And when would they be used properly?
I grew up using only “people” then I feel like one day the words “persons” started to get used in society and I don’t know why or when to use it.
In: 209
Person = (single) individual
Persons = (plural) individuals (The police have identified six persons of interest)
People = (single) a group or population of individuals (We, the people of these United States,…)
Peoples = (plural) many groups or populations (The Israeli and Palestinian peoples have long been at war.)
I think people is a bunch of “person” in the same place, but “Persons” differentiates between different people when you wanna. Like a school of fish or a sea of fishes.
So persons would be referring to multiple individual but separate “people” (a building full of black people, white people and Asian people, and it’s important to differentiate)
I was always taught that the plural of person is people. “Persons” just seems… I don’t know what the right word is other than _wrong_.
When in doubt, use “people”. “Persons” is only used in a few specific legal/technical contexts, and even then you’re generally fine to say “people” unless you’re a professional in the relevant field.
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From my understanding, persons is more for multiple individuals. People refers more to an actual group. This distinction may or may not matter.
“persons” is a little more formal than “people”. Unlike “people”, it must also be specific (e.g. you can substitute “these people” with “these persons”, but you can’t substitute “people like me” with “persons like me”). Finally, “people” can be used as a singular (“the people of madagascar”), but “persons” can’t.
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