Where are you from?
To say where you are from, use ser de + the country. To say where you live, use vivir en.
Watch the written accent on Canadá: the stress falls on the last syllable.
With or without the article
El Reino Unido keeps its article, so de + el becomes del, and en stays en el:
Estados Unidos is usually said without an article, and then the verb is singular. You will also see los Estados Unidos; with the article the verb is usually plural.
Nationality words
A nationality adjective agrees with the person, like any adjective. Words in -o change to -a for a woman. Words in -és add -a and lose the written accent, like inglés → inglesa. Words in -e are the same for a man and a woman; they only add -s in the plural.
| country | man | woman |
|---|
| el Reino Unido | británico | británica |
| Australia | australiano | australiana |
| Irlanda | irlandés | irlandesa |
| Estados Unidos | estadounidense | estadounidense |
| Canadá | canadiense | canadiense |
Countries take a capital letter (Irlanda, Canadá), but nationality words take a small letter (irlandés, canadiense):
English or British?
Inglés is both the language and the nationality of someone from England:
Británico covers the whole United Kingdom, so someone from Scotland or Wales is británico, but not inglés:
For someone from the United States, estadounidense is the precise word and the usual one in writing. In everyday speech in Spain you will often hear americano too:
