Countries, people and adjectives #2 People who are learning English often have trouble with the words for countries, the people and the languages. In the last lesson we looked at the English words for countries, languages and adjectives. In this lesson we will look at what you call a person from a country. There are many ways to do this. A. Sometimes the name of a person is the same as the adjective. Examples: · My Uncle was a German. · I once had a Sudanese in my English class but his family moved down to Melbourne. · I thought the student in the class was a Korean but he was a Mongolian. · The Japanese are very hard-working people. · Yesterday I met two Brazilians, one had very fair skin but the other was very, very dark. · Most Norwegians have fair skin and light coloured hair. · My mother was a Canadian but most people asked her if she was from the USA which made her a little angry. · We once had a young woman stay with us who was a Colombian and was studying English in the city. B. Sometimes you have to add ‘man’ or ‘woman’ to the adjective. Examples: · The man who discovered Australia was an Englishman. · General De Gaulle was a very famous Frenchman during the 1950s and 1960s. · My grandfather was a Dutchman and, like many Dutchmen, he could be very, very stubborn. · My grandmother was an Irishwoman but my grandfather was an Englishman. C. Sometimes you simply add ‘er’ to the name of the country. Examples: · Sir Edmund Hilary was a very famous New Zealander who was the first man to climb Mt Everest in the Himalayas. · The first time I met a Solomon Islander I was amazed at how dark his skin was. D. Sometimes you just have to learn the correct word! (Sorry about that!) Examples: · The Australian, Mary Donaldson, married a Dane, Prince Frederick. (Denmark) · The Swedes are well known for their open attitudes towards moral issues. (Sweden) · When I heard the woman speaking Italian I thought she must have been from Italy but then I found out that she was a Swiss. (Switzerland) · My father-in-law was a Pole who flew Spitfires in the Second World War. (Poland) · Miguel de Cervantes was a famous Spaniard who wrote the book Don Quixote. (Spain) · During the Second World War, my father fought against the Japanese with many Filipinos who were very brave, tough soldiers. (The Philippines) · Kemal Ataturk was a Turk who modernised Turkey and brought about many very useful changes. (Turkey) This may seem rather confusing and it is! Your best friend is your dictionary! If you go to http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/world-countries-nationality.htm you will find a list of every country in the world with the adjectives and name of the people. Lindsey |
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