denote the origin of a person or his belonging to a country are usually formed from the name of that country + special suffixes. Here are the nationalities and countries examples of forming: 

Suffix Examples of adjectives
-ish Spain - Spanish
Britain - British
-an Korea - Korean
Mexico - Mexican
-ian Egypt - Egyptian
Australia - Australian
-ese Portugal - Portuguese
China - Chinese
-i Iraq - Iraqi
Thailand - Thai


It is also important to note that when referring to someone's nationality, it is considered more polite to use the full form of the word, rather than using a shortened version. For example, instead of saying "He's a Brit", it would be more appropriate to say "He's British". 

Write it right 

Names of countries, continents, names of nationalities and languages must always start with a capital letter, because they are proper nouns. For example: Australia, Australian, an Australian, the Australians and the language is English.  
In the table below you’ll see a list of the countries, nationalities list, and languages spoken there. Keep this list and check yourself so you don't use its names wrong. 

Country Nationality (Adjective) Nationality (Noun) Official language

Afghanistan 

Afghan 

an Afghan 

Dari (Persian) - Pashto 

Argentina 

Argentine 

an Argentine 

Spanish 

Australia 

Australian 

an Australian 

English 

Austria

Austrian 

an Austrian 

German 

Bangladesh 

Bangladeshi 

a Bangladeshi 

Bengali 

Belgium 

Belgian 

a Belgian 

French / Flemish 

Botswana 

Botswana 

a Motswana / a Botswanan 

English / Setswana 

Brazil 

Brazilian 

a Brazilian 

Portuguese 

Bulgaria 

Bulgarian 

a Bulgarian 

Bulgarian 

Cameroon 

Cameroonian 

a Cameroonian 

French / English 

Canada 

Canadian 

a Canadian 

English / French 

Chile 

Chilean 

a Chilean 

Spanish 

China 

Chinese 

a Chinese person 

Chinese 

Colombia 

Colombian 

a Colombian 

Spanish 

Costa Rica 

Costa Rican 

a Costa Rican 

Spanish 

Croatia 

Croatian 

a Croat 

Croatian 

Czech Republic 

Czech  

a Czech person 

Czech 

Denmark 

Danish 

a Dane 

Danish 

Dominican Republic 

Dominican 

a Dominican 

Spanish 

Egypt 

Egyptian 

an Egyptian 

Arabic 

England 

English 

an Englishman / Englishwoman 

English 

Estonia 

Estonian 

an Estonian 

Estonian 

Fiji 

Fijian 

a Fijian 

English / Fijian 

Finland 

Finnish 

a Finn 

Finnish 

France 

French 

a Frenchman / Frenchwoman 

French 

Georgia 

Georgian 

a Georgian 

Georgian 

Germany 

German 

a German 

German 

Greece 

Greek 

a Greek 

Greek 

Grenada 

Grenadian 

a Grenadian 

English 

Guatemala 

Guatemalan 

a Guatemalan 

Spanish 

Haiti 

Haitian 

a Haitian 

French / Creole 

Hungary 

Hungarian 

a Hungarian 

Hungarian 

Iceland 

Icelandic 

an Icelander 

Icelandic 

India 

Indian 

an Indian 

Hindi / English 

Iran 

Iranian 

an Iranian 

Persian 

Iraq 

Iraqi 

an Iraqi 

Arabic / Kurdish 

Ireland 

Irish 

an Irishman / Irishwoman 

Irish / English 

Israel 

Israeli 

an Israeli 

Hebrew 

Italy 

Italian 

an Italian 

Italian 

Jamaica 

Jamaican 

a Jamaican 

English 

Japan 

Japanese 

a Japanese person 

Japanese 

Kenya 

Kenyan 

a Kenyan 

Swahili 

Kuwait 

Kuwaiti 

a Kuwaiti 

Arabic 

Latvia 

Latvian 

a Latvian 

Latvian 

Lebanon 

Lebanese 

a Lebanese 

Arabic 

Luxembourg 

Luxembourg 

a Luxembourger 

Luxembourgish / German 

Mexico 

Mexican 

a Mexican 

Spanish 

Montenegro 

Montenegrin 

a Montenegrin 

Montenegrin 

Morocco 

Moroccan 

a Moroccan 

Arabic / French 

Nepal 

Nepalese 

a Nepalese 

Nepali 

Netherlands 

Dutch 

a Dutchman / Dutchwoman 

Dutch 

New Zealand 

New Zealand 

a New Zealander 

English / Maori 

Norway 

Norwegian 

a Norwegian 

Norwegian 

Panama 

Panamanian 

a Panamanian 

Spanish 

Philippines 

Philippine 

a Filipino 

Tagalog / Filipino 

Poland 

Polish 

a Pole 

Polish 

Portugal 

Portuguese 

a Portuguese person 

Portuguese 

Romania 

Romanian 

a Romanian 

Romanian 

Russia 

Russian 

a Russian 

Russian 

Scotland 

Scottish 

a Scot 

English 

Serbia 

Serbian 

a Serbian 

Serbian 

Singapore 

Singaporean 

a Singaporean 

English / Malay / Mandarin / Tamil 

Sweden 

Swedish 

a Swede 

Swedish 

Switzerland 

Swiss 

a Swiss person 

German / French / Italian / Romansh 

Taiwan 

Taiwanese 

a Taiwanese person 

Chinese 

Thailand 

Thai 

a Thai person 

Thai 

Turkey 

Turkish 

a Turk 

Turkish 

Ukraine 

Ukrainian 

a Ukrainian 

Ukrainian 

United Arab Emirates 

Emirati 

an Emirati 

Arabic 

Vietnam 

Vietnamese 

a Vietnamese person 

Vietnamese 

(The) United Kingdom 

British 

a Brit 

English 

(The) United States 

American 

an American 

English 

 

In this article, we have not given a complete list of all countries, their nationalities in English and other demonyms. The primary idea is to show you the main and most used names of countries and their nationalities. You also can use an English learning app to learn it.

Understanding nationalities in English is important for communication and it also helps to understand different cultures and backgrounds. It is important to use the correct form and spelling when referring to someone's nationality and to be aware of any variations or exceptions. It is also important to remember that nationalities are used as adjectives and usually come before the noun they are describing. 

Now you know the rules of forming nationality words in English. Subscribe to our social media to learn more about English grammar and curious expressions! 

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