what are i you we they

Subject and object pronouns

Personal subject pronouns act as the subject of a clause. We use them before a verb to show who is doing the verb. We do not usually leave out the pronoun:

I, me

We use I and me to refer to the speaker or writer. I is the subject form and me is the object form:

You

We use you to refer to the listener or reader. It is both the subject and the object form. You can refer to one person or more than one person. It is usually clear from the context whether you is singular or plural:

It

My computer isn’t working. It’s crashed again. Can you have a look at it?

We, us

We use we and us to refer to different groups of people, but always including the speaker. We and us can refer to the speaker + the listener, or the speaker + other people but not the listener, or people in general including the speaker:

They, them

We use they and them to refer to specific groups of people, things and animals:

One, you and we

We can use one, you or we when we are making generalisations and not referring to any one person in particular. When used like this, one, you and we can include the speaker or writer:

They

We can use they to talk about a wide group of people, such as an authority or an institution. In such cases, they does not refer to specific people:

Is it okay to use third person pronouns?

As mentioned earlier, the third person is generally used in scientific writing, but the rules are not quite as stringent anymore. It is now acceptable to use both the first and third person pronouns in some contexts, but this is still under controvers y.

Why do we use second person pronouns?

These are as follows: This point of view is usually used in the context of providing instructions or advice, such as in “how to” manuals or recipe books. The reason behind using the second person is to engage the reader.

What is third person point of view?

The third person point of view is used for writing methods and results sections. Consistency is the key and switching from one point of view to another within sections of a manuscript can be distracting and is discouraged. It is best to always check your author guidelines for that particular journal.

What is the point of view of the author?

Writing in the first, second, or third person is referred to as the author’s point of view. When we write, our tendency is to personalize the text by writing in the first person. That is, we use pronouns such as “I” and “we”. This is acceptable when writing personal information, a journal, or a book. However, it is not common in academic writing.