Countries, Nationalities, and Languages in French

Using the names of  countries around the world is fairly easy  if you have memorized them. This is an easy vocabulary lesson because the French names are very similar to what you are used to saying in English. The only tricky part is making sure you use the correct prepositions, which change with the gender of the country or continent youre discussing. Beyond the country name itself, we will learn the word describing the nationality of a countrys residents and the names of the primary languages spoken. Plus, we will review the names for the worlds continents.   Note that the additional letters required to make nationalities and  adjectives feminine are indicated in parentheses after the relevant words. Finally,  wherever you see a little speaker after a name, you can click on it and hear the word pronounced. The Continents (Les Continents) There are the seven continents of the world; seven is the prevailing convention at present, while some countries list six continents and others, five. Notice the similarities between the English and French names. The adjectives are very similar and can be used to describe the residents of each continent. Continent In French Adjective Africa Afrique Africain(e) Antarctica Antarctique Asia Asie Asiatique Australia Australie Australien(ne) Europe Europe Europà ©en(ne) North America Amà ©rique du Nord Nord-Amà ©ricain(e) South America Amà ©rique du Sud Sud-Amà ©ricain(e) Languages and Nationalities (Les Langues  et  Les  Nationalità ©s) It would be a very long list if we were to include every country in the world, so only a small selection is included in this lesson. It is designed to give you an idea of how countries, nationalities, and languages are translated between English and French; its intended as an indicative list, not a comprehensive list of countries. That said, we do have a comprehensive list of the French names for the worlds countries  elsewhere, which you do well to  review. For nationalities, the proper  noun  and adjective are exactly the same, except the proper noun is capitalized, while the adjective is not capitalized.  Thus:  un Amà ©ricain  but  un type amà ©ricain. You will also note that the masculine adjective for many of these countries is spelled and pronounced just like the languages.   Only the primary languages for each country are included in the list, though many countries have citizens who speak many languages. Also, note that the names of the languages are always masculine and are not capitalized. Country Name Name In French Nationality Language(s) Algeria Algà ©rie Algà ©rien(ne) l'arabe, le franà §ais Australia Australie Australien(ne) l'anglais Belgium Belgique Belge le flamand, le franà §ais Brazil Brà ©sil Brà ©silien(ne) le portugais Canada Canada Canadien(ne) le franà §ais, l'anglais China Chine Chinois(e) le chinois Egypt Egypte Égyptien(ne) l'arabe England Angleterre Anglais(e) l'anglais France France Franà §ais(e) le franà §ais Germany Allemagne Allemand(e) l'allemand India Inde Indien(ne) l'hindi (plus many others) Ireland Irlande Irlandais(e) l'anglais, l'irlandais Italy Italie Italien(ne) l'italien Japan Japon Japonais(e) le japonais Mexico Mexique Mexicain(e) l'espagnol Morocco Maroc Marocain(e) l'arabe, le franà §ais Netherlands Pays-Bas Nà ©erlandais(e) le nà ©erlandais Poland Pologne Polonais(e) le polonais Portugal Portugal Portugais(e) le portugais Russia Russie Russe le russe Senegal Sà ©nà ©gal Sà ©nà ©galais(e) le franà §ais Spain Espagne Espagnol(e) l'espagnol Switzerland Suisse Suisse l'allemand, le franà §ais, l'italien United States United Stats Amà ©ricain(e) l'anglais