🌎Nationalities in Spanish: learn the Spanish-speaking world the easy way 🎉

Learning how to talk about your nationality in Spanish is a game-changer 🎯 Whether you're travelling through Spanish speaking countries, chatting with locals at a bar, or meeting Spanish speakers online 🌎, it’s one of the first conversations you’ll have.

Good news 🙂 Nationalities in Spanish follow patterns — once you see them, it all clicks. Ready? Vamos 💪✨

🗣️ How to ask 'Where are you from?' in Spanish

Meeting someone new? Here are the most natural ways to ask:

Informal situations (with friends, classmates, someone your age):

🇪🇸 ¿De dónde eres? → Where are you from?

Formal contexts (hotel, job interview, older person, etc.):

🇪🇸 ¿De dónde es usted? → Where are you from?

Another way of asking and reply directly about nationality:

🇪🇸 ¿Cuál es tu nacionalidad? → What is your nationality?

🇪🇸 Soy británico / Soy británica → I am British

🤓 In Spain, you'll very often hear:

🇪🇸 Soy de Inglaterra → I’m from England

Súper útil, ¿verdad? 😎

👫 Masculine & feminine nationalities

📌 Tiny Spanish hack: Nationalities don’t take capital letters (unless it’s at the start) ✍️. And yes — they change depending on whether you’re talking about a man or a woman 🚻, but trust me, it’s easier than it sounds and you’ll pick it up super fast 💥:

1. If it ends in -an / -ano → -ana for feminine:

I'm German → soy alemán 👨🏻 / soy alemana 👩🏻

I'm Italian → soy italiano 👨🏻 / soy italiana 👩🏻

2. If it ends in -és → -esa for feminine:

I'm French → soy francés 👨🏻 / soy francesa 👩🏻

I'm Japanese → soy japonés 👨🏻 / soy japonesa 👩🏻

3. If it ends in -ino → -ina for feminine:

I'm Argentine → soy argentino 👨🏻/ soy argentina 👩🏻

I'm chinese → soy chino👨🏻/ soy china 👩🏻

4. If it ends in -í, it stays the same:

I'm Moroccan → soy marroquí 👨🏻👩🏻

I'm Pakistani → soy pakistaní 👨🏻👩🏻

5. If it ends in -ense, it stays the same:

I'm Canadian → soy canadiense 👨🏻👩🏻

I'm American → soy estadounidense 👨🏻👩🏻

💡 Extra grammar help? Nationalities follow the same gender patterns as most Spanish nouns and adjectives. If you want a super clear breakdown of masculine vs feminine words in Spanish (with examples + tips ✅), check out our full guide in our blog 👉🏻Words gender in Spanish: How to tell masculine, feminine or common words

🤓🇪🇸 Nationalities across the Spanish-speaking world

Spanish is spoken in 21 countries 🤯 Let’s look at the nationality words you’ll hear the most:

Country	Nationality	Country	Nationality
España 🇪🇸	español / española	México 🇲🇽	mexicano / mexicana
Argentina 🇦🇷	argentino / argentina	Colombia 🇨🇴	colombiano / colombiana
Chile 🇨🇱	chileno / chilena	Perú 🇵🇪	peruano / peruana
Ecuador 🇪🇨	ecuatoriano / ecuatoriana	Bolivia 🇧🇴	boliviano / boliviana
Uruguay 🇺🇾	uruguayo / uruguaya	Paraguay 🇵🇾	paraguayo / paraguaya
Venezuela 🇻🇪	venezolano / venezolana	Costa Rica 🇨🇷	cotarricense
Panamá 🇵🇦	panameño / panameña	Cuba 🇨🇺	cubano / cubana
República Dominicana 🇩🇴	dominicano / dominicana	Puerto Rico 🇵🇷	puertorriqueño / puertorriqueña
Guinea Ecuatorial 🇬🇶	ecuatoguineano / ecuatoguineana	Honduras 🇭🇳	hondureño / hondureña
El Salvador 🇸🇻	salvadoreño / salvadoreña	Nicaragua 🇳🇮	nicaragüense
Guatemala 🇬🇹		guatemalteco / guatemalteca

🏰 Spanish regions & their people

In Spain, people don’t just say soy español/a. They love identifying with their region too ❤️ Cultura, comida, acento… ¡todo cambia! Here are the ones travellers hear the most 👇

Madrid 🏙️ → soy madrileño / soy madrileña

Cataluña / Catalunya 🏖️ → soy catalán / soy catalana

Andalucía ☀️→ soy andaluz / soy andaluza

Galicia 🌊→ soy gallego / soy gallega

País Vasco / Euskadi ⛰️🍤→ soy vasco / soy vasca

👇Mini-conversation

🇪🇸
A: ¿De dónde eres?
B: Soy andaluza, de Málaga. ¿Y tú?
A: Soy británico, pero vivo en Madrid.

🇬🇧
A: Where are you from?
B: I'm Andalusian, from Málaga. And you?
A: I'm British, but I live in Madrid.

¡Enhorabuena! 🎊
Now you know how to talk about where you're from in Spanish 🇪🇸, change nationalities for masculine and feminine forms 💫, and even recognise regional Spanish identities like andaluz, catalana, or madrileño 🇪🇸. Every time you say Soy… you're starting a conversation, opening a door and connecting with a new culture 🌍❤️

🎯 Test yourself! Interactive Spanish nationality quiz

Instructions: Choose the correct option. Good luck! 😊🍀

Ahora cuéntame 👇

💬 ¿De dónde eres?
Tell me in the comments — where are you from?