INDEX:
1. a person
2. people in general
3. all the people in a particular area, city, country etc
4. a person in a story
5. relating to people, not animals or machines
6. for each person
7. no people
RELATED WORDS
ordinary people : ↑ NORMAL/ORDINARY
a group of people : ↑ GROUP
see also
↑ MAN
↑ WOMAN
↑ CHILD
↑ EVERYONE
↑ CHARACTER
↑ NICE
↑ HORRIBLE
◆◆◆
1. a person
▷ person /ˈpɜːʳs ə n/ [countable noun]
▪ I think Sue’s a really nice person.
▪ He’s the only person I know who can speak Chinese.
▪ There were over 200 people at the meeting.
▪ The streets were suddenly full of people.
▷ someone/somebody /ˈsʌmwʌn, ˈsʌmbɒdi, -bədiǁ-ˈbɑːdi, -bədi/ [pronoun]
a person - use this when you do not know who the person is, or when it is not important to say who it is :
▪ Someone phoned you but I didn’t get their name.
▪ What would you do if somebody tried to rob you in the street?
someone else/somebody else
another person
▪ Can’t you get someone else to clean the kitchen for you?
▷ human being/human /ˌhjuːmən ˈbiːɪŋ, ˈhjuːmən/ [countable noun]
a person - use this when you are comparing people with animals or machines :
▪ The drug had never before been tested on a human being.
▪ Computers have replaced humans in many factories.
▷ individual /ˌɪndɪˈvɪdʒuəl, ˌɪndəˈvɪdʒuəl/ [countable noun]
a person - use this especially when you are talking about responsibility or choice :
▪ It is the responsibility of each individual within the class to make sure they have the correct books.
▪ The decision to have an operation should be up to the individual involved.
▷ character /ˈkærɪktəʳ, ˈkærəktəʳ/ [countable noun]
a person who seems strange, interesting etc :
▪ A couple of suspicious-looking characters were standing outside the house.
▪ Beneath his brash, noisy exterior was a much shrewder and lonelier character than he admitted.
2. people in general
▷ people /ˈpiːp ə l/ [plural noun]
people in general :
▪ People are getting very worried about rising crime.
▪ I don’t want people to feel sorry for me.
most/some people
▪ Most people hate writing essays, but I quite like it.
▷ everyone/everybody /ˈevriwʌn, ˈevriˌbɒdiǁ-ˌbɑːdi/ [pronoun]
all people - use this to make general statements about how people behave, what people like etc :
▪ Don’t you like ice-cream? I thought everyone liked it!
▪ Everybody has the right to a good education.
▪ Everyone knows that smoking is bad for you.
▷ folks /fəʊks/ [plural noun] American spoken
people :
▪ Folks around here have been pretty angry about the governor’s actions.
most/some folks
▪ Some folks think the schools are better now than they were twenty years ago.
▷ the human race /ðə ˌhjuːmən ˈreɪs/ [noun phrase]
all the people in the world, considered as one group :
▪ Pollution is threatening the future of the human race.
the entire/whole human race
▪ The entire human race could be wiped out by nuclear war.
a member of the human race
▪ Until then, no member of the human race had ever been able to make a map of the whole world.
▷ mankind/humankind /mænˈkaɪnd, ˌhjuːmənˈkaɪnd/ [uncountable noun]
people in general - used especially when talking about their history and development, or how something affects their continued existence :
▪ The Americans exploded the first nuclear weapon in the history of mankind.
▪ Travelling into space was a great advance for mankind.
▪ In the interests of humankind we must stop destroying our planet.
▷ man /mæn/ [uncountable noun]
people in general - use this when you are comparing humans with other living things. Some people do not use this word because it can seem offensive to women :
▪ Jericho is the oldest continuously inhabited city known to man.
▪ The grandeur of the mountains is a constant reminder of man’s insignificance.
▪ The Dutch reclamation of their land is a classic case of man’s struggle against nature.
▷ humanity /hjuːˈmænɪti, hjuːˈmænəti/ [uncountable noun]
people in general - use this especially when you are talking about people’s rights to be treated like all other humans and not suffer cruelty, hunger etc :
▪ 30% of humanity live in conditions of terrible poverty.
a crime against humanity
▪ The General was accused of committing crimes against humanity.
▷ the public /ðə ˈpʌblɪk/ []
ordinary people who do not belong to the government, the police etc, and do not have any special rights :
▪ The castle is open to the public during the summer.
▪ The public ought to know how the money from taxes is being spent.
a member of the public
▪ Some of these politicians never meet ordinary members of the public.
the general public
▪ Tickets will become available to the general public in June.
public [adjective only before noun]
▪ Public attitudes to homosexuality are gradually changing.
▪ The plan cannot succeed without public support.
▷ society /səˈsaɪɪti, səˈsaɪəti/ [uncountable noun]
people in general - use this to talk about people as an organized group with a system of laws and accepted behaviour :
▪ Islamic society
▪ The judge described Smith as ‘a danger to society’.
member of society
▪ We want our students to become useful and responsible members of society.
▷ folk /fəʊk/ [plural noun]
young/old/rich/country/city etc folk
people of a particular type or from a particular area, considered together as a group :
▪ The young folk need to have a place where they can go in the evenings.
▪ Stella’s ambition is to get a job working with old folk.
▪ His parents were hard-working country folk.
▷ social /ˈsəʊʃ ə l/ [adjective only before noun]
use this about conditions, problems, and changes that affect all the people in society :
▪ Rising unemployment led to even more social problems.
▪ social changes that brought women even greater freedom
3. all the people in a particular area, city, country etc
▷ population /ˌpɒpjɑˈleɪʃ ə nǁˌpɑː-/ [countable noun with singular or plural verb in British English]
all the people who live in a town or country - use this when saying how many people live there, or giving some facts about them :
the population of Tokyo/Greece etc
▪ In 1966 the population of Lima was about two million.
a population of five million/twenty million etc
▪ New Jersey has a population of around 7.6 million.
the black/Catholic/male population
all the black people, Catholic people etc in a place
▪ 30% of the male population suffers from heart disease.
the general population
people in general compared with a particular group
▪ In our study, significantly more miners complained of weight loss than the general population.
▷ the people /ðə ˈpiːp ə l/ [plural noun]
all the people who live in a particular place :
the British/Korean/Nigerian etc people
▪ Reagan’s views were shared by a majority of the American people.
the people of Paris/China etc
▪ the awful sufferings of the people of Sarajevo
▷ the French/Germans/Japanese etc /ðə ˈfrentʃ/ [plural noun]
all the people who live in France, Germany etc - use this when describing them in a general way or as a political force :
▪ The French are famous for their love of good food.
▪ The Chinese are trying to industrialize without changing the essential nature of their society.
▷ community /kəˈmjuːnɪti, kəˈmjuːnəti/ [countable noun]
a group of people who live in the same area, especially when they all belong to the same religious group or race :
▪ The murder has shocked the local community.
the Jewish/Muslim/Greek etc community
▪ New York’s Jewish community
▷ Londoners/New Yorkers/Parisians etc /ˈlʌndənəʳz/
people who live in London, New York, Paris etc :
▪ For most New Yorkers, life will never be the same again.
▪ The Milanese people from Milan elected a new mayor yesterday.
4. a person in a story
▷ character /ˈkærɪktəʳ, ˈkærəktəʳ/ [countable noun]
a person in a story in a book, film, or play :
▪ It was a wonderful story -- the characters were so convincing.
the main/central character
▪ The interesting thing about the play is the conflict between the two main characters.
▷ hero /ˈhɪ ə rəʊ/ [countable noun]
the man or boy who is the main character in a book, play, film etc, who people admire because he is good, strong, brave, honest etc :
hero of
▪ Indiana Jones is the hero of the film.
tragic hero
a hero who suffers a lot
▪ Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous tragic hero.
▷ heroine /ˈherəʊɪn, ˈherəʊən/ [countable noun]
the woman or girl who is the main character in a book, play, film etc, who people admire because she is good, strong, brave, honest etc :
heroine of
▪ The heroine of her latest novel is a middle-class English woman.
5. relating to people, not animals or machines
▷ human /ˈhjuːmən/ [adjective only before noun]
use this about people’s abilities, character, or behaviour, when you are comparing people with animals or machines :
▪ the effects of pollution on the human and animal population
▪ Bacteria cannot be seen with the human eye.
6. for each person
▷ per person /pəʳ ˈpɜːʳs ə n/ [adverb]
$500/2 pieces etc per person
$500, two pieces etc for each person :
▪ There were only two pieces of bread per person.
▪ You can get a decent meal for less than £20 per person.
▷ a head /ə ˈhed/ [adverb]
$10/£5 etc a head
use this to say how much something costs for each person :
▪ We paid £5 a head for our Christmas dinner.
▪ Guests were paying $800 a head for luxury hotel accommodation.
▷ per capita /pəʳ ˈkæpə̇tə/ [adverb/adjective]
if something costs a particular amount, or someone uses a particular amount etc per capita, that is how much each person pays, uses etc - used especially in business, politics, or economics :
▪ Among the largest consumers of energy per capita is the United States.
per capita income/expenditure/consumption etc
▪ The average per capita income has decreased over the past five years.
▪ In Europe the per capita supply of trained medical staff has increased dramatically.
7. no people
▷ no one/nobody /ˈnəʊ wʌn, ˈnəʊbədi/ [pronoun]
no person or people :
▪ No-one was home, so I left a note.
▪ He explained what had happened but nobody believed him.
no one at all/nobody at all
▪ Nobody had supported him, nobody at all.
▷ not a soul /ˌnɒt ə ˈsəʊl/ [noun phrase]
no one - use this when it is unusual or surprising that there is no one somewhere :
▪ It was strange. There wasn’t a soul in the street.
not a soul to be seen/not a soul in sight
▪ Steve looked in every room, but there was no sound and not a soul to be seen.