Monday, June 6, 2016

demonyms - Michael is a New Zealander or Michael is New Zealander? Article before nationalities?


Do I have to say "Michael is a New Zealander" or can I leave out the indefinite article "a"?



Answer



You could say "Michael is German", however "German" in this sentence is interpreted as an adjective, not a noun.


It would also be correct grammatically to say "Michael is a German", although this is less common, and in this sentence "German" is a noun.


You can see the difference for nationalities where the noun of nationality is not the same as the adjective: "Michel is French" vs. "Michel is a Frenchman". However, for nearly all countries, the noun and the adjective are the same.


However the term "New Zealander" is a noun and not an adjective. So you must say "Michael is a New Zealander". In spoken English, this can commonly be abbreviated to "Michael's a New Zealander".



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