oxford_guide_to_english_grammar

36 WORD-BUILDING PAGE 374
2 There are different kinds of nationality words.
a
Many end in an: Italian, American, Mexican. We can add s to form a plural noun.
Three Italians are doing the course.
(The) Americans think they can see Europe in a week.
NOTE
a To this group also belong Greek, Czech, Thai, Arab and words ending in i, e.g. Pakistani,
Israeli.
The Greeks invented democracy.
b The language of the Arabs is Arabic.
b Some end in ese: Chinese, Portuguese. We cannot add s.
Several Chinese (people) were waiting in the queue.
When we talk about a whole people, we must use the or people.
The Chinese welcome/Chinese people welcome western tourists.
NOTE Swiss (= from Switzerland) also belongs in this group.
c
With some words, the adjective is different from the noun.
She's Danish./She's a Dane.
I like Danish people./I like (the) Danes.
Also: Swedish/a Swede, Finnish/a Finn, Polish/a Pole, Spanish/a Spaniard,
Turkish/a Turk, Jewish/a Jew.
NOTE
From Britain we form the adjective British.
There are a lot of British people in this part of Spain.
The nouns Brit and Briton are not very usual in spoken British English.
There are a lot of Brits/Britons in this part of Spain.
This usage is rather journalistic. Brit is informal. The Americans say Britisher.
For the whole people we say the British.
The British prefer houses to flats.
d
With some words, the noun has the suffix man
He's English./He's an Englishman.
Englishmen are reserved.
Also: Welsh/a Welshman, Irish/an Irishman, French/a Frenchman, Dutch/a
Dutchman.
For a whole people, we can use the adjective with the or people.
The English are/English people are reserved.
NOTE
a It is less usual to use woman as a suffix, but we can use an adjective + woman.
The English woman works at the university.
b When we talk about people from Scotland, we can use the adjective Scottish or the nouns
Scot and Scotsman.
He's Scottish./He's a Scot/He's a Scotsman.
How do you like Scottish people/Scots?
We use Scotch mainly in fixed expressions such as Scotch whisky.