Is persons correct grammar

Answer 1

Technically, no. Persons is a word; it is neither correct grammar nor incorrect grammar.

The words "person" and "people" derive from different roots, and the plural of "person" really is "persons". However, the use of "people" as the plural of "person" is so widespread that "persons" sounds ... well, wrong most of the time.

The currently recommended usage is:

When you mean one person, use person. Simple enough.

When you mean more than one person, considered as a group or community, use people.

When you mean more than one person, but specifically want to stress that they're being considered as individuals, use persons. This is most likely to occur in formal legal usage, as for example in the phrase "this elevator is licensed for a maximum occupancy of 8 persons."

For added fun, there's the construction "peoples", which has become more common over time as a shorthand way of saying "multiple distinct groups, nations, or cultures".