# feminine



## Setwale_Charm

Is there any way of indicating that you are talking about a female when you name nationalities in Finnish? 
  Or is *suomalainen*, *iirilainen*, *venalainen* - the only thing they`ve got for Irishmen/women etc?


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## Ilmo

Sorry, there are no genders in Finnish (we breed despite of it!). The only way is to add the word "mies" or "nainen" after the for word the nationality.
I guess you know you must use the vowel "ä" instead of "a" in the words "iiriläinen" and "venäläinen" (as a rule, the vowels "e" and "i" always require "ä" instead of "a" in the remaining syllables).


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## Setwale_Charm

Ilmo said:


> Sorry, there are no genders in Finnish (we breed despite of it!).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh yes! And how!
Click to expand...


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## Setwale_Charm

Ilmo said:


> I guess you know you must use the vowel "ä" instead of "a" in the words "iiriläinen" and "venäläinen" (as a rule, the vowels "e" and "i" always require "ä" instead of "a" in the remaining syllables).


 
 Thanks. Yes, I just blithely ignored all specific letters.


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## Hakro

In many cases you can indicate a female nationality with the ending -tar instead of -lainen. For example:

*Ranskalainen* = Frenchman, *ranskatar* = Frenchwoman
*Italiatar* = Italian woman
*Kiinatar* = Chinese woman

*Irishman* is usually called *irlantilainen* but *iiriläinen* is also possible. A female is *irlannitar* or *iiritär*.

But there are many nationalities where the ending -tar is not generally used, for example African, Arabian, Israelitic or Swedish. But you will be understood if you use it: *afrikatar, arabiatar, israelitar, ruotsitar*.

For Russian woman there's a unique form: *venakko*. (Note: a instead of ä)

Finnish woman = *suometar*, but this is not used in common language, only in poetic or high-class expressions.

The ending -tar can be also used with the names of the cities: Parisian woman = *pariisitar*.


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## Setwale_Charm

why did Russian women deserve such a favour? 
 I can understand why Finnish women did, for Finns...


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## Hakro

Setwale_Charm said:


> why did Russian women deserve such a favour?
> I can understand why Finnish women did, for Finns...


In fact it's not a favor, the word _venakko_ has a little pejorative sound.


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## Hakro

I forgot to mention that the ending _-lainen_ does not indicate that a person is male. It's more like a general adjective for both sexes and neuter things.


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