英語詞匯：persons和people有什么區(qū)別？

但是，有好奇心的寶寶們應該會發(fā)現(xiàn)，在某些場合，person也會出現(xiàn)復數(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寫著類似于Maximum 13 persons的標識語。

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

什么時候用people?

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

People，作為復數(shù)名詞，指代兩個或兩個以上的人。

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

如果Keri是一個人，Chris是一個人，那么Keri和Chris是兩個人(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兩人或以上的群體。

例句：

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

因為天氣太差，只有700人參加了這場棒球比賽。

什么時候用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.

表達指代較大數(shù)量人群或不確定數(shù)量的人群時，不可以用persons。例如，充滿學生的屋子，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.

如果你想表達的是一個較小的、具體的數(shù)字，比如三個銀行劫匪或者兩個走丟的孩子，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。