French language Q&A Forum

Are "les gens" and "les personnes" interchangeable, or does "les gens" mean "people in general" and "les personnes" mean "people, considered as individuals"? (This is the fun, and puzzling, part of learning a language - understanding nuances.)

Thanks for helping

« ma femme préfère… » would ´mon épouse´ ever be used. Femme as both woman and wife sounds a bit old fashioned while a man gets to be  ´homme and mari ‘

BUT HOW TO IDENTIFY WORDS WITH L' ARTICLE , example: l'animal (animal)  is masculine,  and l'armoire (wardrobe) is feminine,  and l'assiette (plate) is masculine ????

What is the difference between C'est quoi ? and Qu'est-ce que c'est ? and in what context we use them? Both of them seem same to me in English.