イギリス人
Igirisu-jin[iɡʲiɾʲisɨʑĩɴ]
The Japanese phrase for "english person" is イギリス人 (Igirisu-jin).
The term イギリス人 refers to a person who is a citizen of the United Kingdom.
What does it mean word for word?
The term is composed of Igirisu, which is the Japanese name for the UK or England and the suffix jin, meaning person or nationality.
How does it change in a sentence?
The component jin functions as a suffix that is attached to a country name to denote a person of that nationality.
How do you pronounce it?
Igirisu-jin
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not use Igirisu alone to refer to an English person. Igirisu refers only to the country or place itself.
Did you know?
- The name Igirisu likely derives from a Portuguese transcription of 'the English', which was 'Inglez' or 'Inglês'.
- In Japanese media, a person from the UK is sometimes jokingly referred to as イギリス紳士 ('British gentleman'), reflecting a cultural stereotype of extreme politeness and formality.
- Unlike in English, where 'British' and 'English' are distinct, イギリス人 is used broadly for people from Scotland and Wales as well.
Example conversation
Yui and Ren are talking about a new teacher.
- 結衣 Yui新しい先生はイギリス人だよ。Atarashii sensei wa igirisujin da yo.The new teacher is British.
- 蓮 Ren本当？どこから来たの？Hontō? Doko kara kita no?Really? Where are they from?
- 結衣 Yuiロンドン出身だって。Rondon shusshin datte.I heard they are from London.
- 蓮 Renそれはすごいね。Sore wa sugoi ne.That's amazing.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry イギリス人, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries イギリス人, CC BY-SA 4.0.
