People vs. Persons: When to Write or Say ‘People’ vs. ‘Persons’

In terms of etymology, both “persons” and “people” have their origins in Latin; however, “person” derives from “persona” (referring to an individual) and “people” derives from “populus” (referring to a group of individuals or a population).

When speaking or writing in the English language, you may encounter a situation where you have to use a term to describe a group of human beings. English grammar dictates that “people” is generally a collective noun and “persons” is generally a plural noun, with the latter appearing primarily in formal situations, such as in legal work. Collective nouns are terms that describe a number of individuals as a unit; examples include choir, committee, and jury.

If you find it too difficult to decide which word to use in a specific context, you might instead opt to use a synonym for “people,” such as “human beings,” “individuals,” “humans,” “mankind,” “humanity,” “personages” and “citizens.”

Past generations of US English speakers used “persons” more frequently as the plural form of “person.” But modern English has evolved so that now more speakers consider “people” the correct word to say or write when referring to individuals in the plural. As a result, the use of the word “persons” has become less frequent.

While "person" is a singular noun and always refers to a single human being or individual, "people" can refer to a small group, a lot of people, or an entire populus—for example, groups of individuals or groups of people that are maybe even too large to be countable. If you’re writing about multiple individuals, multiple ethnic groups, or multiple nationalities, you’re referring to one or more collective nouns and should use the word "people."

Legal contexts, formal documentation, and law enforcement present exceptions to the normal usage of “persons” and “people.” For example, lease agreements use the term “persons” in legal writing on their documents. In legalese, it doesn’t matter the number of humans referenced, as “persons” can be a singular noun or a plural noun, applied to a business or a small group of people. Additionally, “missing persons” is a department in many police departments.

To further understand when to use “people” or “persons” in a sentence, it might help to see examples of the terms in use. Here are a few movie quotes that include one of the two words in context:

• The Avengers (2012): “Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of use?”
• Gone Girl (2014): “... the missing persons case of Amy Elliott Dunne.”
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001): “I would have her leave these shores and be with her people.”
• The Matrix (1999): “Billions of people just living out their lives. Oblivious.”
• Red State (2011): “What made 'em persons of interest was an interview Cooper gave to the Patriot Times right about then.”
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991): “Ray, get pictures of her teeth. We'll fax 'em for Missing Persons.”

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