Why do we say "the Romans" as opposed to "Romans"?

[Drika]

thanks to Torsten and Alan , your explanations were very helpfull !! ^^

[Saule]

Hi Alan,
But when I say ''The British change ...'', don't I emphasize the word '' British'' in contrast to other nationalities? Please, I need some more explanation.

[Tryyourbest]

Oh!, it's very interesting.Now I understand about them.
Many thanks to all people here.
Have a beautiful day!

[Livia Mackie]

I still don't understand how to find out wich nationalities act as adjective and noun and another one not. Why can't I say: "The italians are friendly people." instead "Italians are friendly people." How I reconize when ins necessary the definitive article or not. Example: British can be adjective like in "British food" and can be noun "Britishes are different than brazilians." ? I am very confused!!!!

[Alan]

Hi Livia,

I can only repeat what I said in another post:

[Livia Mackie]

Hi Alan,
I am new here and I am brazilian. I think you are the best teacher in the course. So, don't take me wrong but, you meam I just need to record from a list wich nationalities need the definitive article and wich ones don't need? Is there any clue to help me to memorize it?

[Alan]

Hi Livia,

I'm afraid there isn't an easy answer to this. You have to find out whether the name of the nationality can be used as both adjective and noun or whether it's only used as adjective.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Livia Mackie]

Thank you for your patience.... :roll:

[Solomon_Liwanag]

[Admira]

hi torsten
i just finished how to use the articles exercise
i scored 9 out 10
i used Romans instead of the Romans
it's wonderful how I'm learning English,everyday new things,i appreciate your job is wonderful thank you
bye for now
admira
_________________
To be or not to be ,that is the question.

[Dina27]

Hello!

Can you tell me what does it mean "essentially ajectives", please?

Dina

[Alan]

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Hi Dina,

I imagine that you are referring to something I wrote some time ago - 'essentially adjectives'. By that I mean that the examples I gave were in the first place adjectives and have then become nouns when we add the definite article as in: British, French, Spanish.

Hope that helps.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Passive Voice

[Dina27]

Hi, Alan

So the answer is in the origin of the words, isn`t it?
In the dictionary I found the first meaning of the word Russian is a noun, so we should use it without the article, the definite article helps us to form a noun.
I`ve read statements about Russians, paying attention to the usage of article and found out that I`m right:

ex. British people said they thought of Russians as poor (24%), hardworking (11%) and warm and friendly (10%). (BBC News)

Thank you for explanation, Alan

Ever curious Dina ;-)

[Nehad]

dear torsten
How to distinguish between 'a' and 'the'?
I scord 4 -10
please help me

.thank you
Nehad

[Amaygoli]

I can't get you Alan. you say '' french, british are adjectives but american and Italian are not"?