More people In linguistics, grammatical person is the grammatical distinction between deictic references to participant(s) in an event; typically the distinction is between the speaker (first person), the addressee (second person), and others (third person).A language's set of personal pronouns are defined by grammatical person, but other pronouns would not. , which means the people in the sense of a group from the same nation, community, or ethnic group. Random House Dictionary. ; You can see that in the first sentence, there is only one server . More people should recycle regularly in order to save the planet. In this article, well address the frequently asked questions surrounding persons, people, and peoples, including: Both persons and people can be used as plural forms of person. In a lift or elevator, you will often see a safety notice advising that it is fit to carry a "maximum of 5 persons" (or whatever). Assuming they have not been arrested or charged, such individuals are referred to as persons of interest, not people of interest. The people of China no longer need to abide by the one-child policy. People denotes a group, an unspecified number of people, for example: The people in the area have been warned about the possible risks. This sense is always pluralised as "persons", even when found in non-legal and non-official contexts (though its plural is relatively rarely needed outside of such contexts). Some people use persons in writing that is legal-sounding, but not strictly legal by definition, such as rules and public notices. "More than one," although plural in meaning, always takes a singular verb. is used regularly in the legal world, including law enforcement. is correct within the expression displaced persons. For example, you might hear someone say, Visas will be expedited for displaced persons., Heres an example of an unacceptable use of the word, : To the persons who stole my lunch from the break room: Im watching you. Using. If I am using the phrase other peoples identities should I say rather, other persons identities? Then there are questions about capitalization, particularly for terms like people of color and Indigenous Peoples. What was the purpose of laying hands on the seven in Acts 6:6. 3. Why did US v. Assange skip the court of appeal? : Underline? Persons or persons? Eighty people Always use the wordpeoplewhen referring to the people of a single nationality or ethnic group. 2023 Grammarist, a Found First Marketing company. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Yes. I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, and them are all personal pronouns. Italics? Capitalization is increasingly used as a form of respect and distinction for terms that relate to identity. Thats because it can be used in any context to refer to multiple individualsone person, two people (or 100 people or 8 billion people, etc.). To refer to groups of human beings or humans in general, we use people: I saw three people standing on the corner. Teile dieser Seite funktionieren nur mit aktiviertem JavaScript. When it comes to choosing persons, people or peoples, in the vast majority of cases, the correct plural of person is people. Meanwhile Im still trying to decide on people vs. persons. One goose, two geese. The Israeli and Palestinian peoples | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples Six persons protested on the White House lawn this Saturday. person Similar Words society human beings humans humanity humankind individuals persons mortals children Homo sapiens human species living souls mankind men others personages souls women many many people men and women other people rabblement species world everyone guys human race In English, we have six different persons: first person singular (I), second person singular (you), third person singular (he/she/it/one), first person plural (we), second person plural (you), and third person plural (they). Why dont more people English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. Generic Doubly-Linked-Lists C implementation. Is It St. Persons (plural) is a very formal word. outside of a legal context, you can often replace it with the word, . Cacti and platypi are also acceptable alternative plural forms. Persons. (plrl ) adjective 1. of or including more than one 2. of, involving, or being one of, a plurality of persons or things plural marriage 3. Meanwhile,peoplewas preferred for uncountable nouns. What was the actual cockpit layout and crew of the Mi-24A. However, since Merriam-Websters Learners Dictionary includes this definition of the word read: to show (words) for someone to read, the sentence could be written as: Several people in the baggage claim area are holding signs that read Smith Family or Harrington.. , which means the people and refers to a group from the same community or nation. How to create a virtual ISO file from /dev/sr0. Were Vs. Were: Were Here To Explain The Difference, Freshmen Or Freshman: When To Use Each One. OR Shoplifting can leave people with records and affect their lives. convey, conversion, plea/plead, try have different or special meanings.). Sixty people came to my Harry Potter costume party. I saw a person standing on the dock. For example, Persons who use our services will be charged a fee, turns into Those who use our services will be charged a fee.. A language teacher or a pedagogist may be able to provide a better answer, but I remember from my own days learning French that we would sometimes be taught things which I would later discover to be simplifications or generalisations and in many ways untrue. People should always be used when a collective noun referring to the entirety of a group or nation (i.e., "the French People") is called for. 4. In modern English, people is the de facto plural of person. [Daily Mail]. Most of the time, people is the correct word to choose as a plural for person. is considered archaic, so unless youre doing some legal writing, its best to avoid it. Three people were interviewed for the job, but only one person had the right qualifications and experience. Heres an example of an unacceptable use of the wordpersons: To the persons who stole my lunch from the break room: Im watching you. Usingpersonsin this context sounds silly and a bit stuffy. Peoples refers to more than one group of people who live in the same geographical area, as in: Like persons, peoples has such a specific context that youre not likely to see it anywhere else. [BBC News], He also talks of Susans missing persons case and facing ridicule from many members of the media and public. No more than eight persons can enter the hot tub at the same time. So far as I know, there is no numerical rule of when to use yall vs. all yall. Yes, you is singular and yall is plural, but all yall is meant to include an entire group, whereas yall would be a portion (assuming a large group. There are few instances where youd use all yall, but I suppose one would be if youre at a meeting of say ten people and youre talking to two friends. The peoples of the world hold a variety of religious views. of the world practice a wide variety of religions. A personal pronoun is a short word we use as a simple substitute for the proper name of a person. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Join the thousands who have sharpened their business writing skills with our award winning courses. As we indicated in the post and in the many comments and responses below it, persons can be correct in certain contexts. on the other hand, this site suggests a different answer: more than one of the authors has received the Nobel Prize. Similarly, the term People of Color is also sometimes capitalized, though not always, likely because it is typically used as a broad term that encompasses more specific identities, including Black and Indigenous people, for example (relatedly, this is whats represented in the first part of the the abbreviation BIPOC). in the vast majority of contexts, although legalese uses the plural. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced searchad free! The Douglas County Police Department has seventeen open missing persons The terms people and persons are both plural forms of the word person, but theyre not used in the same situations. Correct usage of persons (vs. people). Persons was the original plural, and it is possible to find . The word peoples is specifically used as the plural of people in its sense as a collective singular noun referring to a nation, or tribe, or other community, as in Indigenous Peoples or the many peoples of the world. You will get everything from one compe tent contact person who will also be at your disposal for any further questions which may arise. But the tide of opinion has shifted enough that you should feel comfortable using people in most cases where you have a choice. When a collective noun is called for (to refer, for instance, to the members of an entire nation) the appropriate word will always be 'people' ("the French people"). 1. uncountable communication between people, countries, or organizations either by talking or writing. Copyright by Jane Straus/GrammarBook.com. Grammarly helps you communicate confidently The meaning of PERSON is human, individual sometimes used in combination especially by those who prefer to avoid man in compounds applicable to both sexes. Delivered to your inbox! both derive from Latin, but from different words. Which was the first Sci-Fi story to predict obnoxious "robo calls"? [duplicate], Correct usage of persons (vs. people), Improving the copy in the close modal and post notices - 2023 edition, New blog post from our CEO Prashanth: Community is the future of AI, Correct usage of "persons" (vs. "people"), English nouns whose plural form differs from singular. English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. We are working on a section of the program that handles lists of persons, with their names, addresses, etc. Please note: Contributions to LEO GmbH are not tax deductible. Past perfect simple or past perfect continuous? This is especially the case in situations when you want to talk about individuals within a group, rather than the group as a whole. But there is no good reason for this distinction, and in any case it is not consistently borne out in real-world usage. 13th century, in the meaning defined at . ), Ten people came dressed as either Dumbledore or Snape, but the rest of the people were all Harry Potter. What was the actual cockpit layout and crew of the Mi-24A? of interest being questioned for the murder of John Doe. Robust, real-time communication assistance, Write, rewrite, get ideas, and quickly reply with GrammarlyGO, Features to polish, grammar, tone, clarity, team consistency, and more, Writing assistance on 500,000+ apps and sites across your devices, For desktop apps and websites like Word and Gmail, For sites like Google Docs, Gmail, and LinkedIn, Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes, Format citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago, is the correct word to choose as a plural for. Persons or people? All rights reserved. Why did US v. Assange skip the court of appeal? As we've seen above, the word people is an irregular plural, which indicates the plural of the word person.We speak about one person but many people.Consider this example: The person who brings us food in a restaurant is called a server. However, in the last few decades the trend has been very much in favor of people, rather than persons. (Equally acceptable.). Use of the word persons to describe a small group of people is a matter of style and preference. Oct 21, 2009. . Is there a weapon that has the heavy property and the finesse property (or could this be obtained)? Is It Advance Notice Or Advanced Notice? Remember that persons is usually used in law and legal documents, like: Lessor shall not be responsible for damage to Lessees vehicle, whether or not such damage is caused by other vehicles or persons in the parking lot and surrounding area. Learn more about collective nouns and how to use them. https://www.learnersdictionary.com/qa/What-is-the-difference-between-people-and-peoples- People/peoples and people/peoples are correct. What's the correct plural of person? One political context in which persons is correct is in the expression displaced persons. In cases when its capitalized, it is often due to the fact that it refers not to people in general but to specific, distinct communities. We know of no rules covering this area, and the use of the word say in that context seems fairly common. The plurals of last names are just like the plurals of most nouns. Why is it taboo to use it as the pronoun for a person of unidentified gender? People Versus Peoples. The word people is appropriate in collective references to groups of individuals, such as the citizens of a particular country or members of a recognized group. The examples that it beings are not clear for the purpose of the understanding the plural form "persons". The plural form is other peoples identities or other persons identities. While the word choice is likely a matter of style and preference, we understand your point that person can suggest a greater emphasis on the individual even in a plural context. When we say persons, says Wilson Folletts Modern American Usage, we are thinking, or ought to be, of onesindividuals with identities; whereas when we say people we should mean a large group, an indefinite and anonymous mass.. It looks like youre using an ad blocker. A more timely debate these days would be people vs. folks. were all wookies. In legal and bureaucratic documents "persons" is the usual plural in all meanings. Your email address will not be published. 2. Ich glaub ich nehm den plural von persons jetzt mal, bis mir jemand ausdruecklich sagt dass das nicht geht. Many traditionalists continue to feel that the plural pronoun their is not grammatically correct when it refers to a singular noun, in this case person. (Also see our recent post Singular They Part II.) We prefer to reword the sentence to Shoplifting can leave people with records and affect their lives. The Chicago Manual of Style offers nine techniques for achieving gender neutrality: 1.