Position of adjectives

Question

what do you call a person who is ethnically chinese/indian/malay but who is a british citizen?

do you call him/her:

- chinese british man/woman; or
- british chinese man/woman

thanks for your clarification.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

If talking about his ethnicity, I'd say

He is ethnically Chinese.

If talking about his citizenship, I'd say

He is a British citizen.

Clive

Innogen · Answer

um, can we say

he's British Chinese; or

he's Chinese British

Clive · Answer

Hi,

he's British Chinese; or

he's Chinese British

Grammatically, you are using two adjectives here, in a way that we don't.

In Canada, we do say eg He's a Chinese Canadian, where 'Chinese' is an adjective and 'a . . . . Canadian' is a noun.

I don't know what might commonly be said in Britain. 'He's a Chinese Briton' sounds odd to me.

Perhaps someone British will comment.

Clive

Innogen · Answer

thanks Clive. you're such a helpful guy.

in the US, americans will say "he's an american-born chinese". is that right? instead of "he's a chinese american"....

let's hope that we'll be able to gather the views of native speakers from the UK, the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

in the US, americans will say "he's an american-born chinese". I don't think this is commonly said.

is that right? instead of "he's a chinese american". This is what I hear.

Please don't forget to use capital letters.

The only people I usually hear who say that someone is 'a Chinese' (ie the noun form) are other Chinese people. I usually say and hear

'He's a Chinese person' or 'He's Chinese'.

Clive

Position of adjectives

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