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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Arsenal IS a team.From BBC Sport http://makeashorterlink.com/?V37B5579 Arsenal seal an FA Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough after beating Newcastle United 3-0 at Highbury. (Italics mine)
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Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
I guess BBC English ain't what it used to be!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315 |
To me this is very interesting question, since it is one among the most common mistakes I do in English.
The fact is that in Italian POPOLO is definitely singular, so that I have to force myself everytime I have to use verbs with people.
P.S. This is my post number 199 ! Just one more to be... what? I don't remember, I will see..
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Joined: Jan 2001
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old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Dear emanuela,
Although popolo sounds like people I think that gente is more equivalent to people.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Just for the record. If one were taking a standardized test, multiple choice, and the question was "Which of the following words is the plural of the word person:
a. persons
b. people
c. personae
d. personal"
...the correct answer would be a. persons.
Best regards,
WordWorries
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
I realize that. But no one in everyday speech says "persons" when they mean "people", that's all I was trying to get at. It just seemed odd to me, when I thought about it a bit the other morning at breakfast!
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
...the correct answer would be e. whatever the test writer thought was the correct answer.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,539 Likes: 1
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,539 Likes: 1 |
...the plural of the word person:
a. persons
b. people
c. personae
d. personal
...would be a. persons
As in The Mikado, Act I:
KO. Allow me to present you, Pooh-Bah. These are my three wards. The one in the middle is my bride elect.
POOH. What do you want me to do to them? Mind, I will not kiss them.
KO. No, no, you shan't kiss them; a little bow--a mere nothing--you needn't mean it, you know.
POOH. It goes against the grain. They are not young ladies, they are young persons.
---------
Quite the opposite, it would seem, of the OED definition in which
" person denotes 'rank or character' and also says 'an individual of high rank, distinction or importance.' " a "personage of noble rank and title," as Gilbert had said earlier.
A sense of irony has apparently developed over time.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
I think we have to differentiate between two different meanings of people.
1. people = ethnic/tribal group, nation (can be singular or plural) So "we are a people" is as unproblematic as "we are a nation". Rather old-fashioned now perhaps.
A great people will arise in the West.
The peoples who poured over the Rhine were fleeing from invaders further East.
2. people = humans in general (plural)
I think most people agree.
People have been known to plummet to their deaths from high buildings.
Bingley
Bingley
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322 |
Let me add a third
3. people seeming to be the plural of person/individual (i.e., not humans in general):
I saw two people on the other side of the street.
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