Plurals and Nationalities
Why do we say Italians, but we say Vietnamese, not Vietnameses
| The Russians are here. * | The Chinese are here. * | |||
| The Koreans are here. | The Japanese are here. | |||
| The Americans are here. | The British are here. | |||
| The Italians are here. | The Swiss are here. | |||
| The New Zealanders are here. | The French are here. | |||
| The Pakistanis are here. | The Portuguese are here. |
It’s mostly phonetic. That is, it depends on the final sound of the word.
| Words ending in: | Words ending in: | |||
| -an, -ian, -er, -i | -ese, -ish, -iss, -ch | |||
| require and “s” in the plural | do not change |
Languages (no article)
| Russian is easy. | Chinese is easy. | |||
| Korean is easy. | Japanese is easy. | |||
| Italian is easy. | French is easy. |
Generalizations**
| Russians are friendly. | The Chinese are friendly | |||
| Koreans are friendly. | The Chinese people are friendly | |||
| New Zealanders are friendly. | The Japanese are friendly | |||
| Japanese people are friendly. | ||||
| The French are friendly. | ||||
| Frenchmen are friendly. |
*If you are talking about a specific group (of Russians, etc.), the article the must be used.Most of the Italians (in this class) are female.
Most of the Japanese (in the restaurant) are from Kyoto.
**If you are talking generally, no article or preposition is needed.
With s: Most Americans speak English. Not: Most of Americans
No s: Most Vietnamese live in Asia. Not: Most of Vietnamese
