Learn How to Give Basic Information about Yourself in English

Give Basic Information about Yourself

Here are ways you can give basic information about yourself.

Your Nationality

We use the verb “to be” to talk about nationalities:

“I’m (from England)
“He’s (from France)

“ish”, “ian”, “an”, “ese” are all common nationality endings.

Typical Question

“Where are you Or do you come?

You can answer “I’m British”.

or,

if you can’t remember the nationality word, you can say (and say the name of the country.)

Here are some common countries and nationalities.

Europe

Britain – British
Ireland – Irish
France – French
Italy – Italian
Spain – Spanish
Portugal – Portuguese
Greece – Greek
Cyprus – Cypriot
Malta – Maltese
Albania – Albanian
Serbia – Serbian
Croatia – Croatian
Bosnia – Bosnian
Germany – German
Austria – Austrian
Hungary – Hungarian
Switzerland – Swiss
Belgium – Belgian
Netherlands – Dutch
Sweden – Swedish
Finland – Finnish
Norway – Norwegian
Denmark – Danish
Lithuania – Lithuanian
Latvia – Latvian
Estonia – Estonian
Russia – Russian
Georgia – Georgian
Belarus – Belarusian
Poland – Polish
Czech Republic – Czech
Slovakia – Slovakian
Ukraine – Ukrainian
Romania – Romanian
Bulgaria – Bulgarian
Turkey – Turkish

Middle East / The Gulf

”Middle East”

Israel – Israeli
Palestine – Palestinian
Jordan – Jordanian
Lebanon – Lebanese
Syria – Syrian
Iran – Iranian
Iraq – Iraqi
Kuwait – Kuwaiti
Saudi Arabia – Saudi
Bahrain – Bahraini
Qatar – Qatari
Oman – Omani
Yemen – Yemeni

Asia

China – Chinese
Taiwan – Taiwanese
Kazakhstan – Kazakh
Uzbekistan – Uzbek
Mongolia – Mongolian
Korea – Korean
Japan – Japanese
India – Indian
Nepal – Nepalese
Tibet – Tibetan
Sri Lanka – Sri Lankan
Pakistan – Pakistani
Afghanistan – Afghan
Bangladesh – Bangladeshi
Vietnam – Vietnamese
Laos – Lao
Cambodia – Cambodian
Myanmar (Burma) – Burmese
Thailand – Thai
Malaysia – Malaysian
Indonesia – Indonesian
Singapore – Singaporean
Philippines – Filipino

Americas / Caribbean

United States – American
Canada – Canadian
Mexico – Mexican
El Salvador – Salvadorean
Costa Rica – Costa Rican
Nicaragua – Nicaraguan
Argentina – Argentinian
Brazil – Brazilian
Chile – Chilean
Ecuador – Ecuadorian
Peru – Peruvian
Bolivia – Bolivian
Colombia – Colombian
Uruguay – Uruguayan
Venezuela – Venezuelan
Jamaica – Jamaican
Cuba – Cuban

Africa

”Africa and Australia”

Egypt – Egyptian
Algeria – Algerian
Tunisia – Tunisian
Morocco – Moroccan
Libya – Libyan
Sudan – Sudanese
Ethiopia – Ethiopian
Kenya – Kenyan
Uganda – Ugandan
Nigeria – Nigerian
Ghana – Ghanaian
South Africa – South African
Zimbabwe – Zimbabwean
Namibia – Namibian
Australia – Australian
New Zealand – a New Zealander

Your Age

We use the verb (and not “to have”) to talk about our age.

Typical Question
“How old are you?”
You can answer in two ways:
“I’m… (20 / 30 / 40)”
“I’m (20) years

Numbers

1-10
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

11-20
Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
eighteen, nineteen, twenty

21-30

Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five,
twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty

Thirty-one, etc

20
Twenty
30
Thirty
40 Forty
50
Fifty
60
Sixty
70
Seventy
80
Eighty
90
Ninety
100
One hundred

Pronunciation Tips

Be careful of the difference between 13 and 30, 14 and 40, 15 and 50, 16 nd 60, 17 and 70, 18 and 80; and 19 and 90. In the teens (13, 14, 15, 16, etc) the stress is on the – the second So we say etc.

With the “ty” (30, 40, 50, etc), the stress is on the first So we say etc.

”Numbers and spelling”

13 / 30
/
14 / 40
/
15 / 50
/
16 / 60
/
17 / 70
/
18 / 80
/
19 / 90
/

Spelling Your Name

Learn how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet in English.

Typical Question:
“How do you spell your name?” or “Can you spell your name for me?”

Example answer:
You can say or spell or (give the spelling)”

“Clare – that’s C-L-A-R-E”
“My second name is Whitmell. That’s spelled W-H-I-T-M-E-double L.”

Letters

”Spelling”

A – eh (rhymes with “say”)
B – bee
C – see
D – dee
E – ee
F – eff
G – gee (dj + ee)
H – aitch (eh + tch)
I – eye
J – jay (rhymes with “say” – dj + eh)
K – kay (rhymes with “say”)
L – el
M – em
N – en
O – oh
P – pee
Q – kew (rhymes with “new”)
R – ar
S – es
T – tee
U – you
V – vee
W – double you
X – eks
Y – why
Z – zed (British English) or zee (American English)

Speaking Tip

1. You can say “L for … (name of a word that begins with l) Example: for or for Do this if you have difficulty with pairs of letters like l / r or p / b.

2. When you have two letters which are the same, say
Example: is – double

Can you complete the sentences?

Nationalities
1. Dan is from Germany. He’s _________
2. Suzie is from Spain. She’s __________
3. Liz is from Australia. She’s ___________
4. Tony is from Canada. He’s ___________
5. Luis is from Brazil. He’s ___________
6. My friend is from Japan. She’s ___________
7. Suki is from Korea. She’s ___________
8. He’s from Russia. He’s ___________
9. Maria is from Argentina. She’s ___________
10. Rob is from Italy. He’s ___________

Numbers – How do you say these?

21____________________
33____________________
45____________________
17____________________
62____________________
78____________________
89____________________
94____________________
55____________________
13____________________

Answers:

Nationalities
1. Dan is from Germany. He’s German.
2. Suzie is from Spain. She’s Spanish.
3. Liz is from Australia. She’s Australian.
4. Tony is from Canada. He’s Canadian.
5. Luis is from Brazil. He’s Brazilian.
6. My friend is from Japan. She’s Japanese.
7. Suki is from Korea. She’s Korean.
8. He’s from Russia. He’s Russian.
9. Maria is from Argentina. She’s Argentinian.
10. Rob is from Italy. He’s Italian.

How do you say these numbers?
21 = twenty-one
33 = thirty-three
45 = forty-five
17 = seventeen
62 = sixty-two
78 = seventy-eight
89 = eighty-nine
94 = ninety-four
55 = fifty-five
13 = thirteen

You May Also Need To Learn:

Phrases to Say hello, and How To Introduce Yourself