people vs. the people

Question

Hi,When I see sentences with the words "people" and "the people", I sometimes wonder why that could be?Ex.People who have eaten much need to move around for a while before going to sleep.The people who have eaten much need to move around for a while before going to sleep.   Is the clause "who have eaten much" a definitve clause?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Yes, it is.

CalifJim · Answer

Although "people" is an irregular plural (for "person"), it is no different in terms of its use either in a definite or indefinite expression.

Indefinite: books, tables, people
Definite: the books, the tables, the people

Use the indefinite form to speak generically of these things.

Books are expensive these days.
People can have such strange ideas!

Use the definite form to speak of particular instances of these things.

The tables in the kitchen need to be cleaned.
The people at my company are very hard workers.

CJ

Janissary · Answer

thnx

Anonymous · Answer

0Hi,02br
02br
00Is the rule of definiteness or specificity still prevails for the following situaton?02br
02br
00Please put the books on the table. 01i00(You are telling one to put specific books on a specific table. Right?)02i02br
02br
00Please put books on table. (01i00You are telling non-specified books on a non-specified table. Right?)02i0-

Mister Micawber · Answer

0Your second sentence contains the singular noun,01i00 table02i00, which requires the indefinite article, 01b01i00a02i02b00, to complete your concept of non-specification. Otherwise, yes: your assumptions are correct.0-

Anonymous · Answer

0Sorry, omitting "a" was inadvertently done. I don't want to drag this one for long but can you help me why in this situation, one would use "the" when mentioning to a group with a bunch of tables. How does he know which one or ones are being referred to or being specified upon?02br
02br
00Situation: He is speaking to a group of people.02br
02br
00OK, guys, put your utensils on 01u00the table02u00.02br
02br
00There are so many tables in a room but the rule of specificity still functions well in this case too?02br
02br
00(Or you think, what the heck, 01i00the table02i00 or 01i00the tables02i00, from the context, one knows what I am talking about. Context.. That's what is about. 01i00Would you lay out that reasoning?)02i0-

Teo · Answer

0 01blockquote

01cite10Anonymous12cite11b10People who12b10 have eaten much need to move around for a while before going to sleep.12br
12br
11b10The people who12b10 have eaten much need to move around for a while before going to sleep. 12br
12br
12blockquote

10What's the difference in meaning between these two sentences?0-

CalifJim · Answer

0 The first one is a general statement. It says that 01i00anybody02i00 (It doesn't matter who they are. The statement applies to everybody.) 01i00who has eaten a lot02i00 is going to have to move around for a while before going to sleep.02br
02br
00 The second one is not a general statement about everybody. It is a statement about 01i00only those people who have eaten a lot02i00 (We know which group of people this is because we've been talking about them previously or we have seen them eating a lot.), saying that they (and no one else) are going to have to move around for a while before going to sleep.02br
02br
00 CJ0-

Anonymous · Answer

0Thank you. Would you say that the following two sentences are of the same nature as the one we have been discussing?02br
02br
01i00A lot of 01u00people02u00 were hungry during the disaster.02i02br
02br
01i00A lot of 01u00the people02u00 were hungry during the disaster.02i02br
02br
00Like the first sentence is a general stmt. and the second sentence is not.0-

people vs. the people

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions