african

Everyday

1. African means from, of or about Africa, the second-largest continent. tree →
2. An African is a person from Africa or whose family comes from Africa. tree →
3. African is also used in the names of animals and plants that live in Africa, like the African elephant. tree →

In the lessons

In geography lessons pupils learn that Africa has more than fifty countries and many hundreds of languages, the Sahara desert, the Nile river and rainforests, so «African» covers a huge variety of people, foods, music and ways of life. In science «African» appears in animal names: «African elephant», «African wild dog», «African grey parrot». In history lessons «African» comes in the history of ancient kingdoms (Egypt, Mali, Benin) and the slave trade. Phrases: «African American», «South African», «North African».

Examples

• The African elephant is the largest land animal. tree →
• Our school celebrated African music with a drumming workshop. tree →
• Nigeria and Kenya are both African countries. tree →
• Her grandparents are African, from Ghana. tree →
• The African savanna has lions, zebras and giraffes. tree →
• We read a traditional African folk tale about Anansi the spider. tree →
• Many African languages are spoken across the continent. tree →
• The African grey parrot is very good at copying words. tree →
• The African magician had a younger brother, who was, if possible, more wicked and more cunning than himself. tree →

Note

Always a capital A, because it comes from a place name. Africa is a continent, not a country, so «African» is not one language or one culture — say «Nigerian», «Kenyan», «Egyptian» when you mean one country. «African American» is a person in the USA with African family roots. Be respectful: use it about people as a description, not as a label for a whole group.