Is it incorrect to say PERSONS?

Believe it or not the answer is NO.
But of course you must know when and how to use the term PERSONS if you are going to use it.
The widely accepted plural form of PERSON is PEOPLE, but it was not always that way. In the past the only plural was PERSONS. 
Originally, PEOPLE was only used to design the group of individuals that together were the population of some place or nation (what in Spanish we call EL PUEBLO) and it was only as time passed by that the use of PEOPLE  as the plural form of PERSON became permanent. 
PERSONS is used in legal contexts mainly, also in poems or in very specific situations when the number of individuals involved is really limited, e.g. I heard voices like two persons were talking outside.
So, there you are, it's not the word but how you use it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What are LAS TRES MARÍAS called in English?

The Maps of Ship-Trap Island

How do you say NACIMIENTO NAVIDEÑO in English?