<p>For your question, as a native Chinese speaker, I use 法國。</p>

<p><em>(For illustration purposes, I have below pronunciations in Mandarin for your references. P: Pinyin, I: IPA)</em></p>

<hr>

<p>There seems to be some categories of way we name countries:</p>

<ul>
<li>Sound and meaning transcription.

<ul>
<li>e.g. 新西蘭 (New Zealand)

<ul>
<li>新 means new</li>
<li>西蘭 is the sound transcription</li>
</ul></li>
<li>美利堅合衆國 (USA)

<ul>
<li>美利堅 is the sound transcription of America</li>
<li>合衆國 corresponds to the meaning of "United States".</li>
</ul></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Sound transcription

<ul>
<li>e.g. 紐西蘭 (New Zealand)</li>
<li>意大利 (Italy)</li>
<li>澳大利亞 (Australia)</li>
<li>俄羅斯 (Russia), but the sound transcription may have come from the Mongolian transcription, but there isn't concrete proof, since similar transcriptions may have existed > 650 years.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Shortened transcription (1 character + 國)

<ul>
<li>e.g. 美國 (USA)</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<p>Sometimes, we may name some countries with more than one way using rules above.</p>

<p>法國、俄國、英國、美國. These short forms are the most commonly used names for the countries: France, Russia, UK, USA. This may only work if the country's name can be represented with only 1 Chinese character <em>(since Chinese love disyllabic words more than monosyllabic words)</em>. Otherwise, we would use rules below.</p>

<p>From personal experience, we don't usually say the full form of names if a short form is commonly used, perhaps except for 俄羅斯 (Russia).</p>

<p>Here are some we don't extract the first character + 國. For example, 意大利 (Italy), 新加坡/星加坡 (Singapore). Singapore may be called 星洲/星島 (Singapore Island). 澳大利亞 may be shortened to 澳洲 (Australia Island). If the sound transcription of the name is already 2 syllables, then we never shorten it.</p>

<hr>

<p>I have no conclusive answer for the reason of the pattern though.</p>

<hr>

<p>Pronunciations:</p>

<ul>
<li>新西蘭 (P: xin1xi1lan2 I: /ɕɪn55.ɕi55.lan35/)</li>
<li>美利堅 (P: mei3li4jian1 I: /meɪ21.li51.tɕjɛn55/)</li>
<li>合衆國 (P: he2zhong4guo2 I: /xɤ35.ʈʂʊŋ51.kuɔ35/)</li>
<li>紐西蘭 (P: niu3xi1lan2 I: /njoʊ21.ɕi55.lan35/)</li>
<li>意大利 (P: yi4da4li4 I: /i51.ta51.li51/)</li>
<li>澳大利亞 (P: ao4da4li4ya4 I: /ɑʊ51.ta51.li51.ja51/)</li>
<li>俄羅斯 (P: e2luo2si1 I: /ɤ35.luɔ35.sɯ55/)</li>
<li>星加坡 (P: xing1jia1po1 I: /ɕɪŋ55.tɕja55.pʰɔ55/)</li>
<li>澳洲 (P: ao4zhou1 I: /ɑʊ51.ʈʂoʊ55/)</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-09T18:45:33.810Z
俄国 is a bit of an anomaly, it’s caught on in TW but you’d mostly only hear 俄罗斯 on the mainland. Not sure why though.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-09T15:03:03.543Z
2020-04-12T21:22:12.810Z
2020-04-12T21:22:12.810Z
Daniel Cheung
<p>In Taiwan, people mostly use 法國 to call this country. You get more result if you google <a href="https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&amp;ei=juV6Xv38AomImAXf-I64BQ&amp;q=%22%E6%B3%95%E5%9C%8B%22&amp;oq=%22%E6%B3%95%E5%9C%8B%22&amp;gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i131j0l2j0i131j0l2j0i131j0j0i131j0i3.2911.7855..8874...0.0..0.54.447.13......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i30j0i5i30.45Mwfd_9OU0&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj9--qJ7LToAhUJBKYKHV-8A1cQ4dUDCAU&amp;uact=5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"法國"</a> than that of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&amp;ei=n-V6XpW_Aq29mAWXsoKYBA&amp;q=%22%E6%B3%95%E8%98%AD%E8%A5%BF%E5%85%B1%E5%92%8C%E5%9C%8B%22&amp;oq=%22%E6%B3%95%E8%98%AD%E8%A5%BF%E5%85%B1%E5%92%8C%E5%9C%8B%22&amp;gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i30l10.864.18448..19215...3.0..0.51.1098.30......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i5i30j0i131j0.ZF7VcV8MqPM&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjViviR7LToAhWtHqYKHReZAEMQ4dUDCAU&amp;uact=5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"法蘭西共和國"</a>. 76400000 vs 356000. 法國 is abbreviation for 法蘭西共和國 which is used on <a href="https://www.mofa.gov.tw/CountryInfo.aspx?CASN=FB01D469347C76A7&amp;n=9C9CC6640661FEBA&amp;sms=26470E539B6FA395&amp;s=E6436B9A96D5AEE5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ministry of Foreign Affair Republic of China</a>. 法蘭西共和國 is used on the headline. While 法國 is used on normal text. This example shows the usage of the words by government in Taiwan. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov.tw/CountryEpidLevel/GetPrescription/641?uacid=429" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Taiwan Centers for Disease Control</a> uses 法國 on the headline too. This example also shows the usage of the words by government in Taiwan.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-19T03:43:20.073Z
Why the mark down? An explanation is appreciated. South-East Asian Chinese too use 法國.  法兰西 which is actually a transliteration of "France" is an out dated term. Does the United Nation Organization use 法兰西 to refer to the French Republic? I stand corrected if it does.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-19T22:56:04.730Z
I don't know why they just don't say 我去法蘭西共和國玩 or 法蘭西共和國麵包, they use 我去法國玩 and 法國麵包 instead.
000
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-10T08:24:00.773Z
(Wow, I just noticed this: excellent edit!!)
Becky 李蓓
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-09T14:13:58.217Z
2020-03-25T23:39:06.750Z
2020-03-25T23:39:06.750Z
000
<p>Note: I don't know French, so names are in English. <code>法'兰'西</code> is the phonetic translation of F'ran'ce. And <code>法国</code> is actually an acronym of <code>法兰西共和国</code>(translation of <code>French Republic</code>, where <code>Republic</code> is <code>共和国</code> ), which means the first and the second are the exactly same meaning. While <code>法兰斯</code> is not commonly used, use <code>法兰西</code> instead.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-09T11:47:04.447Z
2020-03-09T11:47:04.447Z
code2828
<p>In 99.9% occasions we use 法国. 法兰西 is only used in few literary occasion. What's more, 法兰西共和国(French Republic) is the full name of 法国. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-12T11:39:18.040Z
2020-04-12T11:39:18.040Z
BlackieMia
<p>Here, I googled it for you: <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%E6%B3%95%E5%9B%BD%2C+%E6%B3%95%E5%85%B0%E8%A5%BF%2C+%E6%B3%95%E5%85%B0%E6%96%AF&amp;year_start=1800&amp;year_end=2008&amp;corpus=23&amp;smoothing=3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Google Ngram Viewer</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-19T01:17:46.350Z
2020-03-19T01:17:46.350Z
zypA13510
<p>As a Beijing native, I can responsibly tell you that the word "法国" is the most common and commonly used word in modern Chinese. </p>

<p>"法兰西" is a transliteration of the full name of France, and "法兰斯" has no corresponding expression in Chinese.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-26T12:14:24.187Z
2020-03-26T12:14:24.187Z
Transpeak
<p>I saw these 3 and now I'm confused. Which one is more common? Where are and what for are they used? </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>法国<br>
  法兰西<br>
  法兰斯</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-19T02:16:54.017Z
This question is [being discussed](https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1705/12687) on meta.
zypA13510
<translation><usage><transliteration>
Which of 法国, 法兰西, and 法兰斯 is the most common word for France?
# Which of 法国, 法兰西, and 法兰斯 is the most common word for France?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-03-09)

I saw these 3 and now I'm confused. Which one is more common? Where are and what for are they used?

> 法国  
> 法兰西  
> 法兰斯

**Tags:** translation, usage, transliteration

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This question is [being discussed](https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1705/12687) on meta.  

---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-03-09. Score: 4

For your question, as a native Chinese speaker, I use 法國。

*(For illustration purposes, I have below pronunciations in Mandarin for your references. P: Pinyin, I: IPA)*

---

There seems to be some categories of way we name countries:

* Sound and meaning transcription.
  + e.g. 新西蘭 (New Zealand)
    - 新 means new
    - 西蘭 is the sound transcription
  + 美利堅合衆國 (USA)
    - 美利堅 is the sound transcription of America
    - 合衆國 corresponds to the meaning of "United States".
* Sound transcription
  + e.g. 紐西蘭 (New Zealand)
  + 意大利 (Italy)
  + 澳大利亞 (Australia)
  + 俄羅斯 (Russia), but the sound transcription may have come from the Mongolian transcription, but there isn't concrete proof, since similar transcriptions may have existed > 650 years.
* Shortened transcription (1 character + 國)
  + e.g. 美國 (USA)

Sometimes, we may name some countries with more than one way using rules above.

法國、俄國、英國、美國. These short forms are the most commonly used names for the countries: France, Russia, UK, USA. This may only work if the country's name can be represented with only 1 Chinese character *(since Chinese love disyllabic words more than monosyllabic words)*. Otherwise, we would use rules below.

From personal experience, we don't usually say the full form of names if a short form is commonly used, perhaps except for 俄羅斯 (Russia).

Here are some we don't extract the first character + 國. For example, 意大利 (Italy), 新加坡/星加坡 (Singapore). Singapore may be called 星洲/星島 (Singapore Island). 澳大利亞 may be shortened to 澳洲 (Australia Island). If the sound transcription of the name is already 2 syllables, then we never shorten it.

---

I have no conclusive answer for the reason of the pattern though.

---

Pronunciations:

* 新西蘭 (P: xin1xi1lan2 I: /ɕɪn55.ɕi55.lan35/)
* 美利堅 (P: mei3li4jian1 I: /meɪ21.li51.tɕjɛn55/)
* 合衆國 (P: he2zhong4guo2 I: /xɤ35.ʈʂʊŋ51.kuɔ35/)
* 紐西蘭 (P: niu3xi1lan2 I: /njoʊ21.ɕi55.lan35/)
* 意大利 (P: yi4da4li4 I: /i51.ta51.li51/)
* 澳大利亞 (P: ao4da4li4ya4 I: /ɑʊ51.ta51.li51.ja51/)
* 俄羅斯 (P: e2luo2si1 I: /ɤ35.luɔ35.sɯ55/)
* 星加坡 (P: xing1jia1po1 I: /ɕɪŋ55.tɕja55.pʰɔ55/)
* 澳洲 (P: ao4zhou1 I: /ɑʊ51.ʈʂoʊ55/)

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: 俄国 is a bit of an anomaly, it’s caught on in TW but you’d mostly only hear 俄罗斯 on the mainland. Not sure why though.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2020-03-09. Score: 2

In Taiwan, people mostly use 法國 to call this country. You get more result if you google ["法國"](https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=juV6Xv38AomImAXf-I64BQ&q=%22%E6%B3%95%E5%9C%8B%22&oq=%22%E6%B3%95%E5%9C%8B%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i131j0l2j0i131j0l2j0i131j0j0i131j0i3.2911.7855..8874...0.0..0.54.447.13......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i30j0i5i30.45Mwfd_9OU0&ved=0ahUKEwj9--qJ7LToAhUJBKYKHV-8A1cQ4dUDCAU&uact=5) than that of ["法蘭西共和國"](https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=n-V6XpW_Aq29mAWXsoKYBA&q=%22%E6%B3%95%E8%98%AD%E8%A5%BF%E5%85%B1%E5%92%8C%E5%9C%8B%22&oq=%22%E6%B3%95%E8%98%AD%E8%A5%BF%E5%85%B1%E5%92%8C%E5%9C%8B%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i30l10.864.18448..19215...3.0..0.51.1098.30......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i5i30j0i131j0.ZF7VcV8MqPM&ved=0ahUKEwjViviR7LToAhWtHqYKHReZAEMQ4dUDCAU&uact=5). 76400000 vs 356000. 法國 is abbreviation for 法蘭西共和國 which is used on [Ministry of Foreign Affair Republic of China](https://www.mofa.gov.tw/CountryInfo.aspx?CASN=FB01D469347C76A7&n=9C9CC6640661FEBA&sms=26470E539B6FA395&s=E6436B9A96D5AEE5). 法蘭西共和國 is used on the headline. While 法國 is used on normal text. This example shows the usage of the words by government in Taiwan. [Taiwan Centers for Disease Control](https://www.cdc.gov.tw/CountryEpidLevel/GetPrescription/641?uacid=429) uses 法國 on the headline too. This example also shows the usage of the words by government in Taiwan.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Why the mark down? An explanation is appreciated. South-East Asian Chinese too use 法國.  法兰西 which is actually a transliteration of "France" is an out dated term. Does the United Nation Organization use 法兰西 to refer to the French Republic? I stand corrected if it does.  
> **username_4**: I don't know why they just don't say 我去法蘭西共和國玩 or 法蘭西共和國麵包, they use 我去法國玩 and 法國麵包 instead.  
> **username_6**: (Wow, I just noticed this: excellent edit!!)  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2020-03-09. Score: 2

Note: I don't know French, so names are in English. `法'兰'西` is the phonetic translation of F'ran'ce. And `法国` is actually an acronym of `法兰西共和国`(translation of `French Republic`, where `Republic` is `共和国` ), which means the first and the second are the exactly same meaning. While `法兰斯` is not commonly used, use `法兰西` instead.


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2020-04-12. Score: 1

In 99.9% occasions we use 法国. 法兰西 is only used in few literary occasion. What's more, 法兰西共和国(French Republic) is the full name of 法国.


---

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-03-19. Score: 0

Here, I googled it for you: [Google Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%E6%B3%95%E5%9B%BD%2C+%E6%B3%95%E5%85%B0%E8%A5%BF%2C+%E6%B3%95%E5%85%B0%E6%96%AF&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=23&smoothing=3)


---

### Answer by username_9 on 2020-03-26. Score: 0

As a Beijing native, I can responsibly tell you that the word "法国" is the most common and commonly used word in modern Chinese.

"法兰西" is a transliteration of the full name of France, and "法兰斯" has no corresponding expression in Chinese.


---

