Planet 9

***Sandybelle*** · #1 02-26-2009, 04:49 PM

The other day I found the following sentenses in a train in Japan.

"Please inform the station staff or train crew immediately if you notice any suspicious unclaimed objects or persons in the station or on the train.
Thank you for your cooperation."

I don't know the word "persons" here is right ?
I was taught in a school that the plural of person is not persons,but people"

Should it be "people" instead of it?

As I'm not native English people,I can't solve the problem.

Anyone can suggest ?

**Blitzkrieg** · #2 02-26-2009, 05:10 PM

As weird as it sounds it is correct. This excerpt from another website explains it far better than I can:

Generally, "people" is the plural of "person." "Peoples" can refer to a group or groups of culturally defined groups, as in the "peoples of eastern Europe." The choice between "people" and "persons" is not always easy, though. There used to be a rule that persons is used when speaking of a number of people who can be counted and people is used when speaking of a large or uncounted number of individuals.

There are fifteen persons on this committee but three hundred million people in the United States.
We can put twelve persons in each lifeboat.
How many people visit this mall every year?

According to Burchfield, however, the plural form persons is slowly retreating, and people is now widely used in whatever circumstance we need the plural of person.

cheerIO · #3 02-26-2009, 05:21 PM

That's pretty interesting. Even for a native English speaker.

What website did you use to find that explanation?

**Blitzkrieg** · #4 02-26-2009, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by cheerIO

That's pretty interesting. Even for a native English speaker.

What website did you use to find that explanation?

The Grammar Logs -- Number Four Hundred, Sixty-Five -- about halfway down

***Sandybelle*** · #5 02-26-2009, 09:19 PM

Thank you for your comment,Blitzkrieg.

I understand well.

By the way,is the sentence of "persons" I found in a train correct and accepatable expression or not?

**KS-CS** · #6 02-26-2009, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by Sandybelle

. . . By the way,is the sentence of "persons" I found in a train correct and accepatable expression or not?

Well, I wasn't an English major, but I believe the first sentence is grammatically correct, even though it looks a bit like a "run-on" sentence, given all the conjunctions (phrases connected by "or") in the sentence.

I have seen some pretty bad translations from Japanese to English, but they are usually printed on t-shirts sold in the markets.

**Blitzkrieg** · #7 02-27-2009, 09:04 AM

Originally Posted by Sandybelle

By the way,is the sentence of "persons" I found in a train correct and accepatable expression or not?

Yes it is, although as KS-CS pointed out, it would be better to have 2 sentences there instead of one.

kareldeeley · #8 02-27-2009, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by Blitzkrieg

Yes it is, although as KS-CS pointed out, it would be better to have 2 sentences there instead of one.

There Are Two Sentences in the Original........

It Just Needs a Comma (,) after the word persons............ (As Shown Below)

"Please inform the station staff or train crew immediately if you notice any suspicious unclaimed objects or persons, in the station or on the train.

Thank you for your cooperation."

Two (Different) Sentences .............

(From Someone Who Learned English, from a French Father, and Dutch Mother)

Excuse My Capitalisation - For Effect................

**jnscolo** · #9 02-27-2009, 09:46 AM

Of course, it does lead one to wonder how to spot an "unclaimed person."

beez · #10 02-27-2009, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by jnscolo

Of course, it does lead one to wonder how to spot an "unclaimed person."

I spent quite a bit of time in Japan a few years ago, and there were "unclaimed" persons on the trains all the time - usually they fall asleep during the train ride, miss their stop, and end up being awakened by the train conductors at the end of the line.

brad

**ettsn** · #11 03-21-2009, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by kareldeeley

"Please inform the station staff or train crew immediately if you notice any suspicious unclaimed objects or persons, in the station or on the train.

Thank you for your cooperation."

While this would work, the rules of clarity suggest omitting the comma and simply reordering the list. For example:

"Please inform the station staff or train crew immediately if you notice any suspicious persons or unclaimed objects in the station or on the train.

Thank you for your cooperation"

It's still a smidge run-on, mostly due to the 'or on the train' bit.

I generally use 'persons' to denote a nonspecific person or persons from within a group or crowd and 'people' to denote plurality as or within a group.