28 Nationalities

Nationalitäten/Nationalities

In English, to talk about nationalities, we use adjectives (e.g. “She is Canadian”) and there is no difference between someone being “Canadian” and an object, such as for example maple syrup being “Canadian”. In German, these two words are slightly different: we would use “Kanadier/Kanadierin” to talk about someone’s nationality and “kanadisch” to refer to things made in Canada or typical to Canada:

• • • e.g. kanadisches Bier.

Therefore, while “I am Canadian” works in English, you cannot  say ‘Ich bin kanadisch*’ in German.

The correct way is ‘ich bin Kanadier’ if you are male and ‘ich bin Kanadierin’ if you are female. 

A you can see, you must also pay attention to the gender of the person talking and use the correct form:

e.g. if a male says ‘ich bin Kanadierin’ that would indicate that they are a Canadian female, so watch out!

What else to keep in mind?

Similar to professions, most nationalities have different female and male endings. Male ends in -e 

female ends in -in instead), e.g.

M – Franzose – French 

F – Französin – French 

The word for German citizens is an exception:

Deutsche – German (lady)

Deutscher – German (man)

Aufgabe 1. Male & female professions, occupations, and nationalities.

Look at the words below and mark if each of them refers to a male or female person.   

Aufgabe 2. Male & female professions, occupations, and nationalities.

What is the male or female counterpart of each word below?

1. 1. Student – ___________________________
   2. Professorin – ________________________
   3. Freund – ____________________________
   4. Amerikanerin – _______________________
   5. Praktikantin – ________________________
   6. Ingenieur – __________________________
   7. Diebin – ____________________________
   8. Kanadier – __________________________
   9. Trainer – ____________________________
   10. Doktorin – __________________________
   11. Polizist – ____________________________
   12. Chinese – ___________________________

10-1 Aufgabe 3. Nationalitäten/Nationalities. Circle the correct answer.

1. Ein Mann aus Mexiko ist  Mexikaner / Mexikanerin.
2. Eine Frau aus Frankreich  ist Franzose / Französin.
3. Eine Frau aus Kanada  ist Kanadier / Kanadierin.
4. Ein Junge aus der Türkei  ist Türke / Türkin.
5. Eine Frau aus Deutschland  ist Deutscher / Deutsche.
6. Ein Mann aus Japan ist Japaner / Japanerin.
7. Ein Mädchen aus Italien ist Italiener / Italienerin.
8. Ein Mann aus Indien  ist Inder / Inderin.
9. Eine Frau aus Irland  ist Ire / Irin.
10. Eine Frau aus China  ist Chinese / Chinesin.