Grammar Girl here, today's topic is grammatical person, as in first person, second person,

and third person.

Because I just finished reading a book called The Night Circus by Aaron Morgan Stern,

which uses all three types of grammatical person, which is very unusual to find in one

book.

I talked about first, second, and third person back in episode 259, but before we get

to the interesting stuff, let's quickly make sure everyone is on the same page about

grammatical person.

Grammatical person is about who's telling the story, who the story is directed to, and

who the story refers to.

Grammatical person determines which pronouns you use.

When writers are using the first person, they use the pronouns I, my, we, and hour.

You're being told the story by one person, and you're in that person's mind.

For example, the Hunger Games uses first person because Catnus is narrating, and here's

the first line of the book.

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.

My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth, but finding only the rough canvas cover

of the mattress.

So that's first person.

Note how she uses the pronouns I and my, when I wake up, my fingers stretch out.

When writers are using the second person, they use the pronouns you and your.

One person is the kind of voice that talks directly to you, the reader, and it's more

...