First Person

You would have heard a lot of times about the term first person. If you are an English literature student, you would know quite well what it means but if not, then it might be a mystery to you.

The term first person gives off some meaning from the simple words that it consist of but in order to use it properly in English language we need to know the exact meaning and usage of this term.

Today we will discuss what first person means in English language, more importantly in English literature.

First Person

The term first person is used to describe a clause or piece of text in which the author is referring to himself or herself.

Example:

I was late for dinner.

In the above simple sentence, the use of I indicate that the sentence is referring to the writer of the sentence who was late for dinner. Hence, the above example is that of a first person.

First Person in English Literature

In English literature, i.e. English novels and textbooks, the context of the text can of first person. When the author writes from his own point of view the text is referred to as first person view.

Example:

It was dark outside when I suddenly decided to go for a walk.

Consider this sentence taken from a piece of English literature. In this example, the author is writing in the first person view as is evident from the use of I.

The first person also refers to the text in which the person/writer talks about his opinions and views of the world.

Example:

We were not ready to move in together.

The above example is another example of first person view. The context of the sentence makes it very clear that the author is referring to himself and his own view on moving in together. The use of we is another trick to figure out that the sentence is in first person view.

First Person Pronouns

Although very simple, but if you still find yourself confused about it here’s a trick. In order to identify the nature or view of the sentence or text i.e. weather it is in first person or second or third, a simple trick is to look at the pronouns used.

The first person point of view always uses a set number of pronouns that depict that the text is referring to the author.

These pronouns include: I/me/my/mine/we/us/our/ours.

Example:

I was determined that the bag was mine.