Persons , People 和Peoples—有什么差别
大多数时候,选择people作为person的复数形式是正确的。Persons是古老的,避免使用它是安全的,除非在法律文书中,因为法律文书有自己的传统语言。Peoples只有在提到不同的种族群体(例如,在同一地区)时才有必要。
People 和persons 作为复数
Person和people都源自拉丁语,但来自不同的单词。Person来源于persona,最初的意思是“面具”,就像演员戴的面具一样,但最终变成了“个人”的意思。另一方面,People这个词来自populus, populus的意思是“人民”,指的是来自同一个国家、社区或种族的群体。
历史上曾有一段时间,有人提出在语法上,当一个以上的人被称为可数名词时,persons应优先使用复数形式,people应优先使用不可数名词,也称为质量名词。这种做法并没有成为标准,如今,复数人称只在法律语境中被认为是正确的,偶尔也被故意用来单独指代人,而不是统称。
Eighty people came to my Star Wars costume party on May the Fourth.
Six persons came dressed as either Princess Leia or Darth Vader, but the rest of the people were all wookies. (可接受是因为人们的个人选择与环境相关。)
Six people came dressed as either Princess Leia or Darth Vader, but the rest of the people were all wookies. (同样可以接受.)
More people should recycle their paper to save trees.
Why don’t more people realize that capybaras are rodents?
Sixteen people protested on the White House lawn this Saturday.
Persons 或 people 在正规的法律文本中
在法律领域,包括执法部门,persons经常被使用。这是有帮助的,因为就法律而言,没有什么是集体的;被起诉的是个人,而不是群体。一些法律用语,如有关人员和失踪人员,反映了这种语法偏好。有些人在写作中使用person,听起来是合法的,但从定义上来说并不严格合法,比如规则和公共通知。
Any person or persons vandalizing courthouse property will be fined.
There are two persons of interest being questioned for the murder of John Doe.
The Douglas County Police Department has seventeen open missing persons cases.
No more than six persons can occupy the hot tub at any one time.
One political context in which persons is correct is in the expression displaced persons.
Visas will be expedited for refugees and displaced persons.
在法律语境之外使用person听起来可能会受到不必要的影响。在商业环境中完全避免使用它。
To the persons who stole my muffins from the break room: I will be avenged. (A bit silly, given the offense.)
Persons who retain our services will be charged a monthly fee.
Those who retain our services will be charged a monthly fee.
People 和 peoples 用于族群和民族
当你提到一个民族或国家的人时,一定要用people这个词。
The people of China no longer need to abide by the one-child policy.
Emmanuel Macron was elected by the people of France on May 7, 2017.
“We here highly resolve that government of the people, for the people, and by the people will not perish from the earth.” (Abraham Lincoln)
Peoples仅在有必要区分同一地理或文化背景下的不同民族时使用。
The Israeli and Palestinian peoples have long been at war.
The peoples of the world practice a wide variety of religions.
Persons, people, 还是 peoples?
在大多数情况下,person的复数形式应该是people,尽管法律术语使用复数形式。“Peoples”这个词应该保留在你指的不止一个不同种族的时候。