"Eastern European" or "East European"

[himalai]

Please advise which one is correct - "Eastern European" or "East European"??
On a similar case - "South-Eastern European" or "South-East European"?

If you could explain, that would be great!

Thanks!

 

[Raymott]

Please advise which one is correct - "Eastern European" or "East European"??
On a similar case - "South-Eastern European" or "South-East European"?

If you could explain, that would be great!

Thanks!

'Eastern' sounds more common to me.
Bulgaria is an Eastern European country. It's in Eastern Europe.
In general, neither is wrong. It's a matter of usage.

 

[himalai]

Thank you! My only concern is whether, in case we have a "double" or "triple" adjective, all words should have suffixes, or only the last one? Is there a rule? Because for "South East European", we cannot say "Southern Eastern European", or "South Eastern European", right :roll:

Have a nice day ;-)

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you! My only concern is whether, in case we have a "double" or "triple" adjective, all words should have suffixes, or only the last one? Is there a rule? Because for "South East European", we cannot say "Southern Eastern European", or "South Eastern European", right :roll:

Have a nice day ;-)

With someone from the South East of Europe, I would say a "South-Eastern European".

When there are two directions used in a phrase, we normally add the ending to the second (if we add an ending at all):

A south-westerly wind.
A North-Western European.
A South-East accent. (This may be somewhat colloquial.)