Is persons a right word

worldwidewords.org has an interesting explanation for the history and difference between people and persons as plurals of person. The salient point is:

The normal plural of person was persons, as in “two persons were present”. However, there is evidence from Chaucer onwards that some writers chose to use people as a plural for person, not only in the generalised sense of “an uncountable or indistinct mass of individuals” but also in specific countable cases (Chaucer wrote of “a thousand people”). This began to be questioned in Victorian times, and the pseudo-rule grew up that the plural of person is persons when a specific, countable number of individuals is meant, but that people should be used when the number is large or indefinite.

Modern style guides disagree, being able to quote many examples of the
use of people as the plural of person in both situations, for example
in sentences like “the plane crash killed 370 people”, and “Many
people visit the park every day”. Though persons survives, it does so
largely in formal or legal contexts (“Killed by person or persons
unknown”, “This taxi is licensed to hold four persons”) and often
seems awkward and old-fashioned. Where it survives it emphasises that
each member of a group is being considered as an individual: “The
nearest persons they can vent their feelings on are the ball boys and
girls”, “Eight persons shared a single room”. From the evidence, it
seems that the trend towards using people instead of persons is
accelerating and that it may not be so long before persons vanishes
from the language except in certain set phrases.

Persons, people, and peoples: we know what they mean, but the relationship between them can be confusing. What’s the correct plural of person—persons or people? Why does people have its own plural?

Some of these questions have easy answers. But there are a number of nuanced aspects to their use, including those related to legal language, personal identity, and decisions about whether to emphasize individuals or groups. Then there are questions about capitalization, particularly for terms like people of color and Indigenous Peoples.

In this article, we’ll address the frequently asked questions surrounding persons, people, and peoples, including:

• When should persons be used instead of people?
• When should peoples be used instead of people?
• When should peoples be capitalized?
• What are the possessive forms of persons, people, and peoples?

What is the plural of person? Persons or people?

Both persons and people are acceptable plural forms of person. They’re not necessarily always interchangeable, but there is some overlap.

The plural form people is more common. That’s because it can be used in any context to refer to multiple individuals—one person, two people (or 100 people or 8 billion people, etc.).

Usually, you’ll see persons in more formal contexts, especially in legal and technical text, as well as a few other situations.

When to use persons vs. people

Persons is especially associated with its use in legal language, in which it’s often used rather than people to ensure clarity by emphasizing that the text is referring to multiple individuals, as opposed to a group as a whole, as in Occupancy is limited to 200 persons or Any person or persons found to be in violation of these rules shall be prohibited from participating.

When persons is used in this way outside of legal texts, it has historically been regarded as overly formal or stilted—it wouldn’t be natural to say I invited 10 persons to the party, for example. Increasingly, however, there are cases in which persons is thought to be more appropriate than people for other reasons.

This is especially the case in situations when you want to talk about individuals within a group, rather than the group as a whole. In this way, persons is sometimes used with terms related to identity to emphasize individuality, such as saying Jewish persons instead of Jewish people. Regardless of intent, though, statements that are about individuals with a common identity can lead to overgeneralizations or stereotyping, so it’s always best to consider whether the individuals’ common identity is an essential part of what you’re trying to say. Choosing how to refer to people can also be informed by preferences around language that’s person-first (as in person with autism) or identity-first (as in autistic person).

More generally, the word people can also be a collective noun that refers to a specific group, nation, tribe, or community, as in We are a resilient people or The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the American people.

Learn more about collective nouns and how to use them.

When to use peoples

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.

This usage emphasizes that you’re talking about several different specific groups that share a commonality. This can be important for clarity—the many people of the world means something different than the many peoples of the world.

In practical terms, using peoples in this way can help to prevent erasure and homogenization of groups that are often lumped together in ways that obscure their specific, complex identities. In this way, the term Indigenous Peoples emphasizes the vast diversity among the world’s Indigenous groups while also implying that there are, in fact, separate and distinct groups.

When should People and Peoples be capitalized?

You may have noticed that Peoples is capitalized in Indigenous Peoples in this article (and in other articles that use the term).

Capitalization is increasingly used as a form of respect and distinction for terms that relate to identity. (Dictionary.com capitalizes Indigenous across the dictionary when it relates to identity in this way, just as we do for the word Black.)

The word Peoples is most often capitalized when it follows a specific modifier, as in Hispanic Peoples and Indigenous Peoples. In cases when it’s capitalized, it is often due to the fact that it refers not to people in general but to specific, distinct communities.

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 what’s represented in the first part of the the abbreviation BIPOC).

What are the possessive forms of person, persons, people and peoples? Where should I put the apostrophe?

Is it people’s or peoples’? Person’s or persons’? All of these are valid possessives, but they indicate different things. Here is a breakdown of each possessive form, along with examples of their use.

Person

• Possessive form: person’s (singular possessive)
• Example: One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.

Persons

• Possessive form: persons’ (plural possessive)
• Example: The suspect confessed to the theft of several persons’ social security numbers.

People

• Possessive form: people’s (plural and singular possessive)
• Plural example: Tech support should be able to fix all six people’s issues by the end of the day.
• Singular example: The French people’s love of fine food is well known.

Peoples

• Possessive form: peoples’ (plural possessive)
• Example: The goal of the festival is to celebrate many different peoples’ cultures.

Examples of persons, people, and peoples used in a sentence

Here are some examples of the ways that each word is commonly used.

• We were hoping that at least one person would apply for the job, but we received applications from 60 people!
• The person or persons who may have witnessed the incident are being sought by police.
• My partner and I, as persons with autism, have a unique perspective on the issue.
• The class will be focused on the history, peoples, and cultures of the region.
• Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a time to honor Indigenous Peoples in the Americas and around the world.

The noun person has two plurals: persons and people. Most people don’t use persons, but the sticklers say there are times when we should. “When we say persons,” says Wilson Follett’s Modern American Usage, “we are thinking, or ought to be, of ones—individuals with identities; whereas when we say people we should mean a large group, an indefinite and anonymous mass.”

The traditional rule is that persons is used for either an exact or a small number. So we might estimate that a hundred people were there. Or if we know the exact number, we’d say ninety-eight persons were there.

As for “a small number,” how small is “small”? In Words on Words, John B. Bremner suggests fewer than fifty. Theodore M. Bernstein concurs, saying in The Careful Writer that fifty people is acceptable. To Bernstein, two people is nearly unthinkable but 4,381 persons is “quite proper.”

Meanwhile, the language moves on. In A Dictionary of Modern American Usage, Bryan A. Garner calls the persons-people distinction “pedantic.” Garner says that twelve persons on the jury “sounds stuffy” and that most Americans today would say people instead. Roy H. Copperud agrees. In A Dictionary of Usage and Style he dismisses the grammatical superiority of persons as “superstition,” a law that “usage has in fact repealed.”

Because persons sounds aloof and clinical, the word still thrives in legal, official, or formal usage. A hotel chain’s website offers “options for three and more persons.” Elevators carry signs saying, “Occupancy by more than eight persons is unlawful.” The Department of Justice has a database called the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

A more timely debate these days would be people vs. folks. Traditionalists regard folks with suspicion and contempt. Bernstein says, “Folks is a casualism … not suitable for general straightforward writing.” Bremner calls it “deliberately folksy” and “corny in formal speech and writing.” But judging by its growing popularity and acceptance in this informal age, folks will probably be synonymous with people in another ten years.

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If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the «Comment» box at the bottom of this page.

• Вопрос

My full name is Yaciel Edelio Tellez Toledo. I come from Cuba. I wrote to you because I am in doubt with the correct use of ‘person’ and ‘people’. That was my question — because I know that ‘person’ and ‘people’ both are nouns and I would like to know when I’m going to use ‘person’ or ‘people’.

Мое полное имя Yaciel Edelio Tellez Toledo. Я из Кубы. Я написал Вам, потому что сомневаюсь в правильном использовании слов «person» и «people» («человек» и «люди«). Мой вопрос вот в чём — я знаю, что слова «person» и «people» оба являются существительными, и я хотел бы узнать, когда я могу использовать «person«, а когда — «people«.

Yaciel Toledo, Cuba

• Ответ

Английское произношение:

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Hi Yaciel and thank you for your question, there are several points to make here. The first one is to do with singular and plural nouns, I’m sure you know that most nouns in English are made plural by putting an s on the end, so for example, girl – girls, boy – boys. But some nouns have irregular plurals, for example child – children. And ‘person’ is one of those nouns that has an irregular plural. ‘People’ is in fact the plural form of person. So for example we talk about one person and two people. So in normal everyday speech you will hear people talking about ‘many people’, ‘there were a lot of people at the concert’, for example.

Привет, Yaciel, и спасибо за ваш вопрос. Здесь стоит отметить несколько пунктов. Во-первых, надо разобраться с единственным и множественным числом. Я уверена, вы знаете, что у большинства существительных в английском языке множественное число образуется добавлением буквы s в конец слова, например, girl — girls, boy — boys. Но некоторые существительные имеют неправильное множественное число, например child — children. И «person» — одно из таких существительных, имеющих неправильное множественное число. «People» — это, по сути, множественное число слова «person». Так, например, об одном человеке мы говорим — one person, о двух людях — two people. И в обычном повседневном общении вы услышите от людей: «many people — много людей», «there were a lot of people at the concert — на концерте было много людей», например.

However it becomes slightly more complicated because sometimes you do see the word ‘persons’. For example if you’re in a lift or elevator you might see the sign ‘Four persons only’. And sometimes if you’re listening to the news, to news reports you may hear news reports talking about persons. So for example 4 persons were injured in the accident, or police are looking for 5 persons. Persons is normally a more formal use, a more formal plural form.

Однако, на самом деле всё немного сложнее, потому что иногда вы можете встретить слово «persons«. Например, в лифте можно увидеть надпись; «Four persons only — Не более четырех человек». Иногда, когда Вы слушаете новости по радио, Вы можете услышать репортажи, в которых употребляется слово «persons«. Например, «4 persons were injured in the accident — 4 человека пострадали в аварии», или «police are looking for 5 persons — полиция разыскивает пятерых человек». Persons — это обычно более официальная форма, более официальное множественное число.

It gets slightly more complicated when you find the word peoples. People can be used to mean a nationality – all of the people of one country – so for example ‘the people of Cuba’. And when you’re talking about a group of nationalities you may find the word ‘peoples’, for example, ‘the peoples of South America’. So that’s another slightly more complicated and not so common use of the word ‘peoples’.

Ещё немного сложнее становится, когда вы видите слово «peoples«. Слово «people» может употребляться для обозначения населения — всех людей одной страны — например, «the people of Cuba — население Кубы». Но когда речь идёт о группе народов, вы можете встретить слово «peoples«, например «the peoples of South America — народы Южной Америки». Это ещё один пример более сложного и нетрадиционного использования слова «peoples«.

Finally you may find the word ‘person’ attached to a number. For example ‘a two-person car’, ‘a three-person room’. This is where ‘person’ is being used to describe the noun. ‘2 – person’ is the adjective describing ‘car’ and as you know we don’t put an ‘s’ on an adjective. So far example we talk about a ‘two-week holiday’ not a ‘two-weeks holiday’ or a ‘three-year course’ not ‘a three-years course’. So hear we use ‘two-person car’.

И, наконец, вы можете встретить слово «person«, употребляемое совместно с числом. Например, «a two-person car — двухместная машина», «a three-person room — трёхместный номер». Здесь слово «person» используется для описания существительного. Двухместный (2-person) — это прилагательное, описывающее машину, а, как вы знаете, окончание «s» к прилагательному не добавляется. Так, например, мы говорим «two-week holiday» (двухнедельный отпуск), а не «two-weeks holiday» или «three-year course» (трёхгодичный курс), а не «three-years course». Поэтому вы слышите, что мы говорим «two-person car».

So in summary, normally you find ‘people’ as the plural form of ‘person’ – one person, three people. Sometimes you’ll find people used to describe the nationality so you’ll find ‘peoples’ to describe different nationalities and sometimes you’ll find the word ‘persons’ in more formal styles of writing or in signs for example.

Итак, подводя итог сказанному: обычно слово «people» употребляется в качестве множественного числа слова «person» — one person — один человек, three people — три человека. Иногда вы можете услышать слово «people«, применённое по отношению к какому-либо народу, а слово «peoples» — для обозначения разных народов. И иногда вы можете найти слово «persons» в более официальном общении или, например, на указателях.

I hope that answers your question.

Я надеюсь, что ответила на ваш вопрос.

Karen Adams