PERSON-NUMBER - Introduction

PERSON
Pronouns are said to be in the first, second or third person.

First person- (person speaking) : I, me, we, us.
Second person- (person spoken to) : you
Third person- (person or thing spoken about) : he, him, she, her, it, they,them.

Nouns also have person. It is usually the third person, because when we use a noun we are usually talking about the object it names. However, in rare instances, nouns (especially proper nouns) may be in the first or second person.

First person : I, Claudius, proclaim myself emperor. 'Claudius is the same person as 'I'.
Second person : Neil, will you come here. 'Neil' is the same person as the understood subject, 'you'.

NUMBER
Pronouns also have number : either singular or plural. Personal pronouns have different words for singular and plural.

Singular forms : I, me, he, she, it, him, her.
Plural forms : we, us, they, them.

Nouns too have number. The plural form is generally made by adding 's' to the singular, although there are some exceptions, such as mouse - mice, fungus - fungi, larva - larvae.

Verbs have person and number - always the same ones as their subjects. Only occasionally do verbs have different forms for the different person and number. The most important example is the verb 'to be'.

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