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Telcontar Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
peoples' or people's
While writing my master thesis, my supervisor repeatedly corrected my use of people's and peoples', but I cannot figure out the logic behind it. Does anybody know when to use peoples' and when to use people's?
examples of sentences I've written are:
"We all have the desire to believe that we are worthy of other peoples’ love, attention, and respect"
"First, defensiveness has consequences for others because the need to maintain the positive self-image is often met at the expense of other people’s needs and feelings."
Thank you!
By the way, would any native English speaker be interested in checking the English of my master thesis? It is quite a read, around 35 pages doublespaced, and it's about self-defense.
examples of sentences I've written are:
"We all have the desire to believe that we are worthy of other peoples’ love, attention, and respect"
"First, defensiveness has consequences for others because the need to maintain the positive self-image is often met at the expense of other people’s needs and feelings."
Thank you!
By the way, would any native English speaker be interested in checking the English of my master thesis? It is quite a read, around 35 pages doublespaced, and it's about self-defense.
Top answer
In your thesis, you need to use "people's". "Peoples" is the collective noun for people of different races/nations: "The peoples of China and Japan have a common origin".
- In your thesis, you need to use "people's".
- "Peoples" is the collective noun for people of different races/nations: "The peoples of China and Japan have a common origin".
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46 Answers
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In your thesis, you need to use "people's".
"Peoples" is the collective noun for people of different races/nations: "The peoples of China and Japan have a common origin".
"Peoples" is the collective noun for people of different races/nations: "The peoples of China and Japan have a common origin".
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I am curious. How do you justify your use of "people"? Based on observation, I thought that "people" was plural and only plural. If this is so, why add an "s"? If you say "The people of China and Japan...," this does not seem to change the meaning of the sentence--at least not obviously. For clarity, I would simply rewrite the sentence to avoid the possessive form of "people." For even if you th
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there are two groups of people. the people of china and the people of japan. it is to show the separation of the groups, although i don't disagree with your suggestion to rewrite. any phrase i am not comfortable with i try to change because the objective is to get your point across not to use a specific set of words.
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Sorry, but I don't think your answer helps! It's true what you said about the plural of people. But the writer wanted to know about the possessive use of people. I was thinking about the same problem and I think that with irregular plurals you treat them like a singular noun, e.g. "children's toys", ... and that people has to be treated in the same way, therefore "people's ambitions" etc.
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If you are writing a possessive phrase, then you need to write people's, as it is an irregular plural (doesn't end in 's' in its plural form). There is no use for peoples' - it is a misuse of people's.
You wrote "...people's love, attention and respect."
You mean their love, attention and respect, so you are writing a possessive phrase, which needs an apostrophe.
If a w
You wrote "...people's love, attention and respect."
You mean their love, attention and respect, so you are writing a possessive phrase, which needs an apostrophe.
If a w
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I think the better question is: Why was your supervisor writing your master thesis? 
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People's, because people is already a plural noun. Like "Gentlemen's Club" or "Children's Playground".
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You are correct. As a possessive it is written as people's, example " people's opinions differ drastically on this subject."
However, when describing race and or origin, groups(or grouping) of people the use of peoples' is appropriate.
However, when describing race and or origin, groups(or grouping) of people the use of peoples' is appropriate.
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