Use of articles with nationality words

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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Rustamsher
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Use of articles with nationality words

Post by Rustamsher »

Hi dear Alan,

We use the + nationality adjectives that end in "-ch/-sh/-ese/-ss". The meaning is "the people of that country": the English, the French, the Swiss and etc, where the definite article is always (obligatorily) used.
As concerns other nationalities that do not end in the above-mentioned suffixes, the article is not always used - that's optional, depending on context, I suppose : (the) Italians, (the) Mexicans, (the) Turks and so on.

My query:
  • Why are the countries that end in that suffixes always preceded by the definite article, while others are not always ...?
Thanks
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Alan
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Re: Use of articles with nationality words

Post by Alan »

Unlike the forms in '(i)an', the -sh/-ch forms are considered pure adjectives rather than adjectival nouns, and therefore (on the model of exressions such as 'the poor', 'the young' etc.) always require the article when nominalized.
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