【英文版西语语法】Nationalities in Spanish

 Overview

 

Quick Answer

Nationalities in Spanish are often talked about using nationality adjectives, which are adjectives that describe the country a person or thing is from.

Most nationality adjectives in Spanish have four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural, though some just have two forms (singular and plural).

 

Take a look at the different forms the adjective francés (French) can take.

 

Juan es un chico francés.

Juan is a French boy.

 

Anita es una chica francesa.

Anita is a French girl.

 

Juan y Bruno son alumnos franceses.

Juan and Bruno are French students.

 

Anita y Celia son alumnas francesas.

Anita and Celia are French students.

 

While the endings may look a bit confusing at first, the rules for forming nationality adjectives are actually pretty straightforward.

 

Unlike in English, nationalities in Spanish are not capitalized.

Nationalities that End in a Vowel

 

Nationalities that End in an -o

 

Nationalities that end in an -o have four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural.

 

Here are some quick rules for the changes you'll need to make to the masculine singular form in order to make the feminine singular and plural forms.

 

To make the singular feminine form:

 

change the -o in the masculine singular form to an -a

To make the masculine plural form:

 

Add an -s to the end of the masculine singular form

To make the feminine plural form:

 

Add an -s to the end of the feminine singular form

Mi abuelo es mexicano.

My grandfather is Mexican.

 

Mi abuela es mexicana.

My grandmother is Mexican.

 

Mis abuelos son mexicanos.

My grandfathers are Mexican.

 

Mis abuelas son mexicanas.

My grandmothers are Mexican.

 

Nationalities that End in an -e or an Accented Vowel

 

Nationalities that end in an -e or an accented vowel have only two forms. This is because the masculine and feminine singular forms of these adjectives are the same. Here are the rules for making the singular forms of these adjectives plural.

 

For adjectives that end in -e or -é:

 

add an -s to end of the singular form to make the plural form

For adjectives that end in an accented vowel other than -é:

 

add an -es to the singular form to make the plural form

Melissa es costarricense.

Melissa is Costa Rican.

 

Ellos son costarricenses.

They are Costa Rican.

 

Samuel es iraquí.

Samuel is Iraqi.

 

Los chicos son iraquíes.

The boys are Iraqi.

 

List of Common Nationalities that End in a Vowel

 

Here you'll find a handy list of common nationalities that end in a vowel.

 

English Translation Masculine Singular Form Masculine Plural Form Feminine Singular Form Feminine Plural Form

American

americano

 

americanos

 

americana

 

americanas

 

Argentinean

argentino

 

argentinos

 

argentina

 

argentinas

 

Bolivian

boliviano

 

bolivianos

 

boliviana

 

bolivianas

 

Canadian

canadiense

 

canadienses

 

canadiense

 

canadienses

 

Costa Rican

costarricense

 

costarricenses

 

costarricense

 

costarricenses

 

Cuban

cubano

 

cubanos

 

cubana

 

cubanas

 

Honduran

hondureño

 

hondureños

 

hondureña

 

hondureñas

 

Iraqi

iraquí

 

iraquíes

 

iraquí

 

iraquíes

 

Italian

italiano

 

italianos

 

italiana

 

italianas

 

Mexican

mexicano

 

mexicanos

 

mexicana

 

mexicanas

 

Moroccan

marroquí

 

marroquíes

 

marroquí

 

marroquíes

 

Nicaraguan

nicaragüense

 

nicaragüenses

 

nicaragüense

 

nicaragüenses

 

Uruguayan

uruguayo

 

uruguayos

 

uruguaya

 

uruguayas

 

In English, American may refer to people from North, Central, and South America, though it's most commonly used to refer to someone from the United States. In Spanish, it's more common for the word americano to be used to refer to anything or anyone from North, Central, or South America. If you want to make it very clear that you're talking about someone or something from the United States, use the nationality adjective estadounidense .

Nationalities that End in a Consonant

 

Nationalities that end in a consonant have four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural.

 

To make the feminine singular form:

 

add an -a to the end of the masculine singular form

remove the written accent over the vowel if there is one

El maestro es alemán.

The teacher is German.

 

La maestra es alemana.

The teacher is German.

 

El escritor es japonés.

The writer is Japanese.

 

La escritora es japonesa.

The writer is Japanese.

 

El cantante es español.

The singer is Spanish.

 

La cantante es española.

The singer is Spanish.

 

To make the masculine plural form:

 

add -es to the masculine singular form

remove the written accent over the vowel if there is one

To make the feminine plural form:

 

add -s to the feminine singular form

El maestro danés.

The teacher is Danish.

 

Los maestros son daneses.

The teacher are Danish.

 

Las maestras son danesas.

The teachers are Danish.

 

El cantante es español.

The singer is Spanish.

 

Los cantantes son españoles.

The singers are Spanish.

 

Las cantantes son españolas.

The singers are Spanish.

 

List of Common Nationalities that End in a Consonant

 

Here you'll find a handy list of common nationalities that end in a consonant.

 

English Translation Masculine Singular Form Masculine Plural Form Feminine Singular Form Feminine Plural Form

Danish

danés

 

daneses

 

danesa

 

danesas

 

Finnish

finlandés

 

finlandeses

 

finlandesa

 

finlandesas

 

French

francés

 

franceses

 

francesa

 

francesas

 

German

alemán

 

alemanes

 

alemana

 

alemanas

 

Irish

irlandés

 

irlandeses

 

irlandesa

 

irlandesas

 

Japanese

japonés

 

japoneses

 

japonesa

 

japonesas

 

Lebanese

libanés

 

libaneses

 

libanesa

 

libanesas

 

Spanish

español

 

españoles

 

española

 

españolas

 

Thai

tailandés

 

tailandeses

 

tailandesa

 

tailandesas