Lesson 1
Vocabulary, Phrases And Expressions
This chart lists many of the countries or nations in the world, with the following
information:
• name of country
• adjective used for that country (also describes nationality)
• noun used for a person from that country
Look at these example sentences:
• She comes from France.
• She is French.
• Her nationality is French.
• She is a Frenchwoman.
• She drives a French car.
• She speaks French.
country adjective person
Afghanistan Afghan an Afghan
Albania Albanian an Albanian
Algeria Algerian an Algerian
Andorra Andorran an Andorran
Angola Angolan an Angolan
Argentina Argentinian an Argentinian
Armenia Armenian an Armenian
Australia Australian an Australian
Austria Austrian an Austrian
Azerbaijan Azerbaijani an Azerbaijani
Bahamas Bahamian a Bahamian
Bahrain Bahraini a Bahraini
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Bangladesh Bangladeshi a Bangladeshi
Barbados Barbadian a Barbadian
Belarus Belarusian or Belarusan a Belarusian or a Belarusan
Belgium Belgian a Belgian
Belize Belizean a Belizean
Benin Beninese a Beninese
Bhutan Bhutanese a Bhutanese
Bolivia Bolivian a Bolivian
Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnian a Bosnian
Botswana Botswanan a Tswana
Brazil Brazilian a Brazilian
Britain British a Briton
Brunei Bruneian a Bruneian
Bulgaria Bulgarian a Bulgarian
Burkina Burkinese a Burkinese
Burma (official name Burmese a Burmese
Myanmar)
Burundi Burundian a Burundian
Cambodia Cambodian a Cambodian
Cameroon Cameroonian a Cameroonian
Canada Canadian a Canadian
Cape Verde Islands Cape Verdean a Cape Verdean
Chad Chadian a Chadian
Chile Chilean a Chilean
China Chinese a Chinese
Colombia Colombian a Colombian
Congo Congolese a Congolese
Costa Rica Costa Rican a Costa Rican
Croatia Croat or Croatian a Croat or a Croatian
Cuba Cuban a Cuban
Cyprus Cypriot a Cypriot
Czech Republic Czech a Czech
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Denmark Danish a Dane
Djibouti Djiboutian a Djiboutian
Dominica Dominican a Dominican
Dominican Republic Dominican a Dominican
Ecuador Ecuadorean an Ecuadorean
Egypt Egyptian an Egyptian
El Salvador Salvadorean a Salvadorean
England English an Englishman, an
Englishwoman
Eritrea Eritrean an Eritrean
Estonia Estonian an Estonian
Ethiopia Ethiopian an Ethiopian
Fiji Fijian a Fijian
Finland Finnish a Finn
France French a Frenchman, a
Frenchwoman
Gabon Gabonese a Gabonese
Gambia, the Gambian a Gambian
Georgia Georgian a Georgian
Germany German a German
Ghana Ghanaian a Ghanaian
Greece Greek a Greek
Grenada Grenadian a Grenadian
Guatemala Guatemalan a Guatemalan
Guinea Guinean a Guinean
Guyana Guyanese a Guyanese
Haiti Haitian a Haitian
Holland (also Netherlands) Dutch a Dutchman, a Dutchwoman
Honduras Honduran a Honduran
Hungary Hungarian a Hungarian
Iceland Icelandic an Icelander
India Indian an Indian
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Indonesia Indonesian an Indonesian
Iran Iranian an Iranian
Iraq Iraqi an Iraqi
Ireland, Republic of Irish an Irishman, an Irishwoman
Italy Italian an Italian
Jamaica Jamaican a Jamaican
Japan Japanese a Japanese
Jordan Jordanian a Jordanian
Kazakhstan Kazakh a Kazakh
Kenya Kenyan a Kenyan
Kuwait Kuwaiti a Kuwaiti
Laos Laotian a Laotian
Latvia Latvian a Latvian
Lebanon Lebanese a Lebanese
Liberia Liberian a Liberian
Libya Libyan a Libyan
Liechtenstein - a Liechtensteiner
Lithuania Lithuanian a Lithuanian
Luxembourg - a Luxembourger
Macedonia Macedonian a Macedonian
Madagascar Malagasy or Madagascan a Malagasy or a Madagascan
Malawi Malawian a Malawian
Malaysia Malaysian a Malaysian
Maldives Maldivian a Maldivian
Mali Malian a Malian
Malta Maltese a Maltese
Mauritania Mauritanian a Mauritanian
Mauritius Mauritian a Mauritian
Mexico Mexican a Mexican
Moldova Moldovan a Moldovan
Monaco Monégasque or Monacan a Monégasque or a Monacan
Mongolia Mongolian a Mongolian
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Montenegro Montenegrin a Montenegrin
Morocco Moroccan a Moroccan
Mozambique Mozambican a Mozambican
Myanmar see Burma - -
Namibia Namibian a Namibian
Nepal Nepalese a Nepalese
Netherlands, the (see Dutch a Dutchman, a
Holland) Dutchwoman, or a
Netherlander
New Zealand New Zealand (used a New Zealander
attributively only, as in New
Zealand butter but not He is
New Zealand)
Nicaragua Nicaraguan a Nicaraguan
Niger Nigerien a Nigerien
Nigeria Nigerian a Nigerian
North Korea North Korean a North Korean
Norway Norwegian a Norwegian
Oman Omani an Omani
Pakistan Pakistani a Pakistani
Panama Panamanian a Panamanian
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinean or a Papua New Guinean or a
Guinean Guinean
Paraguay Paraguayan a Paraguayan
Peru Peruvian a Peruvian
the Philippines Philippine a Filipino
Poland Polish a Pole
Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese
Qatar Qatari a Qatari
Romania Romanian a Romanian
Russia Russian a Russian
Rwanda Rwandan a Rwandan
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian or Saudi a Saudi Arabian or a Saudi
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Scotland Scottish a Scot
Senegal Senegalese a Senegalese
Serbia Serb or Serbian a Serb or a Serbian
Seychelles, the Seychellois a Seychellois
Sierra Leone Sierra Leonian a Sierra Leonian
Singapore Singaporean a Singaporean
Slovakia Slovak a Slovak
Slovenia Slovene or Slovenian a Slovene or a Slovenian
Solomon Islands - a Solomon Islander
Somalia Somali a Somali
South Africa South African a South African
South Korea South Korean a South Korean
Spain Spanish a Spaniard
Sri Lanka Sri Lankan a Sri Lankan
Sudan Sudanese a Sudanese
Suriname Surinamese a Surinamer or a Surinamese
Swaziland Swazi a Swazi
Sweden Swedish a Swede
Switzerland Swiss a Swiss
Syria Syrian a Syrian
Taiwan Taiwanese a Taiwanese
Tajikistan Tajik or Tadjik a Tajik or a Tadjik
Tanzania Tanzanian a Tanzanian
Thailand Thai a Thai
Togo Togolese a Togolese
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidadian a Trinidadian
Tobagan a Tobagan
Tobagonian a Tobagonian
Tunisia Tunisian a Tunisian
Turkey Turkish a Turk
Turkmenistan Turkmen or Turkoman a Turkmen or a Turkoman
Tuvalu Tuvaluan a Tuvaluan
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Uganda Ugandan a Ugandan
Ukraine Ukrainian a Ukrainian
United Arab Emirates UAE or Emirates (used an Emirati
(UAE) attributively only, as in UAE
buildings, Emirates holidays
but not He is UAE, I am
Emirates) or Emirati
United Kingdom (UK) UK (used attributively only, a Briton
as in UK time but not He is
UK) or British
United States of America US (used attributively only, a US citizen
(USA) as in US aggression but not
He is US)
Uruguay Uruguayan a Uruguayan
Uzbekistan Uzbek an Uzbek
Vanuatu Vanuatuan a Vanuatuan
Vatican City - -
Venezuela Venezuelan a Venezuelan
Vietnam Vietnamese a Vietnamese
Wales Welsh a Welshman, a
Welshwoman
Western Samoa Western Samoan a Western Samoan
Yemen Yemeni a Yemeni
Yugoslavia Yugoslav a Yugoslav
Zaire Zaïrean a Zaïrean
Zambia Zambian a Zambian
Zimbabwe Zimbabwean a Zimbabwean
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
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• 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:
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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).
• 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.
Countries & Nationalities
• The word 'Nationality' is not often used in spoken English. It is a formal and official
word and it appears more frequently in written English. You will find the word
'Nationality' is used a lot in the travel industry and for immigration.
• We almost never say: What is your nationality?
• We usually say: Where are you from? OR Where do you come from?
• To tell someone your nationality you DON'T say: My nationality is Chilean. You say:
I'm Chilean
Remember
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I am from Chile.
To Be + from + country
I am Chilean.
To Be + Nationality
List Of Countries, Nationalities And Their Languages
Country Nationality Language
Afghanistan Afghan Persian - Pashto
Argentina Argentine Spanish
Australia Australian English
Belgium Belgian French / Flemish
Bolivia Bolivian Spanish
Brazil Brazilian Portuguese
Cambodia Cambodian Cambodian
Cameroon Cameroonian French / English
Canada Canadian English / French
Chile Chilean Spanish
China Chinese Chinese
Colombia Colombian Spanish
Costa Rica Costa Rican Spanish
Cuba Cuban Spanish
Denmark Danish (Dane) Danish
Dominican Republic Dominican Spanish
Ecuador Ecuadorian Spanish
Egypt Egyptian Arabic
El Salvador Salvadorian Spanish
England English English
Estonia Estonian Estonian
Ethiopia Ethiopian Amharic
Finland Finnish Finnish
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France French French
Germany German German
Ghana Ghanaian English
Greece Greek Greek
Guatemala Guatemalan Spanish
Haiti Haitian French / Creole
Honduras Honduran Spanish
Indonesia Indonesian Indonesian
Iran Iranian Persian
Ireland Irish Irish / English
Israel Israeli Hebrew
Italy Italian Italian
Japan Japanese Japanese
Jordan Jordanian Arabic
Kenya Kenyan Swahili
Korea Korean Korean
Laos Laotian Laotian
Latvia Latvian Latvian
Lithuania Lithuanian Lithuanian
Malaysia Malaysian Malay / Malaysian
Mexico Mexican Spanish
Morocco Moroccan Arabic / French
Netherlands Dutch Dutch
New Zealand New Zealander English / Maori
Nicaragua Nicaraguan Spanish
Norway Norwegian Norwegian
Panama Panamanian Spanish
Paraguay Paraguayan Spanish
Peru Peruvian Spanish
Philippines Filipino Tagalog / Filipino
Poland Polish Polish
Portugal Portuguese Portuguese
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Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Spanish
Romania Romanian Romanian
Russia Russian Russian
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabic
Spain Spanish Spanish
Sweden Swedish Swedish
Switzerland Swiss Swiss
Taiwan Taiwanese Chinese
Tajikistan Tajik Tajik (Persian)
Thailand Thai Thai
Turkey Turkish Turkish
Ukraine Ukrainian Ukrainian
United States American * English
Uruguay Uruguayan Spanish
Venezuela Venezuelan Spanish
Vietnam Vietnamese Vietnamese
Wales Welsh Welsh / English
• You will notice that people from United States have the nationality 'American'. Some
people from other parts of the American continent (especially Central and South
America) tend not to like the word American for people from the United States. You
will find that they will call them North American.
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