:github_url: https://git.door43.org/Door43/en_uhg/src/branch/master/content/person_fist.rst

.. _person_fist:

Person First
===========

Summary
-------

First person is used when the narrator or speaker is the subject of the
sentence.

Article
-------

The first person is the person(s) that speak. If it is a single person,
it is "I", "me", or "my", if it is a group of people it is "we", "us",
or "our".

The first person is only used in direct speech.

Form
----

When a word is in the first person, it can be recognized by a variety of
changes to the form. These changes differ greatly from each other and
are hard to sum up in a simple, helpful way. The paradigm below shows a
sample of the kinds of changes that signal a first person.

Paradigm
~~~~~~~~

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Word

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Hebrew

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Transliteration

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Gloss

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Qal suffix conjugation, first person common singular

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קָטַלְתִּי

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qatalti

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I killed

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Qal suffix conjugation, first person common plural

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קָטַלְנוּ

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qatalnu

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we killed

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Qal prefix conjugation, first person common singular

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אֶקְטֹל

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'eqtol

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I will kill

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Qal prefix conjugation, first person common plural

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נִקְטֹל

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niqtol

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we will kill

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Independent personal pronoun, first person common singular

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אֲנִי / אָנֹכִי

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'ani / 'anokhi

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I

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Independent personal pronoun, first person common plural

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אֲנַחְנוּ

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'anahnu

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we

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Object pronoun, first person common singular

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אֹתִי

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'othi

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me

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Object pronoun, first person common plural

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אֹתָנוּ

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'othanu

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us

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Pronomial suffix, first person common singular

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לִי / - ִי

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li / -i

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(to) me

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Pronomial suffix, first person common plural

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לָנוּ / -נוּ

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lanu / - nu

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(to) us

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Neither the English nor the Hebrew distinguish between the inclusive and
the exclusive "we". The context will have to determine which one is
meant. See also the translation academy and translation notes for help
if the text is potentially confusing.

Hebrew does distinguish between
:ref:`number_singular`
and
:ref:`number_plural`,
but not between
:ref:`gender_masculine`
and
:ref:`gender_feminine`
in the first person.

The first person can be found in
:ref:`verb`
forms, :ref:`pronoun_personal`,
and :ref:`suffix_pronominal`.

Function
--------

A first person can be used as a subject, an object, or to indicate
possession.

Subject
~~~~~~~

The subject in a sentence is the person who does the action.

In the :ref:`verb` form
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-  GEN 28:15

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   עַ֚ד אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִם־\ **עָשִׂ֔יתִי** אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּ֖רְתִּי לָֽךְ

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   'ad 'asher 'im-**'asithi** 'eth 'asher-dibbarti lakh

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   until then when\_\ **I-have-done** [dir.obj] what\_I-have-spoken
   to-you.

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   **I will do** all that I have promised to you.

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As a :ref:`pronoun_personal`
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-  EXO 6:2

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   אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה

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   **'ani** yehwah

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   **I** Yahweh.

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   **I** am Yahweh.

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Object
~~~~~~

The object in a sentence is the person (or object) that receives the
action of the verb.

This is done by the :ref:`suffix_pronominal`:

Related to a :ref:`verb`
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Either :ref:`suffix_pronominal-direclty-to-the-verb`,
or by being attached to a :ref:`suffix_pronominal-with-a-direct-object-marker-`.

-  1SA 17:9

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   וַעֲבַדְתֶּ֖ם **אֹתָֽנוּ**\ ׃

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   wa'avadtem **'othanu**

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   and-you-will-serve **[dir.obj]-us**.

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   then you will serve **us**.

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:ref:`suffix_pronominal-prepositions`
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-  ISA 46:9

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   וְאֶ֥פֶס **כָּמֹֽונִי**\ ׃

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   we'efes **kamowni**

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   and-none **like-me**.

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   and there is no one **like me**.

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Possession
~~~~~~~~~~

Indicating possession is done by the :ref:`suffix_pronominal`:

:ref:`suffix_pronominal-nouns`
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-  2SA 19:4 (2SA 19:1 in Hebrew)

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   בְּנִ֤י אַבְשָׁלֹום֙ בְּנִ֣י בְנִ֣י

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   **beni** 'avshalowm **beni veni**

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   **My-son** Absalom **my-son my-son**.

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   **My son** Absalom, Absalom, **my son, my son**!

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:ref:`suffix_pronominal-prepositions`
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-  EXO 19:5

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   כִּי־\ **לִ֖י** כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

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   ki-\ **li** kol-ha'arets

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   for\_\ **to-me** all\_the-earth.

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   for all the earth is **mine**.

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