Most of the time, people is the correct word to choose as a plural for person. Persons is archaic, and it is safe to avoid using it, except in legal writing, which has its own traditional language. Peoples is only necessary when you refer to distinct ethnic groups (for example, within the same region).

Many usage guides over the years have suggested that there is a clear distinction between these two words; people is used when referring to a collective group or indeterminate number, and persons serves better when referring to individuals or to a number of individuals.

Both persons and people can be used as plural forms of person. Persons is often used in formal, legal contexts to emphasize individuals as opposed to a group. People is the plural of person that’s most commonly used in everyday communication to simply refer to multiple humans.

In the modern sense, the word people has slowly been adopted by some writers as the de facto plural form of person in place of its traditional plural form persons. However, persons as a term is still used in legal and some formal writing. This post will help you distinguish between these two words so you can properly use them in your writing.