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 get there," he said.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026

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

From Slate • May 14, 2026

“But I’m always the first person to say, ‘No, they’re not overhyped.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026

The passenger -- the wife of the first person to die in the outbreak -- had briefly been on a plane bound from Johannesburg to the Netherlands on April 25, but was removed before take-off.

From Barron's • May 10, 2026

Reverend Hunt was the first person I opened my heart to after it was closed up tight when my mum died.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone