The British Council?s language clinic with ?Dr Danny?

Hello and welcome again to the British Council?s English language clinic. This week I have been asked to deal with an issue, which was originally raised in the first ?Dr Danny? article; which is correct, ?people? or ?persons?? More exactly, the question is: what is the correct plural form of the noun ?person?? For the majority of nouns, forming the plural is simply a matter of adding an ?s? to the end of the word. For example, ?hand? (singular) becomes ?hands? (plural), these are known as regular plural forms. There are a group of nouns, which do not follow this rule, known as irregular plural forms. For example, ?foot? (singular) becomes ?feet? (plural). So, is the plural form of the noun ?person? regular or irregular? The answer is both; either ?people? or ?persons? is correct. There is a pseudo-rule which suggests that ?persons? should be used to refer to a specific, countable number of individuals, whereas ?people? should refer to a large, indefinite number; but there is a much more important difference.

Using language is an exercise in decision making, as we have already seen with synonyms and idioms, there is always more than one way of saying something, more than one style of language. One of the stylistic decisions we make is whether to use formal or informal language, ?Hi? or ?Hello?, ?Yeah? or ?Yes?. This is the important difference between the two words. ?Persons? is very formal and quite old-fashioned; it is used mainly in official documents, especially concerning legal matters. ?People?, on the other hand, is less formal and used conversationally in British English; it is the commonly accepted plural form of person. As a simple answer to the question, ?people? will always sound appropriate and fluent, whereas ?persons? will always sound very formal and often inappropriate.

Please send your comments, queries and questions to ?Dr Danny?at the British Council Language Clinic by emailing the following address: [email protected]

To find out more about the differences between formal and informal language and the other factors affecting the decisions we make when communicating, please contact the British Council by phoning 403 0200. To register for courses at the British Council, please visit us in Rose Hill by Saturday 14th April, the last day of this term?s registration period!