某国人的单复数及冠词使用情况

  Nationalities

 

Country Nationality Nationality (plural) Language I am from . . . I am . . . They are . . . I speak . . . She is from . . . He is . . . We are . . . He speaks . . . Armenia Armenian Armenians Armenian Bulgaria Bulgarian Bulgarians Bulgarian Cambodia Cambodian Cambodians Cambodian Estonia Estonian Estonians Estonian Indonesia Indonesian Indonesians Indonesian Latvia Latvian Latvians Latvian Lithuania Lithuanian Lithuanians Lithuanian Mongolia Mongolian Mongolians Mongolian Romania Romanian Romanians Romanian Russia Russian Russians Russian Italy Italian Italians Italian Hungary Hungarian Hungarians Hungarian Ukraine Ukrainian Ukrainians Ukrainian Australia Australian Australians English Austria Austrian Austrians German Bolivia Bolivian Bolivians Spanish Colombia Colombian Colombians Spanish Syria Syrian Syrians Arabic India Indian Indians Hindi, Tamil, etc. Nigeria Nigerian Nigerians Ibo, Hausa, etc. Brazil Brazilian Brazilians Portuguese Canada Canadian Canadians English, French Malaysia Malay(sian) Malay(sian)s Malay, Cantonese, etc. Norway Norwegian Norwegian Norwegian Belgium Belgian Belgians French, Flemish Egypt Egyptian Egyptians Coptic Iran Iranian Iranians Persian, Farsi Peru Peruvian Peruvians Spanish Korea Korean Koreans Korean Samoa Samoan Samoans Samoan Tonga Tongan Tongans Tongan Germany German Germans German Cuba Cuban Cubans Spanish Costa Rica Costa Rican Costa Ricans Spanish Guatemala Guatemalan Guatemalans Spanish Nicaragua Nicaraguan Nicaraguans Spanish Paraguay Paraguayan Paraguayans Spanish Uruguay Uruguayan Uruguayans Spanish Venezuela Venezuelan Venezuelans Spanish Chile Chilean Chileans Spanish Singapore Singaporean Singaporeans English, Chinese, etc. Mexico Mexican Mexicans Spanish Honduras Honduran Hondurans Spanish Dominican Republic Dominican Dominicans Spanish South Africa South African South Africans Afrikaans, English, etc. The United States American Americans English Japan Japanese Japanese Japanese Vietnam Vietnamese Vietnamese Vietnamese China Chinese Chinese Chinese Portugal Portuguese Portuguese Portuguese Taiwan Chinese Chinese Chinese, Taiwanese Nepal Nepalese Nepalese Nepali Denmark Danish Danish/Danes Danish Finland Finnish Finnish/Finns Finnish Poland Polish Polish/Poles Polish Spain Spanish Spanish/Spaniards Spanish Sweden Swedish Swedish/Swedes Swedish England British British/English English Scotland Scottish Scottish/Scots English Turkey Turkish Turkish/Turks Turkish Ireland Irish Irish Gaelic, English Bangladesh Bangladeshi Bangladeshis Bengali Iraq Iraqi Iraqis Arabic Israel Israeli Israelis Hebrew Kuwait Kuwaiti Kuwaitis Arabic Pakistan Pakistani Pakistanis Urdu Qatar Qatari Qataris Arabic Thailand Thai Thai(s) Thai France French French French Greece Greek Greeks Greek The Philippines Filipino Filipinos Tagalog, English, etc. Czech Republic Czech Czechs Czech Switzerland Swiss Swiss German, French, etc. Iceland Icelander Icelanders Icelandic New Zealand (a) New Zealander New Zealanders English The Netherlands Dutch Dutch Dutch

 

With the following nationalities, we say 

 

The Russians are here.*

The Koreans are here.

The Americans are here

The Italians are here.

The New Zealanders are here

The Pakistanis are here.

 

With the following nationalities, we say 

 

The Chinese are here.*

The Japanese are here.

The British are here.

The Swiss are here.

The French are here.

The Portuguese are here.

 

Why?

 

It's mostly phonetic. That is, it depends on the final sound of the word. When the nationality words end with -an, -ian, -er, -i, their plural form requires -s. When the nationality words end with -ese, -ish, -iss, -ch, their single and plural forms are identical.

 

Languages -- No article needed

 

Russian is easy.

Korean is easy.

Italian is easy.  Chinese is easy.

Japanese is easy.

French is easy. 

 

Generalizations**

 

Russians are friendly

Koreans are friendly.

New Zealanders are friendly. 

 

The Chinese are friendly.

Chinese people are friendly.

The Japanese are friendly.

Japanese people are friendly.

The French are friendly.

Frenchmen are friendly.

 

[NOTE]

 

*If you are talking about a specific group (of Russians, etc.), the article the must be used.

 

Most of the Italians (in this class) are female.

Most of the Japanese (in the restaurant) are from Kyoto.

**If you are talking generally, no article or preposition is needed.

With s

Most Americans speak English.  (Not: Most of Americans)

No s

Most Vietnamese live in Asia.  (Not: Most of Vietnamese )