7 continents
Posted by: Josef EssbergerThere are seven continents.
The word “continent” comes from the Latin “terra continens”, meaning “continuous land”.
Like countries, continents are proper nouns. That means they are “names” and the first letter must be a CAPITAL letter. Even for the adjective, the first letter is always a capital:
Continent: Africa
Adjective: African
Person: an African
Continent: Asia
Adjective: Asian
Person: an Asian
Continent: Australia
Adjective: Australian
Person: an Australian
Continent: Europe
Adjective: European
Person: a European
Continent: North America
Adjective: North American
Person: a North American
Continent: South America
Adjective: South American
Person: a South American
Continent: Antarctica
Adjective: Antarctic
Person: –
Isn’t it strange? We have a word for somebody who comes from the planet Mars (a Martian), but there is no word for somebody who comes from Antarctica!
You’ll find more vocabulary for continents and countries here.
Posted by Josef Essberger May 2023
Josef founded EnglishClub for learners and teachers of English in 1997