September 21st, 2009 
admin For the proper usage of English grammar we need the knowledge of different kinds of persons. These persons are useful in determining who is speaking, being spoken to or being spoken. There are three different kinds of persons and they are first, second and third persons. Let us know more about different kinds of persons and how these are used.
Personal Pronouns:
Personal pronouns are a kind of pronouns which are used to specify a person, place, object or a thing.
A person in English language determines whether is speaking, or being spoken to, or being spoken about in a sentence. This is simply what a ‘person’ is. The classification of persons enables for the better ways of presentation for the speaker and narration for the author.
The personal pronouns can be classified as under 3 categories.
| Singular | Plural | |
| First Person | I, me, mine, my | we, us, our, ours |
| Second Person | you, your, yours | you, your, yours |
| Third Person | he, him, his, she, her, hers, it | they, them, their, theirs, its |
In English, we have 3 persons.
- The First person, who speaks the statement
- Second person, to the statement is being spoken to.
- Third person, about whom the statement is being spoken.
Examples:
First person: I run 1 mile everyday in the morning.
My roomy has been sick for a week
Here, the person is speaking something. Hence, it is a first person. Pronouns such as I, we, me, us, my, mine, our, and ours are in the first person.
Second person: Your creation is so amusing.
You seem so depressed today.
Here, the sentence is being said to the person. Thus, it is in second person. The pronouns in a second person are namely you, your, yours.
Note: It is not always a rule that the presence of a respective pronoun in the sentence determined the person of the sentence. This rule is invalid mostly in interrogative sentences.
Why did you cheat me?
Though this sentence seems to be in first person, but is actually in second sentence. Because, the person in the sentence here is actually being asked. It is like the question is reflected on the very person itself.
Third person: The boy is so fond of chocolates.
His genius is incredible.
Here, the first two persons talk about the third person, who is completely not related to the discussion. Hence, it is in third person. A sentence in the third person contains pronouns namely he, him, his, she, her, hers, it they, them, their, theirs, its.
The important application of the persons is in finding whether the verb is to be used singular or plural in a sentence. The table below exactly helps in identifying that.
| First and Second person | Singular Third person | Plural first Second, Third
Person |
| (I, you) start | (he, she, it) starts | (we, you, they) start |
| (I, you) go | (he, she, it) goes | (we, you, they) go |
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