A "demonym" is a noun that is used to denote the natives or inhabitants of a particular country, state, city, or region. In German, demonyms for countries have masculine and feminine forms. These can be quite difficult to predict, but they mostly follow one of two patterns when it comes to the endings. The first is an -er ending for the masculine noun and an -erin ending for the feminine counterpart.
Die Australierin gehört zu den Hauptdarstellerinnen in dem Thriller, der quer durch Europa führt.
The Australian is among the leading female actors in the thriller, which leads them across Europe.
Captions 18-19, Cate Blanchett: dreht auf Fehmarn
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Doch es ist die einunddreißig-jährige Schweizerin Karolin Steffen, die kurze Zeit später die Führung übernimmt und das Renngeschehen bestimmt.
But it is the thirty-one year old Swiss Karolin Steffen, who a short time later takes over the lead and controls the race.
Captions 33-34, Knallharte Sportler: Ironman in Frankfurt
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More examples include der Algerier, die Algerierin (a person from Algeria); der Amerikaner, die Amerikanerin (USA); der Argentinier, die Argentinierin (Argentina); der Ägypter, die Ägypterin (Egypt); der Bolivianer, die Bolivianerin (Bolivia); der Brasilianer, die Brasilianerin (Brazil); der Inder, die Inderin (India); der Indonesier, die Indonesierin (Indonesia); der Iraner, die Iranerin (Iran); der Iraker, die Irakerin (Iraq); der Italiener, die Italienerin (Italy); der Kanadier, die Kanadierin (Canada); der Koreaner, die Koreanerin (Korea); der Kubaner, die Kubanerin (Cuba); der Kolumbianer, die Kolumbianerin (Colombia); der Mexikaner, die Mexikanerin (Mexico); der Neuseeländer, die Neuseeländerin (New Zealand); der Norweger, die Norwegerin (Norway); der Österreicher, die Österreicherin (Austria); der Philippiner, die Philippinerin (Philippines); der Syrer, die Syrerin; der Südafrikaner, die Südafrikanerin (South Africa); der Spanier, die Spanierin (Spain); der Venezolaner, die Venezolanerin (Venezuela).
Other demonyms simply end with -e for the masculine noun and -in for the feminine noun. It's important to note that a German person is der Deutsche (male) or die Deutsche (female), making it an exception.
Oh nein, lieber doch nicht. Die Briten fahren doch auf der anderen Straßenseite.
Oh no, better not after all. The British drive on the other side of the street after all.
Caption 20, Jenny: Reiseziele
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A few more examples with the simple -e or -in ending are der Däne, die Dänin (a person from Denmark); der Franzose, die Französin (France); der Grieche, die Griechin (Greece); der Pole, die Polin (Poland); der Portugiese, die Portugiesin (Portugal); der Russe, die Russin (Russia); der Schwede, die Schwedin (Sweden); der Tscheche, die Tschechin (Czech Republic); der Türke, die Türkin (Turkey).
There are two things to note about demonyns. One is that they are used in German much more often than in English, where it's more common to use an adjective to describe nationality ("the Australian actress" rather than "the Australian").
The other note is that in order to promote gender inclusivity, words like die SpanierInnen or die Spanier:innen (combining masculine and feminine forms) are now often used in German to explicitly include both men and women. This shift reflects broader changes in German language usage toward gender-inclusive language. Otherwise, you may see forms like these to denote particular groups of men and/or women:
Denn viele Spanier sprechen sehr schnell.
Because many Spanish people speak very fast.
Caption 18, Deutsch mit Eylin: Telefonieren
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Davon gibt es deutschlandweit nur eine, da hier einige ostasiatische Einwohner und Einwohnerinnen, vor allem Japaner und Japanerinnen leben.
There is only one of these in Germany since there are some East Asian residents, mainly Japanese, living here.
Captions 29-31, Yabla reist durch Europa: Düsseldorf
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Die Japanerinnen, die Brasilianerinnen, die Amerikanerinnen sind extrem stark, auch die Skandinavierinnen,
The Japanese, the Brazilians, the Americans are extremely strong, also the Scandinavians,
Captions 21-23, Frauenfußball-WM: Der Bundespräsident am Ball
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...wo Migranten, Türken, Griechen, Marokkaner, Afrikaner mit Deutschen zusammen feiern.
... where immigrants—Turks, Greeks, Moroccans, Africans—celebrate together with Germans.
Caption 42, Integration von Nationalitäten: Hessen miteinander
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Further Learning
Why not see if you can memorize the lists above? You will find additional examples on Yabla German.
This Wednesday, March 8th, is International Women's Day. In the federal states of Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Internationaler Frauentag has been an official holiday since 2019, meaning that offices, stores, and schools are all closed. However, the holiday has existed since the early 20th century as part of the women's rights movement.
The word for gender in German is das Geschlecht, so "gender equality" in German is die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter (note the genitive construction!).
Ein Zeichen dafür, dass Frauen in Deutschland
A sign that women in Germany,
trotz der rechtlichen Gleichstellung
despite legal equality,
noch immer in bestimmten Aspekten des Lebens benachteiligt werden.
are still disadvantaged in certain aspects of life.
Captions 26-28, Gleichberechtigung - Internationaler Frauentag am 8. März
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What does gender equality look like? Getting the right to vote, which women have had in Germany since 1919, was certainly a watershed moment.
Was regelt das Wahlrecht in Deutschland?
What does the right to vote control in Germany?
Caption 29, Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Einbürgerungstest
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However, today's work is focused on women around the world being free from violence, oppression, and discrimination. In Germany, there are also questions of political representation and equal pay.
Wir wollen eine Gleichberechtigung, keine Diskriminierung.
We want equality, not discrimination.
Caption 39, Integration von Nationalitäten - Hessen miteinander
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Here, there's still room for improvement in German politics and offices. However, there are some structures that support women in their work and family life. The noun die Elternzeit is used to describe time taken off by any parent of a new baby.
Da kannst du nur hoffen, dass dein Mann Elternzeit nimmt.
Then you can only hope that your husband takes parental leave.
Caption 48, Großstadtrevier - Nicht mit mir
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Of course, some older traditions still carry forward a slightly misogynistic viewpoint, as beautiful as the costumes may be:
Sind die Bollen rot, bedeutet das, dass die Frau unverheiratet ist.
If the balls are red, it means that the woman is unmarried.
Schwarze Kugeln sind das Zeichen für eine verheiratete Frau.
Black balls are the symbol for a married woman.
Captions 7-8, Cettina erklärt - Sitten und Bräuche
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Further Learning
Be sure to watch Cettina's video about Internationaler Frauentag on Yabla German!
Most nouns that are masculine and end in -e in their nominative singular form are called weak nouns, or schwache Substantive. Since most German nouns ending in -e are feminine, these exceptions are easy to recognize. There are, however, also weak nouns that don't end in -e in the nominative singular form, and these are harder to recognize. Many of these words are very similar to their English equivalents and relate to professions or politics. They can often be recognized by the fact that they end in -ant or -ist.
What sets them apart from other nouns is the fact that in all cases except for nominative, they end in -en or -n.
Here's an example of the weak noun der Präsident with the -en ending in the singular dative case:
... und hab' auch mit dem französischen Präsidenten darüber gesprochen.
... and I've also talked to the French President about this.
Caption 68, Angela Merkel - beim Nachhaltigkeitsrat
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And the weak noun der Elefant in the singular accusative case:
Frederick, zeig mir einen Elefanten!
Frederick, show me an elephant!
Caption 3, Piggeldy und Frederick - Der Elefant
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And finally, der Mensch in the singular genitive case:
Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar.
The dignity of a human being is inviolable.
Caption 38, Integration von Nationalitäten - Hessen miteinander
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Further Learning
Visit this page to see more examples of weak nouns, and visit Yabla German to find more examples of weak masculine nouns in practice.