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Lynn3 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

people and persons

People is for plurla. Person is for singular.

However, I have seen that someone used "persons" in an aritle.

Q: what the difference between "people" and "persons"?

Thanks

Lynn
  

Top answer

html "Some grammarians have insisted that people is a collective noun that should not be used as a substitute for persons when referring to a specific number of individuals. By this thinking you should say Six persons (not people) were arrested during the protest. " I prefer using however instead of but to start a sentence, that's why I edited the quote.

— Wwwdotcom

  • html "Some grammarians have insisted that people is a collective noun that should not be used as a substitute for persons when referring to a specific number of individuals.
  • By this thinking you should say Six persons (not people) were arrested during the protest.
  • " I prefer using however instead of but to start a sentence, that's why I edited the quote.
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3 Answers
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Simple answer: just use "people", don't use "persons"

http://www.bartleby.com/64/C003/0226.html

"Some grammarians have insisted that people is a collective noun that should not be used as a substitute for persons when referring to a speci
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You are most likely to see persons in formal instructions, for example, a sign on a lift (elevator) stating it is suitable for 6 persons - and it sounds rather old-fashioned even then. Persons isn't really used in everyday language.
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I think some native speakers use "persons" when they mean plural independent individuals by the phrase. My google survey gives 33,700 and 36,800 hits for "...persons, each of whom ..." and "...people, each of whom ..." respectively.

paco
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