# FR: Nationalité : Français / français / française - genre & majuscule



## xveronicax

Quick question regarding the masculin/feminin aspect of certain questions on an application.

For example, for an American guy, should he put américain*e* under the "nationalité" question because the word is feminine?

I've never seen a French guy write "francaise" for nationalité, so that's why I'm hesitating on this one. Any input would be appreciated.

*Moderator note:* Multiple threads have been merged to create this one.


----------



## jhemono

Hello,
I don't know why but I would put "nationalité : americaine" but "nationalité : français" ...
But you're right "nationalité : française" should be put, I think.


----------



## RocketGirl

Regardless of the word "nationality"'s gender, I would say :

'américain' for an American male


Edit: Come to think of it (and after reading the above post by jhemono), all Canadian men whose passports I've seen read "Canadian/canadien*ne*" as their nationality. I remember thinking someone goofed the first time I saw that... Guess it must be me who goofed ...


----------



## carolineR

xveronicax said:


> For example, for an American guy, should he put américain*e* under the "nationalité" question because the word is feminine?


 yes, in all gramatical logic, he should 


xveronicax said:


> I've never seen a French guy write "francaise" for nationalité.


 Yes, that's right.
Most certainly a question of gender-awareness


----------



## frog

Hello,

I am a guy and in my passport, under nationalité, it says CANADIENNE as opposed to CANADIEN(NE). This made me wonder what I gender I use in forms when prompted for nationalité or "nationalité du document (de voyage)." Thanks for any assistance.


----------



## DearPrudence

Actually, it simply agrees with "*nationalité*", which is feminine, regardless of _your _gender.
Ta nationalité est canadienne, et toi, tu es canadien 

So it should be written:
*nationalité : canadienne*

no need to even know your sex ...

Does it answer your question? (sorry, I'm not quite sure I have)


----------



## iglu

Hey there, I am just checking something here. Even though I am male, I should still write *Nationalité finlandaise *in the context of a CV as nationalité is feminin?? Where as I would say *Je suis finlandais* when speaking directly about myself.


----------



## Paul.

How about:

Nationalité: Finlandais

I know it's not the answer you wanted but I hope it helps.


----------



## cropje_jnr

Yes, _nationalité_ is a feminine noun. You will therefore write _finlandaise_, even if you're simply filling in a space marked "_nationalité_" (the latter case being something I found a little disconcerting at first!)

We write neither "_nationalité finlandais_" or "_nationalité : finlandais_". It's a feminine adjective in both instances.


----------



## Guilhem 128

I'd say you have the choice here. Nationalité: Finlandaise/Finlandais, this is because if you're asked: De quelle nationalité êtes-vous? You can answer either: Je suis Finlandais(e) or Je suis de nationalité Finlandaise. Hence both are acceptable to me.


----------



## iglu

Ok, thanks for the answers!

I noticed that Guilhem had written "Finlandaise" with capital F.
What's the deal with that in French? F or f?


----------



## Guilhem 128

Sorry, I should have written lower case "f" for the adjective. Upper case is for nouns: un *F*inlandais, un homme *f*inlandais. My bad.


----------



## m'evt

Salut!  
Je suis en train de remplir un formulaire mais je rencontre un petit probleme.  Moi, je suis Australien, cependant il me demande la 'nationalite', est-ce qu'il faut mettre Australien, vu que je suis un homme, ou faut-il ecrire Australienne pour etre grammaticalement correct?

Merci bien de votre aide!


----------



## WordRef1

Si vous êtes un homme, vous êtes australien (faites attention à la capitalisation ou pas en ce cas). Australien est un adjectif, donc il faut le mettre en minuscule. Alors, si on vous demande, quelle est votre nationalité, vous dites, je suis australien.


----------



## tonton_d_ile_de_france

Salut,

Pas tout à fait d'accord avec WordeRef1 ; si vous remplissez un formulaire et que vous devez remplir une case 'Nationalité', vous devez écrire 'australienne' car votre nationalité est australienne.


----------



## sdpc

c'est un cas un peu litigieux, car si on fait les phrases en entier, on dit sans aucun doute : 
Je suis Australien.
ou
Je suis de nationalité australienne.

Mais dans les formulaires, tout dépend la phrase qu'on sous-entend en réponse... Je pense que la réponse grammaticalement correcte est 
Nationalité : australienne
Mais j'ai plus souvent vu écrit Nationalité : Français. Ce n'est pas choquant.


----------



## issey1

Hi there,

This is just a question about gender. In a form, in the box marked _Nationalité_ should I put _anglais_ because I am male or _anglaise_ because it should agree with _nationalité_??

Do native speakers ever get confused by matters like this?


----------



## Keith Bradford

Neither: britannique.


----------



## doodlebugger

As a native I have always been confused and I have historically answered _français_ to avoid being ridiculed by my classmate.
I still answer _français_ out of habit even though I am now quite secure about my sexuality!


----------



## issey1

Well it's reassuring to know with French people get confused Doodlebugger.

To Keith though, what if somebody identifies themselves as English rather than British, for the two are quite different of course. I really don't mind either way but I am sure there are Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish people out there who would much sooner put Ecossais(e) etc than Britannique!


----------



## Ellea1

Hello,

Nationalité française
Sexe féminin (in my case )

J'ai la nationalité française ("française" agrees with "nationalité), tu as la nationalité anglaise ou britannique.
Je suis français(e). Tu es anglais(e).


----------



## Maître Capello

N'ayant pas ce problème puisque l'adjectif _suisse_ est épicène, je ne m'étais jamais vraiment posé la question. Cela dit, les deux accords peuvent se justifier pour un homme. En effet, il s'agit de répondre à la question _Quelle est votre nationalité?_ Or un Français pourra y répondre soit par _Je suis français_, soit par _Je suis de nationalité française_…


----------



## Keith Bradford

issey1 said:


> ... what if somebody identifies themselves as English rather than British, for the two are quite different of course...


 
We've had this discussion on another thread only 2-3 days ago.  You may identify yourself any way you please, but your nationality in law depends on the nation authorised to issue your passport etc.

So if you're asked your nationality (legal status): _British = britannique_. 
If you're asked how you identify yourself (sociological/cultural status): _English/Welsh/Manx/Sikh = anglais/gallois/mannois/sikh_ and so forth.


----------

