Nationalities in Italian

When you start speaking Italian, it’s very likely that someone will ask where you come from and what your origins are. To be able to answer these questions, you’ll need to learn the vocabulary related to countries and nationalities. In this guide, you'll find all the essential words you need to know, along with example sentences to help you use them in context.

How to Ask Where Are You From?

The most common way to ask Where are you from? in Italian is:

However, if you want to show respect to the person you're speaking to, you should say:

The answer to both questions is Vengo da..., followed by the name of the country with the article.

Notice that the preposition di combines with the article:

Another Way to Ask Where Are You From

Another way to ask where someone is from is:

You can answer with sono, followed by the nationality adjective:

Countries and Nationalities

The adjectives that express nationalities agree in gender and number with the nouns, just like any other adjective in Italian.

Francese French – francese masculine singular, francesi plural
Example: Lei è una ragazza francese.
She is a French woman.

Tedesco German – tedesco masculine singular, tedesca feminine singular, tedeschi masculine plural, tedesche feminine plural
Example: Lui è tedesco.
He is German.

If you haven’t already learned how to conjugate adjectives in Italian, you can learn more here.

List of Countries and Nationalities

Here’s a chart with the names of some of the most important countries in the world, followed by their corresponding adjectives. You can click on each word to hear the correct pronunciation.

Europa

• Italia - italiano:

  Italy - Italian

• Francia - francese:

  France - French

• Germania - tedesco:

  Germany - German

• Spagna - spagnolo:

  Spain - Spanish

• Russia - russo:

  Russia - Russian

  Russia - russo:

  Russia - Russian

• Inghilterra - inglese:

  England - English

• Regno Unito - britannico:

  United Kingdom - British

• Paesi Bassi/Olanda - olandese:

  Netherlands - Dutch

• Turchia - turco:

  Turkey - Turkish

• Albania - albanese:

  Albania - Albanian

• Austria - austriaco:

  Austria - Austrian

• Belgio - belga:

  Belgium - Belgian

• Bosnia-Erzegovina - bosniaco:

  Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosnian

• Bulgaria - bulgaro:

  Bulgaria - Bulgarian

• Croazia - croato:

  Croatia - Croatian

• Cipro - cipriota:

  Cyprus - Cypriot

• Repubblica Ceca - ceco:

  Czech Republic - Czech

• Danimarca - danese:

  Denmark - Danish

• Estonia - estone:

  Estonia - Estonian

• Finlandia - finlandese:

  Finland - Finnish

• Grecia - greco:

  Greece - Greek

• Ungheria - ungherese:

  Hungary - Hungarian

• Islanda - islandese:

  Iceland - Icelandic

• Irlanda - irlandese:

  Ireland - Irish

• Lettonia - lettone:

  Latvia - Latvian

• Lituania - lituano:

  Lithuania - Lithuanian

• Malta - maltese:

  Malta - Maltese

• Norvegia - norvegese:

  Norway - Norwegian

• Polonia - polacco:

  Poland - Polish

• Portogallo - portoghese:

  Portugal - Portuguese

• Moldavia - moldavo:

  Moldova - Moldovan

• Romania - rumeno:

  Romania - Romanian

• San Marino - sammarinese:

  San Marino - Sammarinese

• Serbia - serbo:

  Serbia - Serbian

• Slovacchia - slovacco:

  Slovakia - Slovak

• Slovenia - sloveno:

  Slovenia - Slovenian

• Svezia - svedese:

  Sweden - Swedish

• Svizzera - svizzero:

  Switzerland - Swiss

• Ucraina - ucraino:

  Ukraine - Ukrainian

• Il Vaticano:

  Vatican City

Nord America

• Gli Stati Uniti - statunitense:

  United States - American

• Il Canada - canadese:

  Canada - Canadian

• Messico - messicano:

  Mexico - Mexican

Sud America

• Argentina:

  Argentina

• Il Brasile:

  Brazil

• Uruguay:

  Uruguay

• Il Cile:

  Chile

• Colombia:

  Colombia

• Venezuela:

  Venezuela

Oceania

• Australia - australiano:

  Australia - Australian

• Nuova Zelanda - neozelandese:

  New Zealand - New Zealander

Asia

• Cina - cinese:

  China - Chinese

• Corea del Sud - coreano:

  South Korea - Korean

• Il Giappone - giapponese:

  Japan - Japanese

• Il Vietnam - vietnamita:

  Vietnam - Vietnamese

• Thailandia - thailandese/tailandese:

  Thailand - Thai

• India - indiano:

  India - Indian

Africa

• Il Sud Africa - sud africano:

  South Africa - South African

• Il Kenya - keniota:

  Kenya - Kenyan

• Etiopia - etiope:

  Ethiopia - Ethiopian

• Egitto - egiziano:

  Egypt - Egyptian

• Tunisia - tunisino:

  Tunisia - Tunisian

• Marocco - marocchino:

  Morocco - Moroccan

• Algeria - algerino:

  Algeria - Algerian

Countries with Articles and Prepositions

When country names are used alone, they typically require a definite article. Like any other Italian noun, countries have a gender. Use il for masculine countries and la for feminine countries.

Example:

For plural country names, use plural articles.

Example:

Preposition in with Countries

When talking about countries, the preposition in is used.

Languages

Now that you’ve learned the names of countries, let’s look at the languages spoken in those countries. Generally, the name of the language is the same as the masculine form of the nationality adjective.

• Italiano

  Italian

• Inglese

  English

• Spagnolo

  Spanish

• Francese

  French

• Tedesco

  German

• Portoghese

  Portuguese

• Cinese

  Chinese

• Giapponese

  Japanese

• Coreano

  Korean

• Arabo

  Arabic

• Turco

  Turkish

• Russo

  Russian

• Polacco

  Polish

• Svedese

  Swedish

• Norvegese

  Norwegian

• Danese

  Danish

• Thailandese/Tailandese

  Thai

• Vietnamita

  Vietnamese

• Rumeno

  Romanian

• Ungherese

  Hungarian

In Italian, unlike English, language names are never capitalized unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence.

Examples:

Articles with Languages

Even though the word lingua (language) is feminine, the names of languages are considered masculine in Italian, and they take masculine articles: il, l', or lo.

Note that the article is not used with the verb parlare (to speak), as shown in the earlier examples.

Preposition in with Languages

Just like in English, when talking about languages, use the preposition in.