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Italy flagFrancesca
Difference between people and persons I would like to know the difference between people and persons.

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Thank you, so clear!
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This is a tough question. When you are talking about many individuals in general, then you should use the term “people”. You use this term especially when the individuality of each person is not important, When you are talking about several individuals and it’s important to emphasize each individual’s individuality, then you would use “persons”. For example, if you wanted to talk about many individuals being invited to a party, then you would say something like “I invited 15 *people* to the party.” This is because the individuality of each partygoer is unimportant to the context. But if you wanted to say there were 4 American Presidents who were assassinated, then you would use the term “persons” because the individuality of each person (the President of the United States) is important. So, you may use a sentence like “Among all the Presidents of the United States, 4 *persons* were assassinated. Also, keep in mind, that the term “persons” (instead of “people”) is often used in a law enforcement or legal context. So, for example, police will use the term “persons of interest” (instead of “people of interest”) when talking about possible criminal suspects. This is probably because, once again, it’s important to emphasize the individuality of each possible suspect

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