Take the 2-minute tour ×   share|improve this question @chirlu
Yes. So, I said in German class something like this: Die Leute,
die unter diesen Krankheiten leiden, blah blah and the teacher
told me --kennst du diese Leute? --Nein. -- Dann sag "Menschen"
stattdessen. (grammar errors, to be attributed to me, not to my
teacher-- but the idea is that. Moreover, I could be wrong, so
"Menschen" and "Leute" here could be exchanged.) –  c.p. Aug 22
'13 at 8:22 @c.p.: Your teacher is right. The doctor could (but
must not) say Leute if he speaks about the people he has seen.
But it's not appropriate, if e.g. the health insurance reports
its statistics –  falkb Aug 22 '13 at 10:29  2 Answers 2  up
vote 7 down vote accepted    Da waren viele merkwürdige Leute.
Menschen, die an dieser Krankheit leiden...  Also here, Leute
would be wrong  Irgendwann leben Menschen auf dem Mars.   Die
Menschen/Leute wollen wissen, wie es weiter geht.   So... use
Menschen if the human aspect bears relevance. Use Leute if you
are talking ca