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.
Last week, we looked at the various verbs that mean "to listen" and "to hear." But there are also several words that contain hören and have nothing to do with its meaning. The most important of these for daily conversation are likely the verbs gehören and aufhören.
The verb gehören essentially means "to belong" and is used to express ownership. Note the use of the dative case in these two examples:
Die Uhr gehört der Lehrerin.
The watch belongs to the teacher.
Caption 60, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Verben der 3. Kategorie
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Wem gehört jetzt dieses Kunstwerk?
Who owns this work of art now?
Caption 47, Das Urban-Art-Projekt - Polnischer Militärhubschrauber
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The related verb zugehören or dazugehören means "to be counted among” or “to be a component part of something," while the verb angehören can even be used more officially to talk about membership in a group.
Die Australierin gehört zu den Hauptdarstellerinnen in dem Thriller.
The Australian is among the leading female actors in the thriller.
Caption 18, Cate Blanchett - dreht auf Fehmarn
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You may already be thinking that gehört is indeed the past participle of the verb hören! This is true, so you will have to note the context and the prefixes and prepositions as well.
The verb aufhören is also not related to listening or hearing. It means "to cease," "to stop," or "to quit."
Kannst du bitte aufhören zu telefonieren?
Can you please stop phoning?
Caption 51, Magie - Die Zaubershow
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„Hör auf!“, schrie Frederick. „Du nervst mich!“
"Stop!" cried Frederick. "You are annoying me!"
Caption 11, Piggeldy und Frederick - Karton
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Further Learning
Because these verbs are so common, you will be able to find many examples on Yabla German. If you are interested in learning more verbs related to listening and hearing, take a look at this list.