Most of the time, people is the correct word to choose as a plural for person. Persons is archaic, and it is safe to avoid using it, except in legal writing, which has its own traditional language. Peoples is only necessary when you refer to distinct ethnic groups (for example, within the same region).
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Can you say persons?
“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.
How do you use persons correctly?
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.
Can you use persons as plural?
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.
Can we use it for persons?
The pronoun it is not used to refer to people, or used for cases of unknown or indistinct gender. It can be used to refer to something not stated, or assumed in conversation but obvious to both speaker and listener.
Can you say 2 persons?
The plural of person should be people in the vast majority of contexts, although legalese uses the plural persons. Peoples should be reserved for instances where you are referring to more than one distinct ethnic group.
What are the 3 persons in English?
English has three persons (first, second, and third).
Can you say 10 persons?
The words people and persons can both be used as the plural of person, but they are not used in exactly the same way. People is by far the more common of the two words and is used in most ordinary contexts: “a group of people”; “there were only about ten people“; “several thousand people have been rehoused”.
Why do legal documents say persons?
Use ‘Persons’ With Law Enforcement
The phrase persons of interest refers to individuals whom law enforcement believes may be involved with a crime. Assuming they have not been arrested or charged, such individuals are referred to as persons of interest, not people of interest.
What is the plural of people?
So basically, both person and people can be used as singular nouns, people can be used as a plural noun and persons and peoples are also acceptable plural forms.
Does persons need an apostrophe?
The person who posted above me was correct, and apostrophes should never be used to indicate that a noun is plural. Any word ending with an “s” should have an apostrophe after the s when something is belonging to the person or thing described by the word.
Is person countable or uncountable?
The word ‘person’ describes either one man, woman, or child. It is a singular countable noun, and has two plural forms. These are ‘people’ (most commonly used) and ‘persons’ (usually used in official circumstances).
What is grammar person?
What Is ‘Person’ in Grammar? (with Examples) Person is a category used to distinguish between (1) those speaking, (2) those being addressed, and (3) those who are neither speaking nor being addressed (i.e., everybody else). These three categories are called the first person, the second person, and the third person.
How many persons are in grammar?
three grammatical persons
There are three grammatical persons in English: 1) First person.
Is your 2nd person?
You, your, and yours – these are the three second-person pronouns. Second-person pronouns are the words writers use when they are addressing one or more readers directly. They are also used when we speak directly to people.
What pronoun is used for person?
I, me, you, we, us, he, him, she, her, they, them and it are called personal pronouns as they take the place of a particular person or thing in a sentence or a context.
Which is correct people’s lives or peoples lives?
“People” is already plural (it’s one of the plurals of “person”), so you don’t add an S first to make it plural – you add the apostrophe and then an S to make it possessive – “people’s lives” = “the lives of multiple people.”
What is a person in legal terms?
person” means an individual, corporation, business. trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture or any legal or commercial.
How many types of persons are there in law?
There are two kinds of persons: natural persons and juridical persons. A natural person is a human being. A juridical person is an entity to which the law attributes personality, such as a corporation or a partnership. The personality of a juridical person is distinct from that of its members.
What is legal status of a person?
Legal status is the status or position held by an entity as determined by the law. It includes or entails a set of privileges, obligations, powers or restrictions that a person or thing has as encompassed in or declared by legislation.
Is it correct to say fishes?
The plural of fish is usually fish. When referring to more than one species of fish, especially in a scientific context, you can use fishes as the plural. The zodiac sign Pisces is also often referred to as fishes.