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"people" in seven languages

Meaningpeople

Spanish

gente

/ˈxente/

fem.inherited

Singular: la gente es…

French

gens

/ʒɑ̃/

masc.inherited

Always plural: les gens sont…

Italian

gente

/ˈdʒɛnte/

fem.inherited

Singular: la gente è…

Portuguese

gente

/ˈʒẽtʃi/

fem.inherited

In Brazil a gente usually means 'we'; for 'people' Brazilians tend to say as pessoas or o pessoal.

Romanian

lume

/ˈlume/

fem.other source · Latin LŪMEN 'light' (via 'world')

Lume means 'world' and, with the article, 'people': toată lumea 'everybody'.

Catalan

gent

/ʒen/

fem.inherited

English

people

/ˈpipəl/

other source · Anglo-French peple (Latin POPULUM)

English → ItalianpeoplegenteNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: gentle, genteel, gentile.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • lume (Italian) means “lamp, light” · lume (Romanian) means “world; people”

    Both from Latin LŪMEN 'light'. Romanian shifted it to 'world' after Slavic světъ, which meant both; toată lumea is 'everybody'. Italian kept the light.

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

GENTEM‘clan, nation, people’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Watch the number: Spanish and Italian gente is a singular feminine noun, while French gens is plural — unlike English people, which is plural everywhere. The g before e shows the soft-g law: x, ʒ, dʒ.

English relatives: gentle, genteel, gentile

Sound laws at work

Initial I- (J-) and G before E, I

Learn it

Practice the People deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esAquí la gente es simpática.
  • frIci, les gens sont sympathiques.
  • itQui la gente è simpatica.
  • ptAs pessoas aqui são simpáticas.
  • roLumea e prietenoasă aici.
  • caAquí la gent és simpàtica.
  • enPeople are friendly here.

More in People

All People words