First Person

What Is First Person in Grammar?

The term "first person" refers to the speaker (i.e.," I," "me,") or a group that includes the speaker ("we," "us"). For example:

• I am speaking to you about her.
("I" is the speaker, so "I" is in the first person. "You" is the person being spoken to, so "you" is in the second person. "Her" is in the third person.)
• We are thinking about promoting you instead of him.
("We" is a group that includes the speaker, so "we" is in the first person. "You" is the person being spoken to, so "you" is in the second person. "Him" is in the third person.)

"First Person" Explained

"First person" most commonly appears in the phrases "first-person narrative," "first-person point of view," and "first-person shooter."

• First Person Narrative. A first-person narrative is one that uses the word "I" (and sometimes "we"). In other words, the storyteller gives a personal account.
• First Person Point of View. The first-person point of view is a view through the storyteller's eyes.
• First Person Shooter. First-person-shooter games are a genre of shooting games in which players see the world through the eyes of their on-screen character.

Read more about first-person-shooter (FPS) games.

First Person in Grammar

"First person" is another way of saying "I" or "we." In other words, it is the person or the group speaking. For example:

• I am speaking to the elves.
• We are building a bridge.

The idea of first person, second person, and third person becomes clearer when they are explained together. All the personal pronouns (i.e., "I," "you," "he," "she," "it," "we," "they") are grouped into one of three categories:

• First person: "I" and "we"
• Second person: "you"
• Third person: "he/she/it" and "they"

Note: Second person refers to the speaker's audience (i.e., "you"). Third person refers to everybody else (e.g., "he," "him," "she," "her," "it," "they," "them"), including all other nouns (e.g., "Craig," "Germans," "ant," "mice").

Examples of First Person Pronouns in Different Cases

Here are the first person pronouns in the subjective case, the objective case, and the possessive case:

Person	Subjective Case	Objective Case	Possessive Case Possessive Determiner	Possessive Case Possessive Pronouns
First Person Singular	I Example: I like cheese.	me Example: He likes me.	my Example: This is my car.	mine This is mine.
First Person Plural	we Example: We hate celery.	us Example: They hate us.	our Example: This is our house.	ours Example: This is ours.

First, Second, and Third Person Pronouns

The table below shows the first, second, and third person pronouns. The first person pronouns are shaded.

Person	Subjective Case	Objective Case	Possessive Case Possessive Determiner	Possessive Case Possessive Pronouns
First Person Singular	I	me	my	mine
Second Person Singular	you	you	your	yours
Third Person Singular	he/she/it	him/her/it	his/her/its	his/hers/its
First Person Plural	we	us	our	ours
Second Person Plural	you	you	your	yours
Third Person Plural	they	them	their	theirs

Why the First Person Is Important

Here are three good reasons to care about the first person.

(Reason 1) In business writing, the first person adds a personal touch.

In business, writing in the first person (i.e., using "I" and "we") portrays a personal touch and shows that you accept responsibility. For example:

• We will handle your claim within 24 hours.
• I will send you the results this afternoon.

Conversely, if you want to present a formal air, write in the third person (i.e., by using "he/she/it," "they," or nouns). For example:

• Marks Ltd will handle your claim within 24 hours.
• They will send you the results this afternoon.
(Writing in the third person is also useful for putting some distance between you and the message recipient, which could be useful for swerving blame.)

Learn how to avoid blame even more effectively with the passive voice.

(Reason 2) Your readers will connect quickly to a story told in the first person.

Writing in the first person will help your readers to engage not only with the main character but also with those the main character meets. Below are four good reasons to tell stories in the first person.

A first-person narrative:

• Helps your readers to establish an immediate connection with the character because the character's thoughts and emotions are not expressed through a third party (i.e., someone else).
• Makes the story more believable because readers feel that they are being told the story by the person who experienced it.
• Allows your readers to quickly establish the nature of the relationships with other characters in the story as they described more directly than through a third party.
• Allows the author to get inside the character's head, which helps with developing and describing ideas and emotions.

(Reason 3) "Between you and I" is ALWAYS wrong!

Many people say "between you and I." This is always wrong.

• Let's keep this matter between you and I.
• Between you and I, I think it's a shambles.

It's "between you and me."

This is the most common mistake involving the first-person pronoun "I." Here are links to two other issues related to first-person pronouns: Read about "you and I," "you and me," and terms like "my wife and I."
Read about incorrectly using "myself."

Key Points

Video Lesson

Watch a video summarizing "grammatical person" (i.e., first person, second person, and third person) video lesson

Are you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos.