Pays & Nationalités — countries and nationalities | Vocabulary
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Countries, nationalities and languages. This French countries nationalities languages vocabulary list gives you 14 essential words — from la France — français(e) (France — French) to le Mexique — mexicain(e) (Mexico — Mexican) — each with audio and its English translation. Use it to build the French words you need to talk about countries nationalities languages, then test yourself with the games below.
Pays & Nationalités
Countries, nationalities and languages
L’Europe
Le monde
🎬 The 20-second version
5 quick questions on « Pays & Nationalités » — guess before the reveal. Practise with the free games → Open this short as a page — transcript included →
📘 The rules
- Countries have genders: la France (feminine, ends in -e), le Japon (masculine) — exceptions: le Mexique, le Cambodge.
- In/to a country: en + feminine (en France), au + masculine (au Japon), aux + plural (aux États-Unis) — see the à & de chart.
- Nationality adjectives take no capital: un ami français — but the noun does: un Français.
- Nationalities agree: il est français → elle est française; italien → italienne.
- Languages are masculine and lowercase: le français, le japonais — je parle français (no article after parler).
🔊 Useful phrases
🔊 Example sentences
✍️ Practice
Elle est (italien) → elle est ___ (agreement)
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italienne
Je vais ___ Japon. (masculine country)
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au
un Français ou un français ? — the PERSON is ___ (capital letter)
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un Français
🎮 Practise this with games
🎯 More practice — vocabulary recall — both directions
How do you say « France — French »? (recall)
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la France — français
What does « l’Espagne — espagnol » mean? (recall)
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Spain — Spanish
How do you say « Italy — Italian »? (recall)
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l’Italie — italien
What does « l’Allemagne — allemand » mean? (recall)
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Germany — German
How do you say « Portugal — Portuguese »? (recall)
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le Portugal — portugais
What does « les États-Unis — américain » mean? (recall)
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USA — American
How do you say « Canada — Canadian »? (recall)
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le Canada — canadien
What does « le Japon — japonais » mean? (recall)
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Japan — Japanese
Go further: this chart is one small piece — get the full picture in our guide How to introduce yourself in French.
French countries nationalities languages vocabulary — FAQ
How do you say common countries nationalities languages words in French?
For example: France — French is « la France — français(e) », Spain — Spanish is « l’Espagne — espagnol(e) », Italy — Italian is « l’Italie — italien(ne) ». The full list above has 14 French countries nationalities languages words, each with audio so you can hear the pronunciation.
What are the most useful French countries nationalities languages words to learn first?
Start with the basics: la France — français(e) (France — French), l’Espagne — espagnol(e) (Spain — Spanish), l’Italie — italien(ne) (Italy — Italian), l’Allemagne — allemand(e) (Germany — German), le Royaume-Uni — britannique (UK — British), le Portugal — portugais(e) (Portugal — Portuguese). Master these core French words before moving on to the rest of the list.
How can I memorise French countries nationalities languages vocabulary?
Learn the words in small themed groups, say each one out loud with the audio, and use it in a short sentence about your own life. Spaced repetition is what makes new vocabulary stick — see our guide to learning French vocabulary that sticks.
🎮 Practise this lesson
Games built from this exact page — turn what you just read into play: