Nationalities

[ROBINDESBOIS]

What s the rule for nationalities?
Apart from British People, French people, Spanish people etc..
We can say the British are very nice, the Americans are lovely. The Spanish and the French are very polite etc....
What s the rule I. Forgot.

[Julvenzor]

What is the question? :thinking:

[poli]

If when the nationality in question may refer to an individual if not pluralized, then the s mandatory. The Swede is blonde. The Swedes are Scandinavians. The Canadian is skinny. The Canadians live in a huge country. It would be incorrect to refer to a Spaniard a Spanish. Therefore the Spanish is the correct way to refer to the nationality. On the Mexican is a perfectly good way of referring the a person native to Mexico. Therefore the Mexicans is the way to refer to the nationality.

[Emberblaque]

I would like to add, as a native English speaker, that using a demonymic adjective in place of a noun can sound archaic, or even pejorative, as well as incorrect. I have heard native English speakers use a demonymic adjective in a pejorative or humorous tone. I don't know if others will corroborate. Also, in old documentaries, one might hear, "a Japanese," whereas in modern American English, I believe that one would most likely hear, "a Japanese person." I also notice that this varies from nationality to nationality. I might consider, "a Japanese," to be archaic or insensitive, whereas I would consider, "a Korean," or, "a German," to be acceptable. Maybe this is too much nuance, but I thought a person with three-and-a-half-thousand posts might appreciate the nuance.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

We can say both ways Or Am I wrong?
The Americans are nice
Americans are nice.

[Rusty]

You can say both, but they don't mean exactly the same thing.
The first designates a particular group. The second is a general statement about Americans as a whole.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Can this be applied to every nationality or only to those that end in S?

[poli]

Can this be applied to every nationality or only to those that end in S?

Oddly not. You can say: The Spanish are nice (referring residents of the entire country) or those Spanish people are nice (referring to a specific group of Spanish people).

[wrholt]

As poli and Rusty say, it depends on the word for a particular nationality, ethnicity or other affiliation. You need to learn what is used on a case-by-case basis.

Some words have both singular and plural forms as nouns. In this case, the plural form without an article refers generically to everyone. "Americans", "Germans", "Poles", "Swedes", "Arabs", "Israelis", and so one. The plural forms with articles typically refer to specific groups of people.

Other words do not have plural forms as nouns. In this case, the word with the definite article typically refers generically to everyone: "the British", "the English", "the French", "the Spanish", "the Japanese", and so on. To refer to specific groups of people you normally use these words as adjectives attached to a noun for the type of group: "those British people", "the French man".