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is the term peoples a word? - Printable Version

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is the term peoples a word? by Jarrod on 01-13-2009 at 07:55 AM

this is a grammatical error that drives me insane when people are speaking. though some people say i am wrong and that the term peoples is infact a word.

this is a grammatical error that drives me insane when peoples are speaking. though some peoples say i am wrong and that the term 'peoples' is infact a word.

My view on the matter is...
any use of the term peoples is incorrect - as it is using a double plural
use of the term people's is correct - demonstrating ownership

so if the word people is plural there can be no plural of a plural word.
examples:
fish = singular or plural -> fishes is infact bad grammar, unless implying ownership (fish's)

sheep = singular or plural -> sheeps is infact bad grammar, unless implying ownership (sheep's)

goose = singular, geese = plural -> geeses is infact bad grammar unless it's implying ownership (geese's)

this leads me to believe that the word people behaves in the same way

person = singular, people = plural -> peoples is not a word, unless you are implying ownership, for example the people's republic of china.

so where do you stand?
does hearing the term peoples expel from people's mouth drive you insane or do you infact think I am wrong and wish to tell me that peoples is infact a word?




RE: is the term peoples a word? by MeEtc on 01-13-2009 at 08:05 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Jarrod
does hearing the term peoples expel from people's mouth drive you insane or do you infact think I am wrong and wish to tell me that peoples is infact a word?
Neither. In every day living, I wouldn't give a damn.

Yes I agree that "peoples" is not grammatically correct, but it doesn't make me want to pull my hair out either.
RE: is the term peoples a word? by Moh on 01-13-2009 at 08:31 AM

It is a word, and it means the human beings of a particular nation or ethnic group. Fish and Sheep are uncountable unlike People.

RE: is the term peoples a word? by Spunky on 01-13-2009 at 09:15 AM

Persons is plural of person. So what is the singular of people :D

RE: RE: is the term peoples a word? by Jarrod on 01-13-2009 at 09:22 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Moh Zayadi
It is a word, and it means the human beings of a particular nation or ethnic group. Fish and Sheep are uncountable unlike People.
u can count both fish and sheep,
but u don't say i have 10 clown fishes and 4 blowfishes
RE: is the term peoples a word? by Moh on 01-13-2009 at 09:24 AM

Person is the singular of both Persons and People. It's all about the usages.

RE: is the term peoples a word? by vaccination on 01-13-2009 at 09:27 AM

define: peoples

meh.

RE: RE: RE: is the term peoples a word? by Moh on 01-13-2009 at 09:29 AM

u can count both fish and sheep,
but u don't say i have 10 clown fishes and 4 blowfishes

True you dont use an "s".
RE: is the term peoples a word? by djdannyp on 01-13-2009 at 03:16 PM

"Peoples" is definitely not a word

And to satisfy my curiosity I doubled checked in OED....and peoples is most definitely not a word :P

So yes, anyone using it is gramatically incorrect.

The one that really gets my goat is "he should of done it"

there is no verb 'to of'   the verb is indeed "to have"...."he should have done it"

anything else is just so ignorant it's actually painful, lol