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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Plural of the nationalities
Plural of the nationalities
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Thalia Gralik
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Plural of the nationalities
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Hello dear mates, I wonder if you could help me with the plural of the nationalities. I�ve seen different rules about that and now I am puzzled!! It seems that this is an easy topic, but I still have some doubts about the formation of the plural concerned to the nationalities. For example: They are Brazilian or They are Brazilians. ?? Is the following rule correct?
It �s mostly phonetic. That is, it depends on the final sound of the
word.
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Words ending in
-an, -ian, -er, -i
require an "s" in the plural
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Words ending in
-ese, -ish, -iss, -ch
do not change
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Thanks in advance for your help!
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22 Nov 2013
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lewisronaldc
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The first one is not a plural word.
They are Brazilian. Brazilian is an adjective describing they.
The second one is plural
They are Brazilians. Brazilians is a noun object of the sentence.
This explanation may not help you with a rule, but it has helped my students understand the part of speech and why.
Ron
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22 Nov 2013
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Thalia Gralik
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Thanks for your help dear Lewisronaldc!  |
22 Nov 2013
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FrauSue
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Yes - with nationalities we have adjectives and nouns. Often these are the same "He is Brazilian" and "My sister married a Brazilian", but sometimes they are different "He is Finnish" and "My sister married a Finn".
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23 Nov 2013
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