名詞people的單數與複數問題
1. 儅people表示“人”“人們”時,衹用單數形式,但縂是表示複數意義。如:
People have different moral values. 人有不同的價值觀。
People learn from experience. 人們從經騐中學習。
Young people are very hot on pop music. 年輕人熱衷於流行音樂。
Old people are usually more conservative than young people. 老年人通常比年輕人保守。
表示“一個人”時,不能用one people,可根據情況改用one person, one man, one woman, one boy等。
2. people表示“民族”時是可數名詞,其前可用不定冠詞,也可複數形式。
We Chinese are a hardworking people. 我們中國人是勤勞的人民。
Ireland was inhabited by two peoples. 愛爾蘭居住著兩個民族。
比較:
How many peoples live in Asia? 亞洲有多少個民族?
How many people live in the room? 這房間住了多少人?
有時它還可與few, many等連用。如:
Few peoples in the world can boast (of) such an old civilization as ours. 世界上沒有幾個民族有像我國民族這樣悠久的文化。