march utc i think you are both right an ethnic group is a group of people with a subjective belief in a common descent or if you like the perception of a common descent to be an ethnic group a group does not have to have an actual common descent only the belief in a common descent there's also the meaning of descent in anthropology descent does not by necessity have have to have a biological reality some ethnic groups claim a common descent from gods or totems so i think that the english certainly are an ethnic group nation because they have a perceived common ancestry