Meaning & use
your nationality
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
The country you are a legal citizen of, or the fact of belonging to a particular nation.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase; often appears in the question 'What's your nationality?' and in answers like 'My nationality is Canadian.'
Patterns
- What's your nationality?
- your nationality is …
What's your nationality? — I'm Brazilian.
Please write your nationality on the form.
She has dual nationality: both Irish and American.
Common combinations
- What's your nationality?
- What's your nationality? — I'm Japanese.
- dual nationality
- He holds dual nationality, so he has two passports.
- state your nationality
- You must state your nationality when applying for the visa.
Synonyms and how they differ
- citizenship
- More formal and legal; it focuses on the legal status rather than the country name.
- ethnicity
- Refers to cultural or racial background, not legal citizenship, so it is not a direct synonym.
Word family
- national adjective
- Relating to a whole nation.
- nationality noun
- The state of belonging to a nation.
- nation noun
- A country and its people.
Commonly confused: your nationality or ethnicity?
your nationality vs ethnicity
Nationality is about legal citizenship; ethnicity is about cultural or racial identity. They can be different.
Practice
Choose the best question to ask about someone's legal citizenship.
Choose one answer.
'What's your nationality?' is the standard question. The other options use the wrong word form: 'ethnic' is an adjective, 'nation' means the country itself, and 'citizen' is a person, not a quality.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “your nationality”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.