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Sinhmani Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
The noun person has two plurals: persons and people. Are they interchangeable
I was reading and the following 2 sentences intrigued me:
1-A meal offers “options for three and more persons.”
2- Elevator sign saying, “Occupancy by more than eight persons is unlawful.”=
Though pedantic , but my understanding is that " persons" is for either an exact or a small number.
So we might estimate that a hundred people were there. Or if we know the exact number, we’d say ninety-eight persons were there.
Please advise.
1-A meal offers “options for three and more persons.”
2- Elevator sign saying, “Occupancy by more than eight persons is unlawful.”=
Though pedantic , but my understanding is that " persons" is for either an exact or a small number.
So we might estimate that a hundred people were there. Or if we know the exact number, we’d say ninety-eight persons were there.
Please advise.
Top answer
I do not agree with your comment regarding the usage of "persons" rather than "people". Persons is used in formal context when you are looking at each person individually. The usage of "persons" is more context based than anything else.
- I do not agree with your comment regarding the usage of "persons" rather than "people".
- Persons is used in formal context when you are looking at each person individually.
- The usage of "persons" is more context based than anything else.
- Ex.
- This recipe serves 8 persons.
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3 Answers
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I do not agree with your comment regarding the usage of "persons" rather than "people".
Persons is used in formal context when you are looking at each person individually. The usage of "persons" is more context based than anything else.
Ex. This recipe serves 8 persons.
You can't go wrong by using persons while you are talking about recipes. That's one of the common context that
Persons is used in formal context when you are looking at each person individually. The usage of "persons" is more context based than anything else.
Ex. This recipe serves 8 persons.
You can't go wrong by using persons while you are talking about recipes. That's one of the common context that
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Sinhmanimy understanding is that " persons" is for either an exact or a small number.Correct. However, 'people' is always correct, so if you want, you can use 'people' even for an exact or a small number. I tend to use 'persons' myself in those cases, but 'people' is also all right.
CJ
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hrsaneiYou can't go wrong by using persons while you are talking about recipes."Persons" not common in American English.
The recipe serves 8.
Bring enough potato salad for ten people. (I would never say ten persons.)
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