HSS  +  273498 Thu, 28 Sep 06 02:20 PM "A young Japanese came to visit us last night" is not what native speakers of English would say. Instead you might say, "A young Japanese man (or anything else that describes the person, perhaps) came to visit us last night." What other nationality-noun cannot be regarded as a singular? Those of Asia, Africa and Pacific islands? Hiro HSS Joined on Wed, Nov 16 2005 Sendai, Japan Regular Member 681 JH7JHH, First Class ham radio operator. N9COW in the US. Nouns

	Mister Micawber  +  273550 Thu, 28 Sep 06 03:19 PM I would certainly say, 'A young Japanese came to visit us'. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,833 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	Clive  +  273781 Fri, 29 Sep 06 12:24 AM Hi guys, "A young Japanese came to visit us last night" is not what native speakers of English would say. Instead you might say, "A young Japanese man (or anything else that describes the person, perhaps) came to visit us last night." As one who has never lived in Japan, I would say 'a young Japanese man' rather than 'a young Japanese'. It's partly because the latter does not make the gender clear, but I think mainly because it's just idiomatic, at least where I live. Similarly, I'd usually say 'a young German guy ' rather than 'a young German'. Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,668 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo Genders

	HSS  +  273788 Fri, 29 Sep 06 12:54 AM Hi, Mister Macawber. Hi, Clive. Reading the following thread has made me put up the query, regarding whether or not a given nationality-noun is used as a singular. You would say, "He is Japanese," but you wouldn't say, "He is a Japanese," would you? http://www.englishforums.com/English/PoorEnglishSpeakingJapanese/bxhmh/Post.htm Hiro HSS Nouns

	Mister Micawber  +  273791 Fri, 29 Sep 06 01:07 AM I'm sorry, but I do not agree with the thrust of that thread.  As a native speaker, I find nothing odd about referring to someone as a Korean, a Japanese, a Thai, etc (A Korean, a Japanese, and a Thai went into a bar...etc.).  Offhand, it seems to me that wherever the noun can refer to all, it can refer to one.  On the other hand, the French is a pronomial use of the adjective. Mister Micawber Nouns

	Clive  +  273842 Fri, 29 Sep 06 03:34 AM Hi again, In Canada, my Chinese students often refer to someone as 'a Chinese', but I never hear anyone who is not Chinese say that. Best wishes, Clive Clive

	CalifJim  +  273851 Fri, 29 Sep 06 03:59 AM In my own region of the world it seems that only nationality adjectives that end in -an or -i are also used as a noun referring to a person, none ending in -ish, -ch, or -ese. an Italian, a German, a Hungarian, an American, an Egyptian, a Korean, a Canadian, a Honduran, a Mexican, an Israeli, a Pakistani, a Saudi But an Englishman, an Irishman, a Frenchman, a Dutchman, a Portuguese man, a Japanese man, a Chinese man, a Swiss man And a Spaniard, a Finn, a Swede, a Dane Lately, I have heard the -ese group used the same as the -an group, but I haven't adopted this yet, as I haven't heard it enough to sound right to my ear. a Chinese, a Javanese, a Portuguese I have no idea what the correct form is for a person who is British.  a Brit?  a Briton?  a British man? Nor any idea what to do with Scotland at all.  a Scot? a Scots?  a Scotsman?  a Scotch?  Nor the correct adjectival form of Scotland.  Scots?  Scottish?  Scotch? It is a Welshman, isn't it? CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,463 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Nouns

	Saiing  +  273853 Fri, 29 Sep 06 04:08 AM  CalifJim wrote: I have no idea what the correct form is for a person who is British.  a Brit?  a Briton?  a British man? Nor any idea what to do with Scotland at all.  a Scot? a Scots?  a Scotsman?  a Scotch?  Nor the correct adjectival form of Scotland.  Scots?  Scottish?  Scotch? It is a Welshman, isn't it? A Briton would be fine, although we often tend to refer to ourselves as Brits.  Someone from Scotland is a Scot  or Scotsman.  And yes, it's a Welshman, in the same way that it's also an Englishman.  Technically any of the above could be called Britons as they are all British. Saiing