Comment on What are people from Moscow and Versailles called?
TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 1 week ago
People are answering your headline but not understanding your question; the two aren’t as linked as they would be in French.
All of these are valid:
- I went to a Moscow school
- I went to a school in Moscow
- I went to a Versaille cafe
- I went to a cafe in Versaille.
- I dated a London girl
- I dated a girl from London
These sound more natural than the following: *I went to a Muscovite school *I went to a Versaillian cafe (People have been giving you the direct French for Versaillais, but English wouldn’t use fhat)
- I dated a Londoner girl.
At least for Muscovite, it retains the implication that the school is for people from Moscow, rather than the school being in Moscow. You can see this a lot more often in religion, eg. I went to a Presbyterian school - I went to a school for Presbyterians.
Rudee@lemmy.ml 1 week ago
A demonym is a noun that specifically refers to a person from a particular location; you can’t use it as an adjective.
So in your second list, a school can’t be a Muscovite, since it isn’t a person. You could have met a Muscovite at the school in Moscow.
You would just say that you dated a Londoner. You would then use an adjective to describe the Londoner further (a female Londoner) or make the sentence longer and a bit clunkier IMO (a Londoner who was a woman)