first person

American  

[furst pur-suhn] / ˈfɜrst ˈpɜr sən /

noun

1. the grammatical person used by a speaker in statements referring to the speaker's own self first person singular or to a group including the speaker first person plural.

2. a pronoun or verb form in the first person, as I or am in English, or a set of such forms.

3. a literary style in which the narrative is told from the perspective of a narrator speaking directly.

   The story is written in the first person.

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first person British  

noun

1. a grammatical category of pronouns and verbs used by the speaker to refer to or talk about himself or herself, either alone ( first person singular ) or together with others ( first person plural )

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Etymology

Origin of first person

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

“For a few moments, you’re the first person to know when you’re looking at those results. You already sort of have an idea of what this means.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

A week into the trip, a few passengers began to develop symptoms, and the first person died on April 11.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

The WHO was trying to work out how hantavirus had appeared on the ship, with the first person who died having developed symptoms on April 6.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

He wasn’t the first person to have that reaction, as the headline above this article has informed you.

From Salon • May 3, 2026

Trey was the first person in the family to call me that.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas