🌍 Countries & Nationalities - Países y nacionalidades
Beginner Spanish · Countries, nationalities, and languages
Countries, Nationalities, and Languages in Spanish
Country names become much more useful when you can say where you are from, where you live, what nationality someone is, and which languages you speak.
Your next small win: ask where someone is from, answer with ser de, describe nationality, talk about languages, and mention a country you want to visit.
Start with common country names
Common Countries
Learn a compact set first, then use the names in phrases about origin, residence, nationality, and travel.
Spain
Mexico
United States
Argentina
Colombia
Peru
Brazil
France
Italy
Japan
Name four countries
Say “Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Japan” in Spanish.
España, México, Perú y Japón.
Useful country and travel words
Country
Capital city
Continent
Map
To travel
Airport
Say where you are from
Ser de and Vivir en
Use ser de for origin and vivir en for where someone lives.
Where are you from?
I'm from Mexico.
I'm from Peru.
I live in the United States.
I live in Spain.
Useful contrast: Soy de Perú tells someone your origin. Vivo en Estados Unidos tells them where you live now.
Talking about where you are from
Where are you from?
I'm from Peru, but now I live in the United States.
Country names: in these common beginner patterns, country names usually appear without an article: Soy de México, Vivo en España, and Quiero viajar a Colombia.
Talk about origin and residence
Say that you are from Peru but now live in the United States.
Soy de Perú, pero ahora vivo en Estados Unidos.
Describe nationality
Nationality Adjectives
A country name and a nationality are related, but they do different jobs. Many nationality adjectives also change form to agree with the person being described.
Mexican
Colombian
Argentinian
Peruvian
American / from the United States
He is Mexican.
She is Mexican.
He is from the United States.
She is from the United States.
Agreement: many nationality forms ending in -o change to -a, as in mexicano / mexicana. Some forms, such as estadounidense, stay the same.
More nationality forms
Spanish
Brazilian
French
Italian
Country, nationality, or language?
These three ideas are easy to mix up because the same Spanish word can sometimes appear in more than one role.
I'm from Spain. Country of origin.
I am Spanish. Masculine nationality form.
I am Spanish. Feminine nationality form.
I speak Spanish. Language.
Same word, different job: español can describe a nationality or name the Spanish language. The rest of the sentence tells you which meaning is intended.
Describe two people
Say that he is Mexican and she is Mexican.
Él es mexicano.
Ella es mexicana.
Talk about languages and travel
Languages and Places You Want to Visit
Use hablar for languages and viajar a when talking about travel destinations.
Spanish
English
French
Japanese
What languages do you speak?
I speak Spanish and English.
I want to travel to Colombia.
I would like to visit Japan.
Sound change: Spanish normally uses y for “and,” but it becomes e before a word beginning with the same i sound. That is why you hear español e inglés.
Origin and languages
And what languages do you speak?
I speak Spanish and English.
A country you want to visit
What country would you like to travel to someday?
I'd like to visit Japan and spend a few days in Tokyo.
Introduce yourself
Say where you are from, where you live, your nationality, which languages you speak, and one country you want to visit.
Soy de Perú.
Vivo en Estados Unidos.
Soy peruano.
Hablo español e inglés.
Quiero viajar a Japón.
Your turn · 8 quick questions
Practice: Countries, Nationalities, and Languages
Choose the answer that best fits each situation. Focus on origin, residence, nationality agreement, languages, and travel.
Practice complete
You can talk about origin, nationality, languages, and simple travel goals in Spanish.
A few country and language phrases to revisit
One last step: introduce yourself without choices.
Say where you are from, where you live now, your nationality, which languages you speak, and a country you want to visit.
Soy de Perú, pero ahora vivo en Estados Unidos.
Soy peruano.
Hablo español e inglés.
Quiero viajar a Japón.
How do you ask where someone is from?
- ¿De dónde eres?
- ¿Dónde vives?
- ¿Qué idiomas hablas?
- ¿A qué país quieres viajar?
¿De dónde eres? asks about someone's origin.
¿De dónde eres?
You are from Peru but now live in the United States. Which sentence fits?
- Soy de Perú, pero ahora vivo en Estados Unidos.
- Vivo en Perú, pero quiero viajar a Estados Unidos.
- Soy de Estados Unidos, pero vivo en Perú.
- Viajo a Perú y vivo en Estados Unidos.
Ser de expresses origin, while vivir en tells where someone lives.
Soy de Perú, pero ahora vivo en Estados Unidos.
A woman is from Mexico. Which nationality form fits?
- mexicana
- mexicano
- colombiana
- estadounidense
Mexicana is the feminine form of the nationality adjective mexicano.
mexicana = Mexican, feminine
Which nationality form can describe either a man or a woman from the United States?
- estadounidense
- mexicano
- mexicana
- argentino
Estadounidense uses the same form for masculine and feminine.
estadounidense
You speak Spanish and English. What do you say?
- Hablo español e inglés.
- Hablo español y francés.
- Vivo en España e Inglaterra.
- Quiero aprender japonés.
Hablo español e inglés means “I speak Spanish and English.”
Hablo español e inglés.
You want to say that you live in Spain. Which sentence fits?
- Vivo en España.
- Soy de España.
- Quiero viajar a España.
- Me gustaría conocer España.
Vivo en España means “I live in Spain.” Use vivir en for where someone lives.
Vivo en España.
You want to travel to Colombia. Which sentence fits?
- Quiero viajar a Colombia.
- Quiero vivir en Colombia.
- Soy de Colombia.
- Vivo en Colombia.
Quiero viajar a Colombia expresses that Colombia is the destination you want to travel to.
Quiero viajar a Colombia.
You want to say “I am Spanish” using the masculine nationality form. Which sentence fits?
- Soy español.
- Soy de España.
- Hablo español.
- Vivo en España.
Soy español states nationality. Soy de España states origin, Hablo español names the language you speak, and Vivo en España says where you live.
Soy español. = I am Spanish.