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  1. How to choose between two words that seem to mean the same thing. 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. For references to groups of a specific or general number, either people or persons may be used. However, modern style guides tend to ...

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  3. We use person in the singular to refer to any human being: Joel is such a nice person. She’s a person I have a lot of respect for. Persons (plural) is a very formal word. We only use it in rather legalistic contexts: [notice in a lift] Any person or persons found in possession of illegal substances will be prosecuted.

    • Peoplevs. Personsas Plurals
    • Personsor Peoplein Formal Legal Writing
    • Peoplevs. Peoplesfor Ethnic Groups and Nationalities
    • Persons, People, Or Peoples?

    Personand peopleboth derive from Latin, but from different words. Personcame from persona, which first meant “mask,” like that worn by an actor, but eventually came to mean “an individual human.” People, on the other hand, came from populus, which means “the people” in the sense of a group from the same nation, community, or ethnic group. There was...

    In the legal world, including law enforcement, personsis used regularly. It is helpful because nothing is collective where the law is concerned; individuals are prosecuted, not groups. Some legal expressions, such as persons of interestand missing persons, reflect this grammatical preference. Some people use personsin writing that is legal-sounding...

    When you refer to the people of a single ethnic group or nationality, always use the word people. Peoplesis only used in cases when it is necessary to distinguish between ethnic groups within the same geographical or cultural context.

    The plural of personshould be peoplein the vast majority of contexts, although legalese uses the plural persons. Peoplesshould be reserved for instances where you are referring to more than one distinct ethnic group.

  4. Oct 11, 2021 · Quick summary. Both persons and people can be used as plural forms of person. Persons is often used in formal, legal contexts to emphasize individuals as opposed to a group. People is the plural of person that’s most commonly used in everyday communication to simply refer to multiple humans.

  5. 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 ...

  6. Jun 6, 2022 · The terms people and persons are both plural forms of the word person, but they’re not used in the same situations. People is generally the correct term to use when referring to more than one person — but there are a few important exceptions when you should use persons instead.

  7. People vs. Persons: The Plural of Person. Both persons and people are what we call collective nouns, and both are the plural forms of the singular noun person. Wait, they’re both the correct term? Yes and no. Let me explain.

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