90438
What should be used when describing someone by their nationality?

Example:

日本人女性 vs 日本の女性 vs 日本人の女性

I've seen all three of these used, but it's hard for me to see the difference.
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2021-09-22T21:27:28.230
90436
2021-09-22T23:40:48.820
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question
grammar word-choice syntax
Using 人 vs の vs 人の when talking about a person's nationality
In most cases you can use them interchangeably.

My feeling is that 日本人女性 sounds more like an individual while 日本の女性 more
collective. (Somewhat similar to _a Japanese woman_ vs. _Japanese women_ , but
maybe not always.)

For example, 私は **日本の女性** が好きだ means _I like Japanese women **in general**_ ;
私は **日本人女性** が好きだ is acceptable, but it would be more natural to use it when
you like a particular woman who is a Japanese: 私は **その日本人女性** が好きだ = _I like
**the** Japanese woman_; Again, 私はその日本 **の** 女性が好きだ is acceptable, but sounds
kind of awkward due to the repetition of の.

日本人の女性 can be used for both individual and collective cases, but it sounds to
me kind of redundant ([BCCWJ](https://bonten.ninjal.ac.jp/bccwj/string_search)
returned 126/97/21 results for 日本人女性/日本の女性/日本人の女性).

All these differences are subtle, and I don't think you need to worry too much
which to use when.

* * *

Related: [What's the difference between 日本人の学生 and 日本の学生
?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/40892/whats-the-difference-
between-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%AE%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F-and-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%81%AE%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-22T23:40:48.820
90438
2021-09-22T23:40:48.820
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answer