Question

29 Nov 2020

Simplified Chinese (China)

English (US)
Japanese

Question about English (US)

Example：Britons wear trousers and Americans wear pants.Why does “Britons” at the beginning of a sentence but not “British”？Please tell me the difference between Britons and British.

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Answers

d45890da

29 Nov 2020

English (US)

“Britons” is a noun meaning people who live in Britain. You would only be able to use British in this context if you said “the British” or “British people”.

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squidlydeux

29 Nov 2020

English (US)
English (UK) Near fluent

"Britons" means 'British people'.
"British" is an adjective meaning 'of Britain'.
To use "British" you must say " the British" which means 'the British people'.

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OldGeezer

29 Nov 2020

English (US)
English (UK)

It depends on how they are used.

Country: Great Britain (often shortened to "Britain"), America, China
Example: In Britain they wear trousers and in America they wear pants. I think in China they wear cháng kù or kùzi. (But I don't really know what the Chinese words mean.)

Person: a Briton (often shortened to "a Brit"), an American, a Chinaman (or Chinawoman)
Plural - Britons (Brits), Americans, Chinamen
Example: Britons wear trousers and Americans wear pants. I think Chinamen wear cháng kù or kùzi.

Person: a British person, an American person, a Chinese person
Also: a British man/woman, an American man/woman, a Chinese man/woman
Plural - British people, American people, Chinese people
Example: British people wear trousers and American people wear pants. I think Chinese men wear cháng kù or kùzi.

People: the British, the Americans, the Chinese
Example: The British wear trousers and the Americans wear pants. I think the Chinese wear cháng kù or kùzi.

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d45890da

29 Nov 2020

English (US)

@OldGeezer “Chinaman/woman” is generally considered to be offensive. I understand you were giving examples of use, but that term is not generally considered to be polite and carries a very negative connotation.

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chitangya

1 Dec 2020

Simplified Chinese (China)

Thank you guys！！

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chitangya

1 Dec 2020

Simplified Chinese (China)

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Example：Britons wear trousers and Americans wear pants.Why does “Britons” at the beginning of a sentence but not “British”？Please tell me the difference between Britons and British. See a translation

“Britons” is a noun meaning people who live in Britain. You would only be able to use British in this context if you said “the British” or “British people”.

"Britons" means 'British people'."British" is an adjective meaning 'of Britain'.To use "British" you must say " *the* British" which means 'the British people'.

@OldGeezer “Chinaman/woman” is generally considered to be offensive. I understand you were giving examples of use, but that term is not generally considered to be polite and carries a very negative connotation.

Example：Britons wear trousers and Americans wear pants.Why does “Britons” at the beginning of a sentence but not “British”？Please tell me the difference between Britons and British.

See a translation

"Britons" means 'British people'.
"British" is an adjective meaning 'of Britain'.
To use "British" you must say " the British" which means 'the British people'.