Vocabulary

Question

Can we use both "people" and "persons" as the plural forms of the word person? Are they equal and common?Kind regardsJA

GPY · Accepted Answer

The usual plural is "people". "persons" is used in certain formal contexts, such as legal or official notices.

CalifJim · Answer

Joseph A
Can we use both "people" and "persons" as the plural forms of the word person? Are they equal and common?
Kind regards
JA

Both are used, but 'people' is much more common than 'persons'.

The most important distinction, in my opinion, is the idea that people is a collective concept. It is used in almost all cases. Exceptions are mentioned in the next paragraph.

Persons involves individuation of some kind. It is only used with small numbers of individuals. 'person of interest' is a particularly fixed form in the context of crime solving. Maximum occupancy of a room or an elevator is also expressed in persons: Maximum capacity: 10 persons.

Have you met the new professor? [People / *Persons] say that he's very strict.
The journalist interviewed several [persons / people] of great importance in the government.
The police have not yet arrested Mr. Adderston, but he is one of several [persons / ?people] of interest to them in the matter.

CJ

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