Lesson 10: Nationalities

Want to talk about where you’re from? Here, you’ll learn how to ask someone about their nationality and say your nationality.

Asking Where Someone Is From

Here are common questions to ask about someone’s origin.

Arabic Transliteration English
من وين إنتَ / إنتِ / إنتو؟ Min ween enta / ente / ento? Where are you from?
شو بلدَك؟ / بلدِك / بلدِكُن؟ Shou baladak / baladik? What’s your country?
من أي مدينة؟ Min aia madina? From which city?
شو جنسيتك / جنسيتكن؟ Shou jinsitak / jinsitek / jinsitkon? What’s your nationality?

Talking About Nationalities

To answer, we use:

From a country:

  • أنا من سوريا → Ana min Suria → I’m from Syria

I am from + nationality:

  • أنا سوري  → Ana Suri → I am syrian (masculine form) → Country + (-i/ي-). If the country has vowels, we first remove those and add the suffix after.
  • أنا سورية → Ana Surie → I am syrian (feminine form) → Nationality in masculine + (-a/-ة-). 
  • نحنا سوريين → Na7na Suriin → We are syrian (plural form) → Nationality in masculine + (-in/ين-). 

My nationality is:

  • جنسيتي سورية → Jinsiti Suriye → My nationality is Syrian (feminine adjective)

  • "My nationality" (جنسيتي) is feminine in Arabic because the word jinsia itself is feminine. So the adjective must also be feminine, even if you are a man.

Country Masculine Feminine Plural
سوريا Suria (Syria) سوري Suri سورية Surie سوريين Suriin
لبنان Lebnan (Lebanon) لبناني Lebnani لبنانية Lebnanie لبنانيين Lebnaniin
الأردن Urdun (Jordan) أردني Urduni أردنية Urdunie أردنيين Urduniin
مصر Masr (Egypt) مصري Masri مصرية Masrie مصريين Masriin
فرنسا Fransa (France) فرنسي Faransi فرنسية Faransie فرنسيين Faransiinn

Extra Vocabulary and Grammar We’ve Learned in This Lesson

Question Words We’ve Seen So Far:

  • شو (shou) – What

  • وين (ween) – Where, as in من وين؟ (min ween? – “From where?”)

  • أي (ayy) – Which, used in phrases like من أي مدينة؟ (min aia medina? – “From which city?”)

New Vocabulary:

  • بلد (balad) – Country

  • مدينة (medina) – City

  • جنسية (jinsie) – Nationality

Well done — you’re making real progress! To help you practice and challenge yourself a bit more, We've prepared a couple of questions for you to work on.

Translate this sentence to Arabic: My nationality is Spanish.

جنسيتي إسبانية (Jinsiti Isbanie)


→ “Jinsie” is feminine → adjective also must be feminine

Translate this sentence to Arabic: He is Egyptian and she is American.

هو مصري و هي أمريكية (Hue Masri w hie Amrikie

Ask "Where are you from?" (to a girl)

من وين إنتِ؟ (Min ween enti?)

Ask "What is your nationality?" (to a boy)

شو جنسيتك؟ (Shu jinsitak?)