名詞people的單數(shù)與復(fù)數(shù)問題

1. 當(dāng)people表示“人”“人們”時(shí)，只用單數(shù)形式，但總是表示復(fù)數(shù)意義。如：

People have different moral values. 人有不同的價(jià)值觀。

People learn from experience. 人們從經(jīng)驗(yàn)中學(xué)習(xí)。

Young people are very hot on pop music. 年輕人熱衷于流行音樂。

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

表示“一個(gè)人”時(shí)，不能用one people，可根據(jù)情況改用one person, one man, one woman, one boy等。

2. people表示“民族”時(shí)是可數(shù)名詞，其前可用不定冠詞，也可復(fù)數(shù)形式。

We Chinese are a hardworking people. 我們中國人是勤勞的人民。

Ireland was inhabited by two peoples. 愛爾蘭居住著兩個(gè)民族。

比較：

How many peoples live in Asia? 亞洲有多少個(gè)民族?

How many people live in the room? 這房間住了多少人?

有時(shí)它還可與few, many等連用。如：

Few peoples in the world can boast (of) such an old civilization as ours. 世界上沒有幾個(gè)民族有像我國民族這樣悠久的文化。