Capitalising “les belges”

BrianC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Capitalising “les belges”

Hi, with reference to “les Belges brassent près de huit cent variétés de bière ?”, “les Belges brassent près de huit-cent sortes de bière ?”, and “les Belges brassent près de 800 types de bière ?”.


I thought that it was not correct to capitalise “les belges”?

Asked 1 year ago
AlanC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Nationalities are capitalized when they are nouns, but not when they are adjectives.

https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/how-to-express-your-nationality-changes-whether-youre-a-man-or-a-woman-adjectives

 

 

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

To exemplify:

Les bières belges sont connues partout. -- Belgian beers are known everywhere.
Les Belges brassent de très bonnes bières. -- The Belgians brew very good beer.

The first sentence uses belges as an adjective to bières and is not capitalized. The second sentence, however, refers to les Belges as a noun and is capitalized.

Capitalising “les belges”

Hi, with reference to “les Belges brassent près de huit cent variétés de bière ?”, “les Belges brassent près de huit-cent sortes de bière ?”, and “les Belges brassent près de 800 types de bière ?”.


I thought that it was not correct to capitalise “les belges”?

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