英語詞匯：persons和people有什么區(qū)別？

但是，有好奇心的寶寶們應(yīng)該會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，在某些場(chǎng)合，person也會(huì)出現(xiàn)復(fù)數(shù)形式：persons。

就比如在電梯中，不知道大家有沒有看到過電梯墻壁上會(huì)寫著類似于Maximum 13 persons的標(biāo)識(shí)語。

那么問題來了，同樣表示復(fù)數(shù)，persons和people有什么區(qū)別呢?

什么時(shí)候用people?

People, as a plural noun, refers to two or more individuals.

People，作為復(fù)數(shù)名詞，指代兩個(gè)或兩個(gè)以上的人。

If Keri is a person and Chris is a person, then Keri and Chris are two people.

如果Keri是一個(gè)人，Chris是一個(gè)人，那么Keri和Chris是兩個(gè)人(people)。

People can be used in reference to any group of two or more individuals.

People可以用來指代任意一個(gè)兩人或以上的群體。

例句：

Because the weather was so bad, only 700 people attended the baseball game.

因?yàn)樘鞖馓睿挥?00人參加了這場(chǎng)棒球比賽。

什么時(shí)候用persons?

In the past, persons referred to a specific number of individuals, whereas people was used in a more general sense.

過去，persons指具體數(shù)量的人，而people用來表達(dá)更加籠統(tǒng)寬泛的意思。

You would not use persons in reference to groups of large or indeterminate size, such as a room full of students, the crowd at a football game, or the population of Sudan.

表達(dá)指代較大數(shù)量人群或不確定數(shù)量的人群時(shí)，不可以用persons。例如，充滿學(xué)生的屋子，足球比賽的觀賽人群，或者蘇丹的人口。

Today, the use of persons has narrowed to specific phrases, usually in a legal or law enforcement context.

現(xiàn)在，persons的用法變得更加有限，只在個(gè)別短語中使用，通常是法律法規(guī)的條文中。

If you have a small, specific number, like three bank robbers or two runaway children, you might choose to say persons of interest or missing persons instead, as the case may be.

如果你想表達(dá)的是一個(gè)較小的、具體的數(shù)字，比如三個(gè)銀行劫匪或者兩個(gè)走丟的孩子，你可以說persons of interest (嫌疑犯)，或者missing persons(走丟人口)。

例如：

The police are searching for three persons of interest in connection with the armed robbery of a bank Tuesday night.

警方正在搜尋與周四的銀行持械搶劫案有關(guān)的幾名嫌疑犯。

*Outside of these situations, persons is not commonly used.

*除開以上這幾種情況外，persons一般很少用到。