Capitalisation: Countries and nationalities

While we always capitalise the first letter of all countries and nationalities in written English, the same cannot be said for written French. While in French, countries are also always capitalised, whether nationalities should use capitals depends on the context.

 

When speaking about a person's country of origin, we always capitalise the first letter. The countries are proper nouns.

 

(1) Je viens d'Allemagne 

(2) Elle vient d'Irlande

 

However, when speaking about a person's nationality, do not capitalise the first letter. This is because the nationalities act as adjectives. 

 

(3) Je suis français 

(4) Elle est anglaise

 

The only circumstance in which a person's nationality can be capitalised, is if the nationality is used as a proper noun such as:

 

(5) C'est un Français qui me l'a dit

(6) Les Chinois qui habitent là sont très sympas 

 

Thus, in written French we continue to capitalise proper nouns when referring to countries. Whereas, with nationalities, we maintain the lower case when describing a person's nationality unless we use the nationality as a proper noun to replace the subject pronoun.

VL
Answered by Vivienne L. French tutor

18676 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How do I differentiate between the articles le/la/les/un/une/des and when to use them?


how do you form and use the near future tense?


How can I talk about probability in the future in French?


When should I use the perfect tense and the imperfect tense?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences