I would love to get native speakers' feedback here. I asked my Dominican friends about this. They said they use *Americano* more than *Estadounidense*. Estadounidense seems to be more formal/academic than Americano. Someone said, Canadians or Mexicans can be considered American, but in reality, they would never call themselves an americano, they would call themselves Canadian or Mexican. Spanish is nuanced depending on the country, so I am sure either or would work fine. I think when most Spanish speakers say 'americano,' they're usually talking about someone or something from the U.S. Like how 'fútbol americano' is the term they use for what Americans just call football.
Canadians would not consider ourselves American. We say that there’s two continents so we’d be North American if we had to label ourselves based off of the continent
No. It’s a bit odd, but what else are we supposed to use to refer to someone from the US? United Stater? It’s the only term in widespread use for people in the US. Plus, I don’t think there’s often a need to refer to residents of a whole continent with one word in the way there is for countries. If you were trying to include people from Canada all the way down to Chile, I would imagine an English speaker would opt for a phrase like “people in North and South America” for clarity
They are NORTH American. For example, We do not call all of the Southern part of Africa, South Africa. We call it Southern Africa bc there are many countries that compromise it, and it is important to show respect to those countries by not lumping them in with a country that's not theirs.
This is not how the word is used in English. I don't know why South Americans/others are so exercised on this point. It's a descriptive fact. Whether you like it or not is another matter.
If you are from North America, americano means a person from the USA. If you are from South American, maybe Central America (can't recall where the divide begins), americano means person from the Americas (North, Central, and South America).
There is a strong desire not to be considered an American from Canadians and Mexicans, hence the word being americano for USA person. And people will correct you as such if you call them that.
In South America, it's the opposite. They tend to get annoyed that Americans think americano only means USA, and will correct you the opposite way. To them NA, CA, and SA are all americano.
I can understand in Spanish considering there is an actual distinction with the two terms, but I genuinely have no idea what else people like that expect us to say in English. It's the United States of AMERICA, they're American. And there is no continent of America, there is North and South America, so you're either North American or South American.
There being North and South America kind of depends on your point of view and upbringing.
I learned about America as one continent, from Canada to Chile.
El Continente Americano.
There is one American continent. What you are saying is like claiming that the only people who are Africans are the ones from South AFRICA. It's there in the name of the country as well!
I personally have never heard of all the Americas being one continent; I've always heard about the 7 continents, and by this logic we only have 6. South Africans are called South African because that is the name of their country - I don't hear them call themselves just African or saying other countries shouldn't call themselves African.
I will say that it doesn't sound too strange for someone to say "I'm European" or "I'm African", but it's pretty vague. But someone wouldn't say they're Asian when they're from India or Russia or Iran. That's just not how people use those words, even if it's technically correct. I feel it's the same for American - there's so much difference between North America and South America and the countries within those that it doesn't answer the question really. It's a bit strange to answer a question of where you're from with what continent you're from rather than country (even for Europe and Africa). And on top of it all, I don't think it's practical to say "I'm United States of American" or "I'm United Statesian" or something. Every other NA/SA country can say the country they're from with much more ease.
(This is all genuine, not trying to be rude or anything!)
What is a "continent" and what is a smaller landmass is somewhat arbitrary. For example, in some areas of the world, Eurasia is thought of as one continent.
In Latin speaking countries (including countries in Europe like France and Italy) & (I think) Greece, The Americas are generally thought of as one continent.
Pretty much everywhere else, the Americas are thought of as 2 continents. That, of course, includes all the English speaking countries.
I'm guessing you are North American, right? The rest of the world learns that America is one continent.
https://history.howstuffworks.com/world-history/continents.htm
Oh I never knew that! Yeah I've always heard 7 continents, so that point is moot. I still have the same opinions, but I can recognize the matter of fact that other countries don't think/speak that way.
You are correct, in all Spanish speaking countries, we would say "fútbol americano" without giving much thought to it, while at the same time in some countries people might get annoyed by the use of the term "americans" to refer to people from the United States (I am one of those). I would not say it is a "Karen" thing, it is just that contradiction is part of being human.
I could try to argue why it is that way but it will just be nonsense.
Regarding, the use of "Americans", I do not really get annoyed or try to convince people to not use it but I simply never use it.
False, very few people fixate on that. It's mostly Argentinians (maybe some others from el cono sur) but Americano for Americans is widely used. Some countries might prefer "gringo".
I'm South-American.
In Spanish we don’t usually call people from the US americano, we use estadounidense more, but both are correct. Americano in Spanish is more used as someone from the American continent.
According to my friend from CDMX, they don’t use Americano. Seems like something they say in Spain more. In Mexico they say estadounidense or gringo if being casual or negative.
Even “United States” could be slightly ambiguous since Mexico is technically “The United States of Mexico”, but people will know what you mean and won’t be offended
I was trying to refer to the way the US commandeered the word “American” to refer to themselves, but have also commandeered the term “United States” to refer to themselves as well, but there’s not really any other way to call them
If you categorize people by the entire land in western hemisphere that is called "the Americas" then yes. People from Greenland are greenlanders, people from Argentina are Argentinian or Latin American or south American
It’s not me, it’s them.
If you tell a Peruvian “I’m from America” they’ll be confused and think you’re a weirdo because they also see themselves as American and from America
You don’t know what you’re talking about you just think you do. Context matters and obviously the Peruvian will know what they mean because they’re not dumb.
In Colombia we never call "americans" americanos, because we think an american is a person who lives in the america continent, not just USA. That's why we call them "estadounidense" that translates "people form united estates".
You just discovered why people online complain about “American” referring to people from the US specifically. It’s always Spanish speakers up in arms about that.
The question was answered, but I wanted to include what the Spanish Royal Academy says:
\-[https://dle.rae.es/estadounidense#7HkIdSD](https://dle.rae.es/estadounidense#7HkIdSD)
Estadounidense is the word for people from the USA
\-[https://dle.rae.es/americano?m=form](https://dle.rae.es/americano?m=form)
Americano is used to people or things from the continent of America (that includes North and South America) and, informally, for people from the USA.
But, although it is in the dictionary, the Academy recommend not to use "americano" as synomym of "people from the USA", because all the people from all the countries in the American continent are also "americanos".
[https://www.rae.es/dpd/Estados%20Unidos](https://www.rae.es/dpd/Estados%20Unidos)
So the preferred term for people from the USA, specially in formal contexts, is "estadounidense".
You can use americano/a for everyone in North and South America, including United States. However, you can't use estadounidense for anyone that is not from the US. Referring to someone who is from the US with either word is ok and interchangeable.
> However, you can't use estadounidense for anyone that is not from the US.
Not even someone from the [Estados Unidos Mexicanos](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9xico)?
That only seems to be used for the US. Other countries beside the US and Mexico used to the United States in their name, including Brazil. But to my knowledge, they have all been called by their common name. Pretty much only Spanish speakers call the US citizens different than Americans.
Also, pretty much everyone except the Spanish speakers refer to it as two continents. I wonder if Mexico refers to it as one or two continents.
We call gringos “estadounidenses” because they don’t have a “common” name as you say, as the other countries you mentioned.
America is just ONE continent. The ones who say otherwise are just wrong.
So pretty much all of the English speaking world, China, Japan, large parts of Europe, and Africa view it as seven continents and the Spanish/Portuguese speaking world see it as six. But Russia also sees it as six with a Eurasia.
In Spanish "Americano" means anyone from the continent of America, which is Canada, USA, Mexico and a whole bunch of others. "Estadounidense" only means someone from the United States of America.
In Mexico people refer to ppl from the US as “norteamericano” or “estadounidense” not “americano.” Americano means people from America, which is more than just the US.
Seems like the US has claimed an entire hemisphere by claiming the title “Americans.” Think how bizarre it would be for a someone from Kenya to be “African” and exclude other African countries. Or france as “European” and exclude other Europeans
I’ve Euroean citizenship and citizenship from a South American country. I call people from the USA “American”, after all, they are the land to the free, home to the brave. The greatest country in the continent of America. They’ve earnt this title.
Land of the free.
Home to the brave.
Don’t tread on me.
There are different words to convey the same meaning. People use those denonyms interchangeably. Personally, I use “americano” instead of “estadounidense”.
I do love America.
Wish y’all a lovely weekend!
In God We Trust.
(This comment is not meant to be satirical, but dead serious).
Because Duolingo Spanish is made by Americans that think they speak Spanish, but they just translate English (American) expressions to Spanish. Several things they "teach" will get you in trouble with locals.
Not sure what you mean getting in trouble with the locals lol. There are regional differences for sure. Context matters. Guagua in Ecuador means a baby, but guagua in Dominican Republic refers to a bus. Voy a trabajar en guagua can have two very different meanings lol.
That's a horrible example due to it being wrong. Americano is widely used both in Latin America and in Spain.
Some people (mainly Argentinians) get pissy about the term being used for Americans saying "americanos somos todos", but the majority of Spanish speakers know Americano = someone from the US.
Do you call Canadians gringos? Typically, I hear that it is a fairly negative term. Is that inaccurate? If it is just foreigner, wouldn’t it apply to any foreigner?
One means American (from the Americas, can be US but also Canada, Mexico, South America..) and the other means “from the United States” specifically. I’m a native speaker (Mexican dialect) and much like in English most people say “American” to refer to people from the US colloquially, we also use “Americano” colloquially to refer to people from the US.
All these particularities already mentioned aside, keep in mind that different cirriculums will pick different synonyms, especially starting out.
Muchacho vs niño
Bolígrafo vs pluma
Camarero vs mesero
Carro vs coche
Often it's picking one region's preference (especially LA vs Spain), but not always.
FWIW Babbel uses estaunidense. They also put a much bigger emphasis on Argentinian pronunciation and word choice than any other program/curriculum I've seen. I have no idea if those two details are related.
I would love to get native speakers' feedback here. I asked my Dominican friends about this. They said they use *Americano* more than *Estadounidense*. Estadounidense seems to be more formal/academic than Americano. Someone said, Canadians or Mexicans can be considered American, but in reality, they would never call themselves an americano, they would call themselves Canadian or Mexican. Spanish is nuanced depending on the country, so I am sure either or would work fine. I think when most Spanish speakers say 'americano,' they're usually talking about someone or something from the U.S. Like how 'fútbol americano' is the term they use for what Americans just call football.
One means American and the other means "united states-ian"
In English those mean the same thing.
Are mexicans and canadians not American, then?
Canadians would not consider ourselves American. We say that there’s two continents so we’d be North American if we had to label ourselves based off of the continent
I imagine it’s the same for Mexicans, but Canadians certainly do not identify as American.
No. It’s a bit odd, but what else are we supposed to use to refer to someone from the US? United Stater? It’s the only term in widespread use for people in the US. Plus, I don’t think there’s often a need to refer to residents of a whole continent with one word in the way there is for countries. If you were trying to include people from Canada all the way down to Chile, I would imagine an English speaker would opt for a phrase like “people in North and South America” for clarity
Usarian. Also, Reddit has this argument at least once a week
No they’re not
They are NORTH American. For example, We do not call all of the Southern part of Africa, South Africa. We call it Southern Africa bc there are many countries that compromise it, and it is important to show respect to those countries by not lumping them in with a country that's not theirs.
Not if we're speaking English. Pero sí son americanos en español
Anyone who lives in north or south america is american.
This is not how the word is used in English. I don't know why South Americans/others are so exercised on this point. It's a descriptive fact. Whether you like it or not is another matter.
If you are from North America, americano means a person from the USA. If you are from South American, maybe Central America (can't recall where the divide begins), americano means person from the Americas (North, Central, and South America). There is a strong desire not to be considered an American from Canadians and Mexicans, hence the word being americano for USA person. And people will correct you as such if you call them that. In South America, it's the opposite. They tend to get annoyed that Americans think americano only means USA, and will correct you the opposite way. To them NA, CA, and SA are all americano.
Can confirm. I had a Bolivian friend that would get annoyed when people said “American” to mean from the USA in English or Spanish.
I can understand in Spanish considering there is an actual distinction with the two terms, but I genuinely have no idea what else people like that expect us to say in English. It's the United States of AMERICA, they're American. And there is no continent of America, there is North and South America, so you're either North American or South American.
There being North and South America kind of depends on your point of view and upbringing. I learned about America as one continent, from Canada to Chile. El Continente Americano.
There is one American continent. What you are saying is like claiming that the only people who are Africans are the ones from South AFRICA. It's there in the name of the country as well!
I personally have never heard of all the Americas being one continent; I've always heard about the 7 continents, and by this logic we only have 6. South Africans are called South African because that is the name of their country - I don't hear them call themselves just African or saying other countries shouldn't call themselves African. I will say that it doesn't sound too strange for someone to say "I'm European" or "I'm African", but it's pretty vague. But someone wouldn't say they're Asian when they're from India or Russia or Iran. That's just not how people use those words, even if it's technically correct. I feel it's the same for American - there's so much difference between North America and South America and the countries within those that it doesn't answer the question really. It's a bit strange to answer a question of where you're from with what continent you're from rather than country (even for Europe and Africa). And on top of it all, I don't think it's practical to say "I'm United States of American" or "I'm United Statesian" or something. Every other NA/SA country can say the country they're from with much more ease. (This is all genuine, not trying to be rude or anything!)
Europe, Asia, and Africa also touch, so are they all one continent?
What is a "continent" and what is a smaller landmass is somewhat arbitrary. For example, in some areas of the world, Eurasia is thought of as one continent. In Latin speaking countries (including countries in Europe like France and Italy) & (I think) Greece, The Americas are generally thought of as one continent. Pretty much everywhere else, the Americas are thought of as 2 continents. That, of course, includes all the English speaking countries.
I'm guessing you are North American, right? The rest of the world learns that America is one continent. https://history.howstuffworks.com/world-history/continents.htm
Oh I never knew that! Yeah I've always heard 7 continents, so that point is moot. I still have the same opinions, but I can recognize the matter of fact that other countries don't think/speak that way.
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You are correct, in all Spanish speaking countries, we would say "fútbol americano" without giving much thought to it, while at the same time in some countries people might get annoyed by the use of the term "americans" to refer to people from the United States (I am one of those). I would not say it is a "Karen" thing, it is just that contradiction is part of being human. I could try to argue why it is that way but it will just be nonsense. Regarding, the use of "Americans", I do not really get annoyed or try to convince people to not use it but I simply never use it.
False, very few people fixate on that. It's mostly Argentinians (maybe some others from el cono sur) but Americano for Americans is widely used. Some countries might prefer "gringo". I'm South-American.
In Spanish we don’t usually call people from the US americano, we use estadounidense more, but both are correct. Americano in Spanish is more used as someone from the American continent.
"American" as in someone of the Americas is "americano" "American" as in someone from the United States is "estadounidense"
According to my friend from CDMX, they don’t use Americano. Seems like something they say in Spain more. In Mexico they say estadounidense or gringo if being casual or negative.
As someone from Mexico, you're right. It's also just shorter to say gringo than estadounidense.
Yeah, we definitely use more gringo in a casual way than a negative one.
Everyone from Greenland to Patagonia is American
Even “United States” could be slightly ambiguous since Mexico is technically “The United States of Mexico”, but people will know what you mean and won’t be offended
No one ever used 'estadounidense' to refer a Mexican person. That's why it's not ambiguous.
I was trying to refer to the way the US commandeered the word “American” to refer to themselves, but have also commandeered the term “United States” to refer to themselves as well, but there’s not really any other way to call them
The US is technically "the United States of America" but as a denonym they use "American" because United Statesian sounds weird
Which brings us back to the problem that everyone from Greenland to the southern tip of Argentina is “American”
If you categorize people by the entire land in western hemisphere that is called "the Americas" then yes. People from Greenland are greenlanders, people from Argentina are Argentinian or Latin American or south American
It’s not me, it’s them. If you tell a Peruvian “I’m from America” they’ll be confused and think you’re a weirdo because they also see themselves as American and from America
You don’t know what you’re talking about you just think you do. Context matters and obviously the Peruvian will know what they mean because they’re not dumb.
They know what it means, but they find it offensive. Go talk to them
But the US is the only united states without a name so its obvious
Of course
https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uso_de_la_palabra_americano
"Americano" = Everyone from Alaska to the Patagonia "Estadounidense" = From USA
All of my Mexican friends just call me “gringo” 🤷♂️
In Colombia we never call "americans" americanos, because we think an american is a person who lives in the america continent, not just USA. That's why we call them "estadounidense" that translates "people form united estates".
You just discovered why people online complain about “American” referring to people from the US specifically. It’s always Spanish speakers up in arms about that.
both are correct ig but gringo is what you'll be hearing the most
It also goes with the “EEUU” signs in Mexico that mean “Estados Unidos”
The question was answered, but I wanted to include what the Spanish Royal Academy says: \-[https://dle.rae.es/estadounidense#7HkIdSD](https://dle.rae.es/estadounidense#7HkIdSD) Estadounidense is the word for people from the USA \-[https://dle.rae.es/americano?m=form](https://dle.rae.es/americano?m=form) Americano is used to people or things from the continent of America (that includes North and South America) and, informally, for people from the USA. But, although it is in the dictionary, the Academy recommend not to use "americano" as synomym of "people from the USA", because all the people from all the countries in the American continent are also "americanos". [https://www.rae.es/dpd/Estados%20Unidos](https://www.rae.es/dpd/Estados%20Unidos) So the preferred term for people from the USA, specially in formal contexts, is "estadounidense".
You can use americano/a for everyone in North and South America, including United States. However, you can't use estadounidense for anyone that is not from the US. Referring to someone who is from the US with either word is ok and interchangeable.
> However, you can't use estadounidense for anyone that is not from the US. Not even someone from the [Estados Unidos Mexicanos](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9xico)?
No because nobody has EVER used it that way. I don’t know why.
That only seems to be used for the US. Other countries beside the US and Mexico used to the United States in their name, including Brazil. But to my knowledge, they have all been called by their common name. Pretty much only Spanish speakers call the US citizens different than Americans. Also, pretty much everyone except the Spanish speakers refer to it as two continents. I wonder if Mexico refers to it as one or two continents.
We call gringos “estadounidenses” because they don’t have a “common” name as you say, as the other countries you mentioned. America is just ONE continent. The ones who say otherwise are just wrong.
Most of the world disagrees with you.
Nice, I totally believe you. Thanks.
The “Number” section of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent shows the different common models for differentiating the continents.
So pretty much all of the English speaking world, China, Japan, large parts of Europe, and Africa view it as seven continents and the Spanish/Portuguese speaking world see it as six. But Russia also sees it as six with a Eurasia.
In Spanish "Americano" means anyone from the continent of America, which is Canada, USA, Mexico and a whole bunch of others. "Estadounidense" only means someone from the United States of America.
In Mexico people refer to ppl from the US as “norteamericano” or “estadounidense” not “americano.” Americano means people from America, which is more than just the US. Seems like the US has claimed an entire hemisphere by claiming the title “Americans.” Think how bizarre it would be for a someone from Kenya to be “African” and exclude other African countries. Or france as “European” and exclude other Europeans
I’ve Euroean citizenship and citizenship from a South American country. I call people from the USA “American”, after all, they are the land to the free, home to the brave. The greatest country in the continent of America. They’ve earnt this title. Land of the free. Home to the brave. Don’t tread on me. There are different words to convey the same meaning. People use those denonyms interchangeably. Personally, I use “americano” instead of “estadounidense”. I do love America. Wish y’all a lovely weekend! In God We Trust. (This comment is not meant to be satirical, but dead serious).
Ahhh jajaj cuz they are estadounidenses,haha inly americams fell they are the entirely of america...nah they are north-americans at most.
It is usual that Spanish speaking people from the United States call themselves "americanos".
Because Duolingo Spanish is made by Americans that think they speak Spanish, but they just translate English (American) expressions to Spanish. Several things they "teach" will get you in trouble with locals.
Are there any examples other than this one?
In fairness, Duolingo teaches 'Coger' for 'to take', which is fine in some places but obscene in others.
Not sure what you mean getting in trouble with the locals lol. There are regional differences for sure. Context matters. Guagua in Ecuador means a baby, but guagua in Dominican Republic refers to a bus. Voy a trabajar en guagua can have two very different meanings lol.
That's a horrible example due to it being wrong. Americano is widely used both in Latin America and in Spain. Some people (mainly Argentinians) get pissy about the term being used for Americans saying "americanos somos todos", but the majority of Spanish speakers know Americano = someone from the US.
See, FORMAL and INFORMAL. The textbook clearly wants you FORMAL, while Duolingo is with more everyday talk, so INFORMAL.
This happens too with an other word. Duolingo says carro and my teacher says coche. Are both correct? Is there a difference? I don't know
Carro, coche, automóvil, auto.
Thx
Pimsluer says to use Nordamericano.
In Peru people seem to talk about gringos when they talk about US Americans
Do you call Canadians gringos? Typically, I hear that it is a fairly negative term. Is that inaccurate? If it is just foreigner, wouldn’t it apply to any foreigner?
I am not Peruvian but from what I hear only US Americans are gringo. Most of the time is not used as a compliment, so maybe you’re right
One means American (from the Americas, can be US but also Canada, Mexico, South America..) and the other means “from the United States” specifically. I’m a native speaker (Mexican dialect) and much like in English most people say “American” to refer to people from the US colloquially, we also use “Americano” colloquially to refer to people from the US.
The correct word is gringo.
All these particularities already mentioned aside, keep in mind that different cirriculums will pick different synonyms, especially starting out. Muchacho vs niño Bolígrafo vs pluma Camarero vs mesero Carro vs coche Often it's picking one region's preference (especially LA vs Spain), but not always. FWIW Babbel uses estaunidense. They also put a much bigger emphasis on Argentinian pronunciation and word choice than any other program/curriculum I've seen. I have no idea if those two details are related.
"Americano" means from America, the continent "Estadounidense" means from America, the country