Meaning & use
people
Last updated
Meanings
nounplural
More than one human being, considered individually or as a general group.
Grammar: Already plural in ordinary use: many people, not many peoples, for separate individuals.
Patterns
- many people
- people like someone
- ordinary people
Many people left the office before the storm arrived.
People often remember how you made them feel.
The clinic serves people from across the region.
nouncountable
A nation, community, or ethnic group sharing identity, language, culture, or history.
Grammar: In this sense it is countable: one people, several peoples; do not confuse with the plural of persons.
Patterns
- the people of a country
- an indigenous people
- peoples of the region
The treaty recognized the people of the islands as autonomous.
The museum presents the stories of several First Nations peoples.
A shared festival brought together peoples from neighboring valleys.
Word forms
| plural (nations) | peoples |
|---|
Common combinations
- many people
- Many people volunteer after major floods.
- ordinary people
- The policy affects ordinary people more than executives.
- local people
- Local people were invited to review the park design.
- the American people
- The president addressed the American people on television.
Synonyms and how they differ
- persons
- Persons is formal and common in legal or official phrases such as missing persons; everyday conversation uses people.
- individuals
- Individuals emphasizes separate persons rather than a general mass; it can sound distant or bureaucratic.
- folk
- Folk is informal and often friendly: folks at work; people is neutral.
- humanity
- Humanity means all human beings collectively, not two or three specific persons.
Word family
- person noun
- One human being; people is the ordinary plural for more than one.
- population noun
- All the people living in a place or group.
- populate verb
- To live in or fill a place with people.
- populous adjective
- Having many people living there.
Commonly confused: people or persons? people or peoples?
people vs persons
Use people in everyday English; persons belongs mainly to formal, legal, or official notices.
people vs peoples
Peoples means distinct nations or ethnic groups, while people normally means more than one person.
Practice
Choose the most natural sentence.
Choose one answer.
For separate individuals, people is already plural and takes a plural verb: three people were. Peoples refers to nations or ethnic groups, person needs the plural persons in formal style, and people was is ungrammatical with a countable plural subject here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “people”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.