英语中对于国籍，国家的表述是不一样的，我时常迷糊于此。前些日子我发现了一本英语奇书《Practical English Usage》，这本书回答了我许多英语中的疑问。下面的内容也就是将该书的第364条抄一下。
1，Introduction
In order to refer to a nation or region and its affairs it is usually necessary to know four words:
the name of the country or region
Denmark, Japan, France, Catalonia
the adjective
Danish, Japanese, French, Catalan
the singular noun used for a person from the country
a Dane, a Japanese, a Frenchman/woman, a Catalan
the plural expression the … used for the population as a whole
the Danes, the Japanese, the French, the Catalans
Usually the singular noun is the same as the adjective(eg. Greek, Mexican).
The plural expression is usually the same as the adjective + –s(eg. the Greeks, the Mexicans);words ending in -ese, and swiss, have no –s(eg. the Japanese, the Swiss). See paragraph 2 below for more examples.
However, there are a number of exceptions. Some of these are listed in Paragraph 3.
All words of this kind(including adjectives) begin with capital letters.
American literature(NOT american literature)
The name of a national language is often the same as the national adjective.
Danish is difficult to pronounce. Do you speak Japanese?
2, Examples
Country/Region Adjective Person Population
America American an American the Americans
Belgium Belgian a Belgian the Belgians
Brazil Brazilian a Brazilian the Brazilians
Europe European a European the Europeans
Italy Italian an Italian the Italians
Kenya Kenyan a Kenyan the Kenyans
Morocco Moroccan a Moroccan the Moroccans
Norway Norwegian a Norwegian the Norwegians
Palestine Palestinian the Palestinian The Palestinians
Russia Russian a Russian the Russians
Tyrol Tyrolean a Tyrolean the Tyroleans
Greece Greek a Greek the Greeks
Iraq Iraqi an Iraqi the Iraqis
Israel Israeli an Israeli the Israelis
Thailand Thai a Thai the Thai
China Chinese a Chinese the Chinese
Congo Congolese a Congolese the Congolese
Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese the Portuguese
Switzerland Swiss a Swiss the Swiss
3,Exceptions
Country/Region Adjective Person Population
Britain British a British person(Briton) the British
England English an Englishwoman/man the English
France French a Frenchman/woman the French
Ireland Irish an Irishwoman/man the Irish
Spain Spanish a Spaniard the Spanish
The Holland Dutch a Dutchwoman/man the Dutch
Wales Welsh a Welshman/woman the Welsh
Denmark Danish a Dane the Danes
Finland Finnish a Finn the Finns
Poland Polish a Pole the Poles
Scotland Scottish,Scotch a Scot the Scots
Sweden Swedish a Swede the Swedes
Turkey Turkish a Turk the Turks
4,Notes
- Scottish is the usual word for the people and culture of Scotland; Scotch is used for whisky.
- The word Briton is unusual except in newspaper headlines-for example TWO BRITONS KILLED IN AIR CRASH. Brit is sometimes used informally.
- English is not the same as British, and is not used for Scottish, Welsh or Irish people.
- Although American is the normal English word for United States citizens and affairs, people from other parts of the American continent may object to this use, and some people avoid it for this reason.
- Arabic is used for the language spoken in Arab countries; in other cases, the normal adjective is Arab. Arabian is used in a few fixed expressions and place names(eg. Saudi Arabian, the Arabian Sea).
- Note the pronunciation of words like Irishman/men, Dutchman/men: the singular is the same as the plural.
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