Knowing the names of different nationalities (les nationalités) will not only allow you to tell something about yourself but also it will help you to get to know better the person you are talking to, especially if he/she is a foreigner.
Things to remember:
- As with majority of the French adjectives, there is a masculine and feminine form for most of the names of nationalities. All you need to do is to add an “-e” to the masculine form. Eg. français / française
- Most of the time it will change the pronunciation français / française (z) but there are some exceptions where it stays the same: Eg. espagnol / espagnole
- If the name of the adjective of nationality ends with “-e”, the word stays the same. Eg. Paul est suisse. / Marie est suisse.
- The names of nationalities in French are written in small letters, unlike in the English language !
Names of Nationalities in French:
French | French feminine | English |
français | française | French |
anglais | anglaise | English |
sénégalais | sénégalaise | Senegalese |
marocain | marocaine | Moroccan |
allemand | allemande | German |
russe | russe | Russian |
américain | américaine | American |
espagnol | espagnole | Spanish |
suédois | suédoise | Swedish |
britannique | britannique | British |
écossaise | écossaise | Scottish |
Names of the Countries
You may also want to learn the names of the countries in French that go with the names of these nationalities. Have a look at this lesson.