Language/French/Vocabulary/Personnes-VS-Gens

"Les personnes" Versus "Les gens" in French

"Les personnes"

Rule

"personnes" and "gens", both of which mean "people", differ in their uses because "personne" is a count noun and gens a mass noun.

Only "personne" can be preceded by a number (e.g. cinq), or the following quantifiers:

• "plusieurs" (several),
• "quelques" (a few),
• "un certain nombre de" (a certain number of):

Examples

• Les cinq personnes (NOT "gens") qui ont mangé avec nous

The five people who ate with us

• Plusieurs personnes (NOT "gens") sont restées tout l'après-midi

Several people stayed for the whole afternoon

"Les gens"

Rule

By the same token, "gens" is preferred in contexts where 'people' are treated as a mass.

Examples

• Les gens (NOT "personnes") n'aiment pas rester à table trop longtemps

People don't like to spend too long over a meal

Note

NB: gens can be preceded by:

• "beaucoup de" (many),
• "peu de" (few),
• "tous les" (all the),
• "la plupart des" (most).

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