[Originally posted on 12/29/18 on the Duolingo French for English speakers forum by CommeuneTexane]
French nouns for persons of a certain nationality (demonyms) are capitalized, but in French, national adjectives and language names are not capitalized. By default, the demonyms une Francaise/des Françaises are “a Frenchwoman/French women” and un Japonais/des Japonais are “ a Japanese man/Japanese men or Japanese people. Only when the person is not a man or woman, is it necessary to use an adjective and a noun. These rules apply to all nationalities.
- C’est un Chinois. — He’s a Chinese man.
- Ces Espagnols sont sympas. — These Spaniards are nice.
- C’est une voiture anglaise. — It’s an English car.
- Ce sont des Allemandes. — They are German women.
- Elles parlent français. — They speak French.
- J’ai rencontré une petite fille américaine. — I met an American little girl.
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