taiwanés
/taiwaˈnes/
taiwanés is the Spanish word for Taiwanese.
Meaning: language (name)
Which one should you use?
You may encounter specialized phrases like Taiwanés/a de origen to discuss someone's heritage or ethnicity or Taiwanés/a nativo/a to refer specifically to a native Taiwanese person.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, some people may use the forms taiwanés/taiwanesa in both formal and informal situations.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word must agree with the gender and number of the noun it modifies: use taiwanesa for feminine singular nouns, taiwaneses for masculine plural nouns and taiwanesas for feminine plural nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
/taiwaˈnes/
Did you know?
- In Spanish, while taiwanés is the standard term, you might see formosano used in historical or geographical contexts to refer to someone from the island of Taiwan.
- The suffix -és in taiwanés stems from the Latin suffix -ēnsis, which was used to denote people belonging to a specific place or territory.
- In Spanish, adjectives of nationality like taiwanés are not capitalized unless they start a sentence. This differs from English, where 'Taiwanese' is always capitalized.
Examples in context
- La comunidad taiwanesa en esta ciudad es muy activa.The Taiwanese community in this city is very active.
- Él habla taiwanés.He speaks Taiwanese.
- No entiendo el taiwanés.I don't understand Taiwanese.
- Estoy aprendiendo taiwanés.I am learning Taiwanese.
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía are talking about language classes.
- Alejandro¿Estudias taiwanés en la universidad?Are you studying Taiwanese at the university?
- LucíaNo, solo estudio chino.No, I only study Chinese.
- AlejandroQué lástima, el taiwanés es muy interesante.That's a shame, Taiwanese is very interesting.
- LucíaSí, pero es muy difícil.Yes, but it is very difficult.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry taiwanés, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries taiwanés, CC BY-SA 4.0.
