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Talk about nationality in French

Learn to say where you and other people are from using common French nationality adjectives.

What you'll learn

  • Say your nationality in French.
  • Say the nationality of other people.
  • Use common nationality adjectives in simple descriptions.

You already know how to use être with adjectives to describe yourself and other people.

You can use the same pattern to talk about nationality:

French English
Je suis français. I am French.
Julie est française. Julie is French.
Paul est français. Paul is French.

The nationality is expressed with an adjective after être.

Common nationality adjectives

Here are some common nationality adjectives:

Masculine Feminine English
français française French
anglais anglaise English
espagnol espagnole Spanish
allemand allemande German
italien italienne Italian
américain américaine American

As with the adjectives you have already learned, the form of a nationality adjective agrees with the grammatical gender of the person it describes.

For example:

French English
Paul est anglais. Paul is English.
Julie est anglaise. Julie is English.
Paul est italien. Paul is Italian.
Julie est italienne. Julie is Italian.

The feminine form does not always follow exactly the same spelling pattern, so learn the masculine and feminine forms together.

Say your nationality

To say your nationality, use je suis followed by the appropriate nationality adjective:

je suis + nationality

For example:

French English
Je suis français. I am French.
Je suis française. I am French.
Je suis espagnol. I am Spanish.
Je suis espagnole. I am Spanish.
Je suis américain. I am American.
Je suis américaine. I am American.

The French form changes according to grammatical gender even though the English sentence stays the same.

Talk about someone else's nationality

You can use the forms of être you already know to talk about other people:

French English
Paul est français. Paul is French.
Julie est française. Julie is French.
Il est allemand. He is German.
Elle est allemande. She is German.
Ils sont italiens. They are Italian.
Elles sont italiennes. They are Italian.

When you describe more than one person, the adjective also changes for plural agreement.

For example:

French English
Paul et Marc sont français. Paul and Marc are French.
Julie et Marie sont françaises. Julie and Marie are French.

Listening and reading

Listen as Julie talks about herself and several other people. Try to understand as much as you can before revealing the French text.

Listen again while reading the French.

Show the French transcription

Je suis Julie. Je suis française. Je suis patiente et sympathique. Je parle français et anglais.

Paul est français. Il est intelligent et calme. Il parle français et italien.

Sofia est anglaise. Elle est timide et intelligente. Elle parle anglais et espagnol.

Omar est canadien. Il est sympathique et patient. Il parle français et arabe.

Compare the English version with what you understood from the French.

Show the English translation

I am Julie. I am French. I am patient and friendly. I speak French and English.

Paul is French. He is intelligent and calm. He speaks French and Italian.

Sofia is English. She is shy and intelligent. She speaks English and Spanish.

Omar is Canadian. He is friendly and patient. He speaks French and Arabic.

Put it together

You can now use être with nationality adjectives to say your nationality and the nationality of other people.

You can also choose the form of a nationality adjective that agrees with the person or people you are describing.

Next steps