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

That patient, the first person to be treated by the unit, was American medical missionary Rick Sacra.

From Slate • May 14, 2026

"He was the first person to make international wildlife popular," Scholey adds.

From BBC • May 9, 2026

“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

‘You are the first person I have ever told. Even your father doesn’t know.’

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler