student asking question

Does "American" specifically refer to the people with U.S. citizenship? Or all the people who are living in North and South America?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

In this scenario, I believe it refers specifically to U.S. military forces. It does get a little confusing with North America and South America, especially with all the countries within these two continents. Most of the time, the term "American" usually indicates U.S. citizens. "American" isn't usually used for people who are from different countries within North and South America: people from Brazil are known as "Brazilian," people from Canada are known as "Canadian," people from Mexico are known as "Mexican," etc. I am unsure why this is the case.

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