Countries, Nationalities and Languages in

French
Posted bylovelearninglanguagesMarch 8, 2020Posted inA1 LEVEL FRENCH
LESSONS, VOCABULARYTags:countries in french, french prepositions with
countries, languages in french
In this lesson we will talk about countries, nationalities and languages in
French.  You will learn to say what your nationality is, the names and genders
of countries and continents in French, and what languages are spoken in the
countries you will learn.  I will teach you how to say that you are going to or
from a country, continent or city based on the number and gender of the
geographical location. To access this free resource, you must be logged in to
your LLL French Academy account. It’s free to sign up!

CLICK ON
THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SIGN UP FOR THIS FREE LESSON INCLUDING
AUDIO
 Scroll down to the bottom of this page to watch a video tutorial 

PAYS ET NATIONALITES: RESOURCES FOR FRENCH TEACHERS OR

CONVERSATION GROUPS:

DICTEE
20 QUESTIONS GAME
SPEAKING PROMPT CARDS
FIND SOMEONE WHO SPEAKING GAME
TABOO SPEAKING GAME

Countries, continents, languages and nationalities

Les Nationalités

De quelle nationalité êtes-vous? What’s your nationality?

In this lesson we will talk about countries, nationalities and languages in

French.  You will learn to say what your nationality is, the names and genders
of countries and continents in French, and what languages are spoken in the
countries you will learn.  Finally, I will teach you how to say that you are going
to or from a country, continent or city based on the number and gender of the
geographical location. 

To tell someone what your nationality is, you only need a couple of key
ingredients:
SUBJECT VERB NATIONALITY

ÊTRE
The verb you need to learn to state your nationality in French is être. Click
here for downloadable être conjugation charts in 9 tenses with pronunciation.
Je suis Nous sommes
I am We are
Tu es Vous êtes
You are You are
Il – Elle – On est Ils – Elles sont
He is – She is – One is (We are) They are

Common countries, continents, languages and

nationalities
Nationalities are adjectives.  Adjectives always have to agree in gender and
number with the noun they describe.

F = Feminine

M = Masculine

Most countries that end in the letter E are feminine in French.  There are
some exceptions. 

All languages are masculine.

Click here for a big list of 110 nationalities in French with a Quizlet study set!
Country Nationality
Country (French) Official language(s) 
(English) (m & f) 
Sud-
l’Afrique du Sud (f) South Africa l’afrikaans, l’anglais + 11 autres langues
Africain(e)
l’Algérie (f) Algeria l’arabe Algérien(ne
La Belgique (f) Belgium le néerlandais, le français, l’allemand Belge
Le Brésil (m) Brazil le portugais Brésilien(ne
Le Canada (m) Canada l’anglais, le français Canadien(n
La Chine (f) China le chinois Chinois(e)
l’Égypte (f) Egypt l’arabe Égyptien(ne
l’Angleterre (f) England l’anglais Anglais(e)
La France (f) France le français Français(e)
l’Allemagne (f) Germany l’allemand Allemand(e
l’Inde (f) India le hindi, l’anglais + 20 autres langues Indien(ne)
l’Irlande (f) Ireland l’irlandais, l’anglais Irlandais(e)
l’Italie (f) Italy l’italien Italien(ne)
Le Japon (m) Japan le japonais Japonais(e)
Le Mexique (m)
*exception, ends in E but is Mexico l’espagnol Mexicain(e
masculine
Le Maroc (m) Morocco l’arabe, le berbère Marocain(e
Les Pays-Bas (m) The Netherlands le néerlandais Néerlandais
La Pologne (f) Poland le polonais Polonais(e)
Le Portugal (m) Portugal le portugais Portugais(e
La Russie (f) Russia le russe Russe
Le Sénégal (m) Senegal le français Sénégalais(
l’Espagne (f) Spain l’espagnol Espagnol(e
le français, l’italien, l’allemand, le
La Suisse (f) Switzerland Suisse
romanche
l’anglais, l’espagnol
Les États-Unis (m) The United States Américain(
*There is no official language in the USA
La Tunisie (f) Tunisia l’arabe Tunisien(ne
La Suède (f) Sweden le suédois Suédois(e)

Continents

All continents are feminine

l’Europe (f) Europe
l’Amérique (f)
l’Amérique du Nord (f) America
l’Amérique du Sud (f)
l’Asie (f) Asia
l’Afrique (f) Africa
l’Océanie (f) Oceania

Capitalization of nationalities and languages

➤ Capitalize nationalities when they are used as NOUNS:

Les Français aiment le fromage.

➤ Don’t capitalize nationalities when they are used as adjectives:

C’est un passeport suisse.

Il est cubain.

➤ Languages are not capitalized in French.

Prepositions before geographical locations  

Going to:

To say you are going to or are in a geographical place:

AU In / to a masculine, singular country AU Japon
À Paris
À In / to a city*some exceptions apply
À La Nouvelle Orléans
EN France
EN In / to any feminine, singular country and all continents
EN Europe
AUX In / to any plural country AUX États-Unis

Prepositions before geographical locations 

Coming from:

To say you are coming from or are from a geographical place:

DU From a masculine, singular country DU Maroc
From a city DE Londres
DE / D’
*some exceptions apply DU Caire
D’Espagne
DE / D’ From a feminine, singular country and all continents
D’Australie
DES From any plural country DES Pays-Bas

Quizlet:  Practice the Nationalities

Quizlet:  Practice Countries and Continents

Quizlet:  Countries and their Nationalities