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

“I was the first person to ever reach out to Shira,” he says proudly in a separate phone interview.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Glover is a 49-year-old veteran astronaut set to become the first Black person -- and first person of color -- to embark on a lunar voyage.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Levy: Taylor was the very first person who auditioned for this show, and the last.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

"We have the first female onboard, who will go to the Moon for the first time , the very first person of colour among the crew as well," he added.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

The first person they’d talked to had flat out refused to share what he had, and shut the door in their faces.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz