From time to time, you might hear people arguing whether to use “persons” or “people” when referring to multiple individuals.
There once was a rule that “persons” was the plural form of “person”, but “people” was actually a singular word used to refer to a group of individuals. That rule exists today only with the most pedantic of grammarians. Most have accepted that general usage has relegated “persons” to primarily legal matters in favour of “people”.
That being said, English speakers have been using “people” as a plural of “person” for centuries. This usage goes back at least to the 14th century. For example, consider this line in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, which was written in the 1380s:
He hath slain a thousand people this pestilence.
Today, dictionaries favour “people” over “persons”. Here are just 4 examples, but there are many, many more:
The words people and persons can both be used as the plural of person, but they have slightly different connotations. People is by far the commoner of the two words and is used in most ordinary contexts: a group of people; there were only about ten people; several thousand people have been rehoused. Persons, on the other hand, tends now to be restricted to official or formal contexts, as in this vehicle is authorized to carry twenty persons; no persons admitted without a pass.
Persons (plural) is a very formal word. We only use it in rather legalistic contexts . . . To refer to groups of human beings or humans in general, we use people:
The usual plural form of person is people (not persons), and this is used in all ordinary contexts. . . The form persons is used only in specialized contexts, especially in laws and legal documents, police reports, and public notices.
People is the plural form that most people are most comfortable with most of the time. Persons seems excessively formal and stilted in ordinary conversation or casual writing. One would probably not say, “How many persons came to your birthday
So, if you’re one of those persons who insists on delineating the meanings of “persons” and “people”, you might want to make sure this is the hill you want to die on because it’s certainly not a battle you’ll win.
