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Plural of Person

by Craig Shrives

The Quick Answer

The most common plural of "person" is "people." It is possible to use the plural "persons" in certain situations.

The Plural of Person

The most common plural of "person" is "people."

If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.
Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.

The plural "persons" can be used in a limited number of situations. It usually reserved for legal and very formal texts (like newspapers) and unless it is used in this way, it is widely regarded as a mistake.

Persons of interest are being questioned following the disappearance of a pregnant woman from Little Village three weeks ago.
You must act with other regulated persons in a manner consistent with persons having mutual trust and confidence in each other.

Below is a table for the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English.

Table of Contents

Are You Good at Plurals?
The Standard Rules for Forming the Plurals
Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Person?
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The Standard Rules for Forming the Plurals

The table below shows the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English.

Type	Example of Type	Forming the Plural	Plural
Most Nouns	person scythe	add s	persons scythes
Noun Ending s, sh, ch, x or z	bus dress	add es	buses dresses
Nouns ending [consonant] o	potato zero	add either s or es (There are no rules for this - you have to know.)	potatoes zeros
Nouns ending [vowel] o	patio ratio	add s	patios ratios
Nouns ending [consonant] y	story penny	change the y to an i and add es	stories pennies
Nouns ending [vowel] y	storey () donkey	add s	storeys donkeys
Nouns ending f or fe	dwarf knife	ves and/or s (There are no rules - you have to know.)	dwarfs knives
Exceptions	person louse	some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change	people lice
More exceptions	salmon sheep	some nouns do not change at all	salmon sheep

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Person?

There is confusion because "person" typically has an irregular way of forming its plural. It's possible to write "persons," but this is only acceptable when written as part of a law or a ruling. For example:

"Persons" of interest
Missing "persons"

There is no such word as "peoples." People denotes an unspecified number of more than one person.

Beware

Don't Use an Apostrophe to Form a Plural

Adding 's is never an option when forming the plural of a noun. Despite this simple rule, inexperienced writers often feel compelled to add an apostrophe, especially when the noun ends with a vowel (e.g., piano, tomato, emu). For example:

Mango's are low in calories.
Mangoes are low in calories.

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