I.old [Brit əʊld, Am oʊld]NThe irregular form vieil of the adjective vieux/vieille is used before masculine nouns beginning with a vowel or a mute ‘h’.
I.people [Brit ˈpiːp(ə)l, Am ˈpipəl]N(nation)gens is masculine plural and never countable (you CANNOT say ‘trois gens’). When used with gens, some adjectives such as vieux, bon, mauvais, petit, vilain placed before gens take the feminine form: les vieilles gens.
The transition to a peacetime economy, and the maintaining of strategic military commitments abroad led to continuous and severe problems with the balance of trade.