Countries, Nationalities and Languages in Chinese

English in Chinese is 英文 (yīng wén) or 英語 (yīng yǔ). Both are correct. 文 (wén) leans toward the written language and 語 (yǔ) toward the spoken one, and in everyday talk they overlap. The same two endings work for most languages: 日文 and 日語 for Japanese, 法文 and 法語 for French, 德文 and 德語 for German.

Countries and nationalities follow a pattern too. A country ends in 國 (guó, country): 美國 (měi guó, the United States), 英國 (yīng guó, the United Kingdom). A person from that country adds 人 (rén, person): 美國人 (měi guó rén, an American), 英國人 (yīng guó rén, a British person). The language often borrows one character from the country name: 英 for English, 日 for Japanese, 法 for French, 德 for German.

Below are the patterns in detail, a table of countries as they are written in Taiwan, and the handful of names that look different from the mainland forms.

The four endings: 國, 人, 文, 語

Ending	Pinyin	Meaning	Example
國	guó	country	韓國 (hán guó), South Korea
人	rén	person of that country	日本人 (rì běn rén), a Japanese person
文	wén	language, especially written	日文 (rì wén)
語	yǔ	spoken language	日語 (rì yǔ)

Two questions come up in every first week of class:

• 你是哪國人？ (nǐ shì nǎ guó rén?) asks which country you are from. The answer is 我是美國人 (wǒ shì měi guó rén). The dictionary also lists a contracted reading, něi (from 哪一), so you may hear nǎ guó or něi guó.
• 你會說什麼語言？ (nǐ huì shuō shén me yǔ yán?) asks what languages you speak. 語言 (yǔ yán) is the general word for language. The answer is 我會說英文 (wǒ huì shuō yīng wén).

Add 母語 (mǔ yǔ, native language) when you want to say which one you grew up with: 我的母語是英文. For a foreign language, 外語 (wài yǔ) is the word.

For more on introducing yourself, including your name and where you live, see how to introduce yourself in Chinese.

英文 or 英語?

The Ministry of Education dictionary defines 英文 as the language and writing of Britain, and 英語 as the language of English and American peoples, among others. In daily Taiwan speech, people often reach for 英文: 英文老師 (yīng wén lǎo shī, English teacher), 英文名字 (yīng wén míng zi, English name), 我的英文不好 (wǒ de yīng wén bù hǎo, my English is not good). 英語 shows up in more formal settings, such as 英語教學 (yīng yǔ jiào xué, English teaching).

If you are unsure, pick 英文. It works nearly everywhere, and nobody will hear it as wrong. The same choice applies to 日文 or 日語, 法文 or 法語, and 德文 or 德語. The Ministry of Education dictionary lists 日語, 德語 and 西班牙語, so the 語 forms are standard too.

Countries as written in Taiwan

Country	Chinese	Pinyin
United States	美國	měi guó
United Kingdom	英國	yīng guó
Canada	加拿大	jiā ná dà
Australia	澳洲 / 澳大利亞	ào zhōu / ào dà lì yà
New Zealand	紐西蘭	niǔ xī lán
Germany	德國	dé guó
France	法國	fǎ guó
Italy	義大利	yì dà lì
Spain	西班牙	xī bān yá
Portugal	葡萄牙	pú táo yá
Netherlands	荷蘭	hé lán
Switzerland	瑞士	ruì shì
Sweden	瑞典	ruì diǎn
Russia	俄羅斯	é luó sī
Japan	日本	rì běn
South Korea	韓國	hán guó
Singapore	新加坡	xīn jiā pō
Malaysia	馬來西亞	mǎ lái xī yà
Thailand	泰國	tài guó
Vietnam	越南	yuè nán
Philippines	菲律賓	fēi lǜ bīn
Indonesia	印尼	yìn ní
India	印度	yìn dù
Brazil	巴西	bā xī
Mexico	墨西哥	mò xī gē
Turkey	土耳其	tǔ ěr qí
China	中國	zhōng guó
Taiwan	臺灣 / 台灣	tái wān

Notes on the table:

• Taiwan. The Ministry of Education writes 臺灣, and 台灣 is the common everyday form. You will see both.
• Canada. 加拿大 is read jiā ná dà, with a second-tone ná.
• Philippines. 菲律賓 is read fēi lǜ bīn, with lǜ.
• Indonesia. 印尼 (yìn ní) is the short form. The full form is 印度尼西亞 (yìn dù ní xī yà), which the dictionary also lists.

Nationalities work the same way for all of them: 日本人, 加拿大人 (jiā ná dà rén), 義大利人 (yì dà lì rén), 紐西蘭人 (niǔ xī lán rén).

Names that differ from the mainland

A foreign country’s name is a transliteration, and Taiwan and the mainland transliterated some of them differently. The Taiwan forms below are the ones in the Ministry of Education dictionary. The mainland forms are the standard names used there, written in Simplified characters (新西兰, 老挝, 肯尼亚).

Country	Taiwan	Pinyin	Mainland form
New Zealand	紐西蘭	niǔ xī lán	新西蘭
Italy	義大利	yì dà lì	意大利
Australia	澳洲 / 澳大利亞	ào zhōu / ào dà lì yà	澳大利亞 (澳洲 is also used)
Brunei	汶萊	wèn lái	文萊
Laos	寮國	liáo guó	老撾
Ghana	迦納	jiā nà	加納
Kenya	肯亞	kěn yà	肯尼亞

Several are only a character apart, such as 紐 versus 新 and 義 versus 意. If you meet 新西蘭 or 意大利 in a mainland text, you can read them as the same countries.

澳洲 is the shortened form, and people use it in speech in both places. The dictionary says 澳洲 is a country in the south Pacific and points to 澳大利亞 as the full name.

For a Taiwan-bound learner, the practical rule is to use the left-hand forms when you write for a Taiwanese reader, and to recognise the mainland forms when you read. The broader differences in vocabulary and pronunciation are in the guide to Taiwanese vs mainland Mandarin.

Naming the Chinese language

The language you are learning has several names, and which one you hear depends on where you are.

Name	Pinyin	Where it is used
中文	zhōng wén	the general word for Chinese, in speech and writing, everywhere
國語	guó yǔ	the national language; the Taiwan school-subject name
華語	huá yǔ	Chinese as a language for learners and overseas communities, the usual word for teaching Chinese to non-native speakers in Taiwan
普通話	pǔ tōng huà	the mainland’s name for the standard language

The dictionary defines 國語 as the standard language used across the country, as opposed to dialects. 普通話 is the mainland’s name for the standard. When a Taiwanese person asks 你會說中文嗎？ (nǐ huì shuō zhōng wén ma, do you speak Chinese?), they mean this standard language. Taiwan has other languages too, including 台語 (tái yǔ, Taiwanese Hokkien) and 客語 (kè yǔ, Hakka).

Putting it together

A short self-introduction uses all four endings:

我是美國人，我說英文，也在學中文。 Wǒ shì měi guó rén, wǒ shuō yīng wén, yě zài xué zhōng wén. I am American, I speak English, and I am also learning Chinese.

Swap in your own country and language. Once you have one of each, ask someone else 你是哪國人？ and you have a first conversation.

Related reading

• How to introduce yourself in Chinese
• Taiwanese vs mainland Mandarin
• Taiwanese Hokkien for Mandarin learners