Thread: Person, People, Persons

I was wondering if this is the same in Russian. In English, the plural of person can be people and persons.. 'people' is more commonly used of course. So, in Russian can you do the same?

человек --> люди
человек --> человеки

Although 'человеки' sounds weird to me.

Originally Posted by MalenkayaKatinka

человек --> человеки

Человеки is considered illiterate can be used only jokingly nowdays (люди-человеки, etc.).

Thanks gRomoZeka! I didn't think it sounded right, but you never know.. I'm not a native speaker so I could've been wrong.

Yes, but you can have человек in all the other cases, in both the singular and plural forms, in some cases.

In English we also have peoples

"OK peoples! Listen up now."

Originally Posted by DDT

"OK peoples! Listen up now."

Exactly....

- Папа, а там человеки яму копают!
- Не человеки, а люди, сынок.
- Пап, а один людь в яму упал!

Originally Posted by MalenkayaKatinka

I was wondering if this is the same in Russian. In English, the plural of person can be people and persons.. 'people' is more commonly used of course. So, in Russian can you do the same?

человек --> люди
человек --> человеки

Although 'человеки' sounds weird to me.

There's a word "человечество" which means "humanity", but it's humanity not people.

Yeah, but peoples is not really correct, I don't think. I've heard it used but in a way to make something funny.

Originally Posted by MalenkayaKatinka

Yeah, but peoples is not really correct, I don't think. I've heard it used but in a way to make something funny.

Yes it is. You'll here it used as a way to describe nations. "Peoples of the North," "Tribal Peoples," "Aboriginal Peoples," etc. Trust me, it's not a joke. The UN and the various NGOs and Academic bodies that use the term have NO sense of humor.

People is the plural of person
Peoples is the plural of people

люди=people (plural)
народ=people (singular)

"They are a proud people."