Learn person in English grammar: first, second, and third person, their subjective, objective, and possessive forms, common pronoun mistakes, with a 15-part exercise for SSC, HSC, admission, and job exams.
Every conversation has three sides: the one speaking, the one being spoken to, and the one being spoken about. English gives each of these a name, first person, second person, and third person, and knowing them is the quiet key to using pronouns correctly, making verbs agree, and changing voice and narration. This lesson: ‘Person in English Grammar’ makes person simple and complete, from the basic idea up to the pronoun-case traps that come in admission and job exams.
প্রতিটি কথোপকথনের তিনটি দিক থাকে: যে বলছে, যাকে বলা হচ্ছে, আর যার সম্পর্কে বলা হচ্ছে। ইংরেজি এদের প্রত্যেককে একটি নাম দেয়, first person, second person, আর third person, আর এদের জানাই হলো pronoun সঠিকভাবে ব্যবহার করা, verb কে মিল করানো, এবং voice ও narration পরিবর্তনের নীরব চাবিকাঠি। তাহলে চলো, শুরু করা যাক।
What is Person?
In grammar, person is the form of a pronoun (or verb) that shows who is involved in the conversation (কথোপকথনে কে জড়িত তা বোঝায়)।
Grammar এ person হলো একটি pronoun (বা verb) এর এমন রূপ যা দেখায় কথোপকথনে কে জড়িত। মূলত একটি বাক্যে noun এর পরিবর্তে যে pronoun ব্যবহার করা হয়, তার এই শ্রেণিকে person বলে।
Look at this sentence: “I told you about Rahim.” Here, ‘I’ (the speaker) is the first person, ‘you’ (the listener) is the second person, and ‘Rahim’ (the one talked about) is the third person.
এই বাক্যটি দেখো: “I told you about Rahim।” এখানে ‘I’ (যে বলছে) হলো first person, ‘you’ (যাকে বলা হচ্ছে) হলো second person, আর ‘Rahim’ (যার সম্পর্কে বলা হচ্ছে) হলো third person।
This lesson pairs with our lessons on the pronoun and analysis of sentences.
The Three Persons
There are three persons in English. Read this table.
ইংরেজিতে তিনটি person আছে। টেবিলটি পড়ো।
| Person | Refers to | Pronouns |
|---|---|---|
| First person (প্রথম পুরুষ) | The speaker (যে বলছে) | I, we |
| Second person (দ্বিতীয় পুরুষ) | The listener (যাকে বলা হচ্ছে) | you |
| Third person (তৃতীয় পুরুষ) | The one spoken about (যার সম্পর্কে বলা হচ্ছে) | he, she, it, they |
Examples:
- I finished the work. (first person)
- You are my best friend. (second person)
- They live in Rajshahi. (third person)
The Three Forms (Cases) of Person
A person takes a different form depending on its place in the sentence. There are three forms: subjective, objective, and possessive.
একটি person বাক্যে তার অবস্থান অনুযায়ী ভিন্ন রূপ নেয়। তিনটি রূপ আছে: subjective, objective, possessive।
Subjective form is used as the subject of a verb (verb এর subject হিসেবে)।
Examples:
- She teaches English.
- We won the game.
Objective form is used as the object of a verb or preposition (verb বা preposition এর object হিসেবে)।
Examples:
- The teacher praised him.
- Give the book to me.
Possessive form shows ownership (মালিকানা বোঝায়)।
Examples:
- This is my pen.
- The house is theirs.
Possessive: Adjective vs Pronoun
The possessive comes in two kinds, and exams test the difference. Learn these three points.
Possessive দুই ধরনের হয়, আর পরীক্ষায় এই পার্থক্য আসে। এই তিনটি point শেখো।
Point 1: A possessive adjective always sits before a noun.
Possessive adjective সবসময় একটি noun এর আগে বসে।
Examples:
- It is his bag. (his + bag)
- My room is clean. (my + room)
Point 2: A possessive pronoun stands alone, without a noun. These are mine, ours, yours, hers, and theirs.
Possessive pronoun একা দাঁড়ায়, noun ছাড়া। এগুলো হলো mine, ours, yours, hers, theirs।
Examples:
- This book is mine.
- My time is more valuable than yours.
Point 3: A person is usually a pronoun, but a possessive form placed before a noun works as an adjective.
একটি person সাধারণত pronoun, কিন্তু noun এর আগে বসা possessive form একটি adjective হিসেবে কাজ করে।
Examples:
- I lost his bag. (his = possessive adjective, bag = noun)
Reflexive Pronouns
When the subject and the object are the same person, we use a reflexive pronoun. These are separate from the objective forms.
যখন subject আর object একই ব্যক্তি হয়, তখন আমরা reflexive pronoun ব্যবহার করি। এগুলো objective form থেকে আলাদা।
| Person | Reflexive (singular) | Reflexive (plural) |
|---|---|---|
| First | myself | ourselves |
| Second | yourself | yourselves |
| Third | himself, herself, itself | themselves |
Examples:
- He hurt himself while playing.
- We enjoyed ourselves at the fair.
The Complete Chart of Persons
Here is everything in one chart. Memorise it, because it is the base for pronouns, voice change, and narration.
সবকিছু একটি chart এ দেওয়া হলো। এটি মুখস্থ করো, কারণ এটি pronoun, voice change ও narration এর ভিত্তি।
| Person | Number | Subjective | Objective | Possessive (adjective / pronoun) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | singular | I | me | my / mine |
| 1st | plural | we | us | our / ours |
| 2nd | singular | you | you | your / yours |
| 2nd | plural | you | you | your / yours |
| 3rd | singular | he / she / it | him / her / it | his, her, its / his, hers |
| 3rd | plural | they | them | their / theirs |
How to Analyse a Person in a Sentence
To describe any person in a sentence fully, ask three questions in order.
একটি বাক্যে যেকোনো person কে পুরোপুরি বর্ণনা করতে, ক্রম অনুযায়ী তিনটি প্রশ্ন করো।
- Which person is it? (1st, 2nd, or 3rd)
- What is its number? (singular or plural)
- What is its form? (subjective, objective, or possessive)
Example: in “He wants to help me because of your request”, let us analyse each person.
উদাহরণ: “He wants to help me because of your request” বাক্যে প্রতিটি person বিশ্লেষণ করি।
- He = 3rd person, singular, subjective form
- me = 1st person, singular, objective form
- your = 2nd person, possessive form
Common Mistakes with Person (Very Important)
Choosing the wrong form is the most common person error, and exams love to test it. The rule is simple: use the subjective form for a subject, and the objective form after a verb or a preposition.
ভুল form বাছাই হলো person এর সবচেয়ে সাধারণ ভুল, আর পরীক্ষায় এটি খুব আসে। নিয়মটি সহজ: subject এর জন্য subjective form, আর verb বা preposition এর পরে objective form ব্যবহার করো।
Examples:
- Correct: John and I went to school. (not “Me and John”, because it is the subject)
- Correct: This is a secret between you and me. (not “between you and I”, because ‘between’ is a preposition)
- Correct: The teacher gave the prize to him and me. (not “to he and I”)
- Correct: We students must work hard. (‘we’ is the subject)
Why Person Matters
Person is not just a label; it drives other rules. A third person singular subject takes an ‘s’ on the verb in the present tense (he plays, she goes). And when you change voice or narration, the person of each pronoun must shift correctly. So a firm grasp of person makes several other topics easy.
Person শুধু একটি নাম নয়; এটি অন্য নিয়মকেও চালায়। Present tense এ third person singular subject এর সাথে verb এ একটি ‘s’ যোগ হয় (he plays, she goes)। আর voice বা narration পরিবর্তনের সময় প্রতিটি pronoun এর person সঠিকভাবে বদলাতে হয়। তাই person ভালোভাবে বুঝলে আরও কয়েকটি topic সহজ হয়ে যায়।
Practice Exercise with Answers
Part A: Name the person, number, and form of each bold word. Part B: Choose the correct pronoun.
নিজে চেষ্টা করার পরে নিচের উত্তরগুলো মিলিয়ে নাও।
Part A:
- We are going home now.
- She gave me a beautiful gift.
- This is your book, not his.
- They always play fair.
- The blue bag is hers.
- I met him at the library.
Part B: Choose the correct word. 7. Between you and (I / me), this is a secret. 8. (He and I / Him and me) went to the fair together. 9. The head teacher praised (she / her) and me. 10. This present is for (they / them). 11. (We / Us) students must respect our teachers. 12. Please give the keys to (he / him). 13. My sister and (I / me) are very close. 14. It was (they / them) who helped us that day. 15. She runs faster than (I / me).
Answers
Part A:
- We = 1st person, plural, subjective
- me = 1st person, singular, objective
- your = 2nd person, possessive
- They = 3rd person, plural, subjective
- hers = 3rd person, singular, possessive
- him = 3rd person, singular, objective
Part B: 7. me (after the preposition ‘between’) 8. He and I (the subject) 9. her (object of ‘praised’) 10. them (after the preposition ‘for’) 11. We (the subject) 12. him (after the preposition ‘to’) 13. I (part of the subject) 14. they (formal subjective after ‘It was’) 15. I (short for ‘faster than I run’)
A Tip for the Exam
Person questions come in two forms. The first just asks you to name the person, number, and form, so use the three-question method: which person, what number, what form. The second, and trickier, asks you to pick the right pronoun. Here, one rule wins almost every time: if the word is a subject, use I, we, he, she, they; if it comes after a verb or a preposition (to, for, between, with), use me, us, him, her, them. Test it by removing the other person, “Me went” sounds wrong, so it must be “I went”.
Person এর প্রশ্ন দুই রকম আসে। প্রথমটি শুধু person, number ও form বলতে বলে, তাই তিন-প্রশ্ন পদ্ধতি ব্যবহার করো: কোন person, কোন number, কোন form। দ্বিতীয়টি, যা কঠিন, সঠিক pronoun বাছতে বলে। এখানে একটি নিয়ম প্রায় সবসময় জেতায়: শব্দটি subject হলে I, we, he, she, they; আর verb বা preposition (to, for, between, with) এর পরে হলে me, us, him, her, them। অন্য person কে সরিয়ে পরীক্ষা করো, “Me went” ভুল শোনায়, তাই এটি “I went” হবে।
Related Lessons
Keep building your grammar foundation with these lessons:
- Pronoun: Types, Rules, and Examples (incl. Unclear Pronoun)
- Voice Changing Theory in English Grammar
- Analysis of Sentences in English Grammar
- The 8 Parts of Speech: Rules, Examples & Chart
- Narration: Direct and Indirect Speech Rules with Examples
Frequently Asked Questions
What is person in English grammar?
Person is the form of a pronoun or verb that shows who is involved in a conversation: the speaker (first person), the listener (second person), or the one spoken about (third person).
What are the three persons?
First person (I, we), second person (you), and third person (he, she, it, they).
What are the three forms of a person?
The subjective form (I, he), used as the subject; the objective form (me, him), used after a verb or preposition; and the possessive form (my/mine, his), used to show ownership.
What is the difference between a possessive adjective and a possessive pronoun?
A possessive adjective comes before a noun (my book, his car). A possessive pronoun stands alone (The book is mine; The car is his).
Should I say “between you and I” or “between you and me”?
Say “between you and me”. ‘Between’ is a preposition, so it takes the objective form ‘me’, not the subjective ‘I’.