English Vocabulary: Countries, Nationalities, and

Languages

One big vocabulary and pronunciation problem in English is knowing how to

pronounce the English names of countries, nationalities, and languages. In today’s lesson, I’ve organized
the words into categories that can help you remember them better.

You can also practice your pronunciation of the country and nationality words.

-IAN / -EAN

Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Country Nationality Language

Argentina Argentine/Argentinean Spanish
Australia Australian English
Bolivia Bolivian Spanish
Brazil Brazilian Portuguese
Cambodia Cambodian Cambodian
Cameroon Cameroonian French/English
Canada Canadian English/French
Chile Chilean Spanish
Colombia Colombian Spanish
Ecuador Ecuadorian Spanish
Egypt Egyptian Arabic
El Salvador Salvadorian Spanish
Estonia Estonian Estonian
Ethiopia Ethiopian Amharic
Ghana Ghanaian English
India Indian Various
Indonesia Indonesian Indonesian
Iran Iranian Persian
Italy Italian Italian
Jordan Jordanian Arabic
Korea Korean Korean
Lithuania Lithuanian Lithuanian
Nigeria Nigerian Ibo, Hausa etc.
Panama Panamanian Spanish
Peru Peruvian Spanish
Romania Romanian Romanian
Syria Syrian Arabic
Ukraine Ukrainian Ukrainian
-AN

Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Notice that some of these words end in -IAN, but the “I” is silent.

Country Nationality Language

Afghanistan Afghan Persian-Pashto
Belgium Belgian French/Flemish
Costa Rica Costa Rican Spanish
Cuba Cuban Spanish
Dominican Republic Dominican Spanish
Germany German German
Guatemala Guatemalan Spanish
Haiti Haitian French/Creole
Honduras Honduran Spanish
Kenya Kenyan Swahili
Malaysia Malaysian Malay/Malaysian
Mexico Mexican Spanish
Morocco Moroccan Arabic/French
Nicaragua Nicaraguan Spanish
Norway Norwegian Norwegian
Paraguay* Paraguayan* Spanish
Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Spanish
Russia Russian Russian
South Africa South African Afrikaans, English, etc.
United States American** English
Uruguay* Uruguayan* Spanish
Venezuela Venezuelan Spanish

* There are two ways to pronounce the syllable: GWAY (like “way”) and GWAI (like “eye”).

**Although “American” is the most common way to refer to someone from the U.S., I recognize that this
can be considered offensive to citizens of other countries in North America, Central America, and South
America. So sometimes it’s better to say “from the U.S.” instead of “American.”

-ISH / -CH

Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Country Nationality Language

England English English
Finland Finnish Finnish
Denmark Danish Danish
Netherlands/Holland Dutch Dutch
France French French
Ireland Irish Irish/English
Spain Spanish Spanish
Sweden Swedish Swedish
Poland Polish Polish
Turkey Turkish Turkish
Wales Welsh Welsh/English

-ESE

Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Country Nationality Language

China Chinese Chinese
Japan Japanese Japanese
Portugal Portuguese Portuguese
Taiwan Taiwanese Chinese
Vietnam Vietnamese Vietnamese

OTHER

Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Country Nationality Language

Czech Republic Czech Czech
Greece Greek Greek
Iceland Icelander Icelandic
Iraq Iraqi Arabic
Israel Israeli Hebrew
New Zealand New Zealander English/Maori
Pakistan Pakistani Urdo
Philippines Filipino Tagalog/Filipino
Qatar Qatari Arabic
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabic
Switzerland Swiss Swiss
Tajikistan Tajik Tajik (Persian)
Thailand Thai Thai

Step One: I always start out my class by asking students, “Where are you from?” The majority will say
“Thailand”, some will just look blankly at me. The second question I ask is, “What nationality are you?”
Here, it often becomes tricky as half the class will still answer “Thailand”. I then ask “What language do
you speak?” Some smart-ass will say “English” or “Chinese”, and some will say “Thai”, others still will
come up with “Thailand”, and this is where the problem lies.

Step Two: Now I explain the difference between “Thai” (nationality), “Thailand” (country where student is
from) and “Thai” (language they speak). Once students can differentiate between vocabulary that describes
themselves, it’s often easier for them to think about vocabulary that describes others.
Step Three: Distribute handout of vocabulary for Countries, Nationalities and Languages. I create my own
with around 20 countries/nationalities/languages – which is usually enough for students to remember from
one class. Go over the handout, making students repeat the vocabulary after you at least twice.

Step Four: – Countries, Nationalities and Languages Game – Before class begins, I spend 10 minutes
taping up 20 colored flags from 20 countries (the same ones as on the handout) around the classroom and
then I label the flag with the country it’s from. Just a regular A4 size sheet of paper per flag will do, and
they’re available in thousands of places on the internet to print from, including Wikipedia.

a) Put students into teams – two teams for smaller classes, three to four teams for larger classes.

b) Teams must stand in a line, with the student at the front of the line the next person who will participate in
the game. Explain the rules of the game (Teacher will shout the name of a country and a student from the
head of each line must run to the flag from that country and touch it. The first person to touch it must say
what country it is, what nationality live there and what they speak eg: “This is America, the people are
American, and they speak English.” If they get it correct, their team is given five points. If they are
incorrect, the second person to touch the flag is given a chance etc).

This continues with the first person going to the back of the line when they’ve had their turn, and the next
student moving forward.

c) I run this game for about 15-20 minutes with students getting increasingly silly but tired and happy. By
the time each flag has been touched at least twice, most students are beginning to remember the difference
between country, nationality and language.

d)*** Warning – Before you begin the game, make sure you clear desks to the side of the room, so no-one is
injured slamming into desks. Also explain that any pushing will mandate immediate disqualification from
the game, a second instance of pushing will mandate their entire team being disqualified from the game.

Forming nationality adjectives and nouns from country names is not always simple in English. Use the
nationality adjective ending in -ese or -ish with a plural verb, to refer to all people of that nationality. The
adjective listed also often refers to the language spoken in the country, although this is not always the case.

Examples

 Country: I live in Japan.

 Adjective: He likes Japanese food.
 Origins: She is a Japanese person. = She is from Japan. = She is Japanese.
 Language: She speaks Japanese.
 Describing a group: Spaniards often drink wine. = Spanish people often drink wine.
 Describing a group: The Chinese enjoy fireworks. = Chinese people enjoy fireworks.

In some cases, a nationality or regional noun may be negatively corrolated for some people, for historic or
political reasons. When this is the case, many people will not use it, but will instead use a more neutral
adjective + "people" formulation or "people from" + country name. This is the case for the examples with an
asterisk below. Alternative formulations, less likely to give offense, are given in parentheses.

Geographic region/Continent Adjective Noun

Africa African an African* (an African person, someone from Africa)
Asia Asian an Asian* (an Asian person, someone from Asia)
Europe European a European
Geographic region/Continent Adjective Noun
Central America Central American a Central American
Middle East Middle Eastern a Middle Easterner
North Africa North African a North African
South America South American a South American
Southeast Asia Southeast Asian a Southeast Asian person
Country or region Adjective Noun
Afghanistan Afghan an Afghan
Algeria Algerian an Algerian
Angola Angolan an Angolan
Argentina Argentine an Argentine
Austria Austrian an Austrian
Australia Australian an Australian
Bangladesh Bangladeshi a Bangladeshi
Belarus Belarusian a Belarusian
Belgium Belgian a Belgian
Bolivia Bolivian a Bolivian
Bosnia and
Bosnian/Herzegovinian a Bosnian/a Herzegovinian
Herzegovina
Brazil Brazilian a Brazilian
Britain British a Briton (informally: a Brit)
Bulgaria Bulgarian a Bulgarian
Cambodia Cambodian a Cambodian
Cameroon Cameroonian a Cameroonian
Canada Canadian a Canadian
Central African
Central African a Central African
Republic
Chad Chadian a Chadian
China Chinese a Chinese person
Colombia Colombian a Colombian
Costa Rica Costa Rican a Costa Rican
Croatia Croatian a Croat
the Czech Republic Czech a Czech person
Democratic Republic of a Congolese person (note: this refers to people from the
Congolese
the Congo Republic of the Congo as well)
Denmark Danish a Dane
Ecuador Ecuadorian an Ecuadorian
Egypt Egyptian an Egyptian
El Salvador Salvadoran a Salvadoran (also accepted are Salvadorian & Salvadorean)
England English an Englishman/Englishwoman
Estonia Estonian an Estonian
Ethiopia Ethiopian an Ethiopian
Finland Finnish a Finn
France French a Frenchman/Frenchwoman
Germany German a German
Ghana Ghanaian a Ghanaian
Greece Greek a Greek
Guatemala Guatemalan a Guatemalan
Holland Dutch a Dutchman/Dutchwoman
Honduras Honduran a Honduran
 Country or region Adjective Noun
Hungary Hungarian a Hungarian
Iceland Icelandic an Icelander
India Indian an Indian
Indonesia Indonesian an Indonesian
Iran Iranian an Iranian
Iraq Iraqi an Iraqi
Ireland Irish an Irishman/Irishwoman
Israel Israeli an Israeli
Italy Italian an Italian
Ivory Coast Ivorian an Ivorian
Jamaica Jamaican a Jamaican
Japan Japanese a Japanese person
Jordan Jordanian a Jordanian
a Kazakhstani (used as a noun, "a Kazakh" refers to an
Kazakhstan Kazakh
ethnic group, not a nationality)
Kenya Kenyan a Kenyan
a Laotian (used as a noun, "a Lao" refers to an ethnic group,
Laos Lao
not a nationality)
Latvia Latvian a Latvian
Libya Libyan a Libyan
Lithuania Lithuanian a Lithuanian
Madagascar Malagasy a Malagasy
Malaysia Malaysian a Malaysian
Mali Malian a Malian
Mauritania Mauritanian a Mauritanian
a Mexican* (may be offensive in the USA. Use "someone
Mexico Mexican
from Mexico" instead.)
Morocco Moroccan a Moroccan
Namibia Namibian a Namibian
New Zealand New Zealand a New Zealander
Nicaragua Nicaraguan a Nicaraguan
Niger Nigerien a Nigerien
Nigeria Nigerian a Nigerian
Norway Norwegian a Norwegian
Oman Omani an Omani
a Pakistani* (may be offensive in the UK. Use "someone
Pakistan Pakistani
from Pakistan" instead.)
Panama Panamanian a Panamanian
Paraguay Paraguayan a Paraguayan
Peru Peruvian a Peruvian
The Philippines Philippine a Filipino* (someone from the Philippines)
Poland Polish a Pole* (someone from Poland, a Polish person)
Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese person
a Congolese person (note: this refers to people from the
Republic of the Congo Congolese
Democratic Republic of the Congo as well)
Romania Romanian a Romanian
Russia Russian a Russian
Saudi Arabia Saudi, Saudi Arabian a Saudi, a Saudi Arabian
Scotland Scottish a Scot
 Country or region Adjective Noun
Senegal Senegalese a Senegalese person
a Serbian (used as a noun, "a Serb" refers to an ethnic group,
Serbia Serbian
not a nationality
Singapore Singaporean a Singaporean
Slovakia Slovak a Slovak
Somalia Somalian a Somalian
South Africa South African a South African
Spain Spanish a Spaniard* (a Spanish person, someone from Spain)
Sudan Sudanese a Sudanese person
Sweden Swedish a Swede
Switzerland Swiss a Swiss person
Syria Syrian a Syrian
Thailand Thai a Thai person
Tunisia Tunisian a Tunisian
Turkey Turkish a Turk
Turkmenistan Turkmen a Turkmen / the Turkmens
Ukraine Ukranian a Ukranian
The United Arab
Emirati an Emirati
Emirates
The United States American an American
Uruguay Uruguayan a Uruguayan
Vietnam Vietnamese a Vietnamese person
Wales Welsh a Welshman/Welshwoman
Zambia Zambian a Zambian
Zimbabwe Zimbabwean a Zimbabwean

Cities also can be transformed into adjectives and nouns, although they are highly irregular and the nominal
form is not always agreed upon (there may be several). Some examples of transformed city names are
below.

City Adjective Noun

Paris Parisian a Parisian
New York New York a New Yorker
Sydney Sydney a Sydney-sider
London London a Londoner
São Paulo São Paulo a Paulistano
New Delhi New Delhi a Delhiite
Cape Town Cape Town a Capetonian

 From the list, I find 8 major suffixes, they are:

1. -ian (Italian, Norwegian)

2. -ean (Chilean, Korean)
3. -an (American, Mexican)
4. -ese (Chinese, Japanese)
5. -er (Icelander, New Zealander)
6. -ic (Icelandic, Greenlandic)
7. -ish (English, Irish)
 8. -i (Iraqi, Pakistani)

Looking at the map, we can probably notice some distributive patterns right away. For instance, –ish is
mainly used for European nations, –i is for nations in the Middle East, –ic and –er seem to occur only after
the word –land, but the others seem to be more random.

Not satisfied with the mere geographical picture, I decided to trace the histories of these suffixes.

-ian / -ean / -an

It should not be surprising to find out that –ian, –an and –ean actually have a common origin. In fact, the
suffix –ia is frequently used in Latin to name places, thus giving birth to names like Romania, Bulgaria and
Australia, and –ea and –a are two other grammatical suffixes used on Latin nouns. The final –n is an
adjectival suffix that turns a noun into an adjective. Hence, adjectives that end in –ian, –ean, or –an were
either borrowed directly from Latin, or modelled after Latin in English. They are the standard suffixes now
in English. The distribution of them follows a rule that is rather neat and tidy. Basically it goes as follows:

1. If the place name ends in –ea or a silent –e, then use –ean;
2. If the place name ends in a vowel, then use –an;
3. Otherwise, use –ian.

As you have probably noticed, there are some exceptions or complications, but let us not be concerned about
that here. After all, the general picture is clear and unambiguous.

-ese

Let us now turn to the controversial suffix –ese. You could well say that there does not seem to be a pattern
geographically. Countries using –ese are scattered everywhere in Asia, Africa, South America, and we also
have Portugal in Europe! But my attention turns to Italian when I give this suffix some more thought.

In Italian, –ese is a much more common suffix of nationality than in English. Words that use –ese in Italian
but not in English include danese (Danish), finlandese (Finnish), francese (French), inglese (English) and
islandese (Icelandic). In fact, –ese (from Latin –ēnsis) is the next most common suffix after the Latin triplet
–ian/-ean/-an.

The Third Voyage of Christopher Columbus

It turns out that words ending in –ese in English actually come from Italian. Recalling that Marco Polo and
other Italian traders were the first Europeans to reach the Far East, it is therefore no surprise that many Asian
countries use –ese. In addition, the countries using –ese in South America are all very close to where
Christopher Columbus, himself an Italian, first landed on the continent. But of course, why some countries
in Africa and the Americas use the Italian suffix, while others use French or Spanish suffixes is a result of
their long and complicated colonial histories.

-er / -ic

Both –er and –ic are originally Latin suffixes which later entered the Germanic languages and subsequently
English. Among the two hundred countries in the world, –er and –ic are used only after the words land and
island, both of which are Germanic in origin. The suffix –er is used on nouns to denote persons of a certain
place of origin, while –ic is used to form adjectives with the meaning of “having some characteristics of”.
Therefore, Icelander is normally used to denote a person from Iceland (i.e. a noun), whereas Icelandic is
used when it is used as an adjective.

-ish

This is a native Germanic suffix with the sense of “belonging to”. Since English has been much influenced
by French and Latin, the suffix is not as productive as it used to be. However, in other Germanic languages,
such as German, its usage is far more common. Nationalities which use –ish in German (-isch) but not in
English include Italienisch (Italian), Chinesisch (Chinese), Isländisch (Icelandic) and Irakisch (Iraqi). Its
Germanic origin explains why nationalities that use –ish are all in Europe, and belong to Germanic
nations around Germany and Scandinavia. This is even clearer if you consider two more facts:

1. The word German does not end in –ish, because the united nation of Germany did not exist until
relatively recently. The word German comes from a Latin word referring to the people in that region.
2. Both French (from Frencisc) and Dutch (from Diutisc) in fact contain the suffix –ish, although in
both cases, the suffix has been fused with the base to form a new, irregular adjective.

-i

The suffix –i, with the meaning of “belonging to”, comes from Arabic. This explains why almost all
countries that use –i are Islamic and/or use Arabic as one of the major languages. Geographically, the center
of this group of nations is in the Middle East, and extends to Central Asia to the north, and to East Africa to
the south. A notable exception in this area is Iran, which had a long history of contact with the West before
they gradually converted to Islam.