English Language Discussion Forums


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Ask a Teacher

Quick Links
Sites for Teachers



Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 22-Nov-2005, 04:34
mylittlepony's Avatar
Newbie
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Country: malaysia
Posts: 1
First Language: english
mylittlepony is on a distinguished road
Smile "people" singular or plural..?

Good morning..:)

I just want to make sure whether "people" is singular or plural...

eg: Sometimes, people doesn't know how to use their brain. (is it correct or not?)
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2  
Old 22-Nov-2005, 05:13
Marylin's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Country: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 959
First Language: English
Marylin is on a distinguished road
Default Re: "people" singular or plural..?

Quote:
Originally Posted by mylittlepony
Good morning..:)

I just want to make sure whether "people" is singular or plural...

eg: Sometimes, people doesn't know how to use their brain. (is it correct or not?)
people don't know...

Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 22-Nov-2005, 08:14
Casiopea's Avatar
VIP Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Country: Canada
Posts: 12,989
Current Location: China
First Language: English
Member Type: Other
Casiopea will become famous soon enough
Default Re: "people" singular or plural..?

Additionally,

Semantics
Plural: people
Singular: person

Grammar
Singular: People don't . . .
Singular: A person doesn't . . .

All the best.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 22-Nov-2005, 15:53
Newbie
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Country: The Gambia
Posts: 15
First Language: Mandinka
Lang Kamara is on a distinguished road
Talking Re: "people" singular or plural..?

The word 'people' is singular in writing but plural in meaning. The singular form is 'person'. However, 'people' can be singular both in writing and meaning when it refers to 'nation' or 'race',and its plural form in this case is 'peoples', for example the peoples of Africa.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 12-Oct-2008, 09:07
Newbie
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Country: philippines
Posts: 1
Current Location: cavite
First Language: filipino
Member Type: Student or Learner
ms. iq is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: "people" singular or plural..?

people are singular in pronunciation but it is plural in meaning...just like philippines because philippines is singular in meaning but plural in pronunciation...
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 19-Aug-2009, 02:59
Newbie
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Country: America
Posts: 18
Current Location: Japan
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
macanudo is on a distinguished road
Default Re: "people" singular or plural..?

Persons can also be used in a formal sense:
this room can hold 400 persons.

I recently wrote an article on the singular or plural use of people, staff and data.

I give some examples and explainations in the post. I hope you find it useful.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 19-Aug-2009, 07:59
dawoodusmani's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Country: Pakistan
Posts: 552
Current Location: Karachi, Pakistan
First Language: Urdu
Member Type: Student or Learner
dawoodusmani has a spectacular aura aboutdawoodusmani has a spectacular aura about
Default Re: "people" singular or plural..?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lang Kamara View Post
The word 'people' is singular in writing but plural in meaning. The singular form is 'person'. However, 'people' can be singular both in writing and meaning when it refers to 'nation' or 'race',and its plural form in this case is 'peoples', for example the peoples of Africa.
I agree.
Good answer!
Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to dawoodusmani For This Useful Post:
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
quotpeoplequot, singular, plural

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
SINGULAR NOUN of NOUNS that PLURAL VERB piggy386 Ask a Teacher 5 28-Aug-2005 11:39
Singular or plural form of "to be" Nordic Bill Ask a Teacher 5 17-Aug-2005 21:34
verbs eyescold_07 Ask a Teacher 1 08-Aug-2005 05:32
Is 'manners' plural or singular? peppy_man Ask a Teacher 1 11-Jun-2005 22:53


All times are GMT. The time now is 05:30.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.3.0
Copyright © 2002 - 2009 UsingEnglish.com