брита́нский
británskij
The English phrase "british" is translated into Russian as брита́нский (británskij).
The adjective брита́нский is used to describe things pertaining to Britain. For example, to refer specifically to the British English language, you would use бри́танский а́нглийский. While the word английский (English) is sometimes used for general references to things from Britain, it may be understood as relating specifically to England.
Meaning: of Britain (adj)
Which one should you use?
The term брита́нский is the adjective used for things of Britain. If you are referring to people, you should use nouns instead: брита́нец refers to a man from Britain and брита́нка refers to a woman from Britain. For a group of people, use брита́нцы.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
As an adjective, брита́нский changes its ending to match the gender and number of the noun it describes: use брита́нская for feminine singular nouns, брита́нское for neuter singular nouns and брита́нские for plural nouns. In the masculine genitive case, the form becomes брита́нского.
How do you pronounce it?
británskij
Did you know?
- In Russian, calling a person англича́нин ('Englishman') is often used as a generic term for anyone from the UK, even if they are Scottish or Welsh.
- The root of брита́нский is the name of the country Брита́ния, which is an adaptation of the Latin 'Britannia'.
- In a formal document, using the adjective брита́нский is safer than the general term английский to avoid the political inaccuracy of equating England with the entire United Kingdom.
Examples in context
- Он дружит с британцем и британкой.He is friends with a British man and woman.
- Он купил британский автомобиль.He bought a British car.
- Я читаю книгу о британской культуре.I am reading a book about British culture.
- брита́нский флагbritanskiy flagThe British flag
- брита́нский акце́нтbritanskiy aktsentA British accent
- брита́нский чайbritanskiy chayBritish tea
Sources
- Wiktionary, “british” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
