名词people的单数与复数问题

1. 当people表示“人”“人们”时，只用单数形式，但总是表示复数意义。如：

People have different moral values. 人有不同的价值观。

People learn from experience. 人们从经验中学习。

Young people are very hot on pop music. 年轻人热衷于流行音乐。

Old people are usually more conservative than young people. 老年人通常比年轻人保守。

表示“一个人”时，不能用one people，可根据情况改用one person, one man, one woman, one boy等。

 

2. people表示“民族”时是可数名词，其前可用不定冠词，也可复数形式。

We Chinese are a hardworking people. 我们中国人是勤劳的人民。

Ireland was inhabited by two peoples. 爱尔兰居住着两个民族。

比较：

How many peoples live in Asia? 亚洲有多少个民族?

How many people live in the room? 这房间住了多少人?

有时它还可与few, many等连用。如：

Few peoples in the world can boast (of) such an old civilization as ours. 世界上没有几个民族有像我国民族这样悠久的文化。