man、mankind、people，到底哪个是“人类”？

mankind与man一样，也是用来指代全人类的，而且也不分男女。但是，与man不同的是：man强调与animals的对比，而mankind侧重的是社会意义上的人。

此外，尽管mankind相比man而言，性别歧视的色彩要淡些，人们还是认为最好采用其他表达，比如human beings。

只是，需要注意的是，当mankind作主语时，其谓语动词也是要用单数形式的。如：

Human beingshave always dreamt of happiness and of a perfect world.

Humankindhas always dreamt of happiness.

Human beingshave always dreamt of happiness and of a perfect world.

Humankindhas always dreamt of happiness.

三、people

People can refer to all human beings, or to a group of persons in a particular situation. It is a plural noun and it takes a plural verb.

与man和mankind都不一样的是，people皆可以用来指代全人类，也可以用来指代特定人群。

需要注意的是，people是个复数名词，其谓语动词要采用复数形式。如：

全人类：Peoplewill always need food, so the food industry will never disappear. (all human beings)

全人类：Peoplewill always need food, so the food industry will never disappear. (all human beings)

特定人群：It’s difficult to sell an old computer. Peopledon’t want second-hand ones. (those typical persons interested in buying computers)

特定人群：It’s difficult to sell an old computer. Peopledon’t want second-hand ones. (those typical persons interested in buying computers)

四、注意

虽然man、mankind、people在表示全人类时，用法上都有所不同，但相同的一点是：当它们都表示全人类时，前面都不能使用定冠词the。如：

正确：People/ Human beingswill always defend their territory against an attack from outside.

正确：People/ Human beingswill always defend their territory against an attack from outside.

错误：The people/The human beingswill always defend their territory against an attack from outside.

错误：The people/The human beingswill always defend their territory against an attack from outside.

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