person
person — noun
1. one human being, thought of as a single individual rather than a thing, animal,
one human being, thought of as a single individual rather than a thing, animal, or group.
Only one person was waiting outside the clinic at dawn.
one person for a single human being
The police asked each person on the bus for a ticket.
each person in a group
At the beach, every person wore a red wristband for safety.
A tall person in a green coat knocked on our door.
One injured person lay near the broken bicycle after the crash.
- human being
slightly more explicit, especially when contrasting humans with animals or machines
- individual
more formal and common in official or written contexts
- someone
used when the person is not named or not known
- somebody
like 'someone', but a little more conversational
文法句型
one person
each person
person + in/on/at phrase
用法筆記
Usually countable. In everyday English, the normal plural is 'people'; 'persons' is mainly used in formal notices or legal writing.
常見錯誤
2. used with another word or description to say what someone is like, what they enj
used with another word or description to say what someone is like, what they enjoy, or what kind of work they do.
Nina is a quiet person, but she laughs loudly at home.
adjective + person for character
Marco is not a morning person and never speaks before coffee.
morning person for daily habit
Aisha is a people person, so customers remember her warm smile.
Jill is a business person who flies to Taipei every month.
Evan is a cat person and keeps rescue photos on his phone.
文法句型
adjective + person
a/an + [noun] person
be + a/an + [type] person
用法筆記
Often appears after an adjective or as part of a fixed type label such as 'morning person' or 'business person'. Distinguish from sense 1: here the important idea is the kind of person, not simply the fact that the person is human.
常見錯誤
3. used to say that someone is physically present and handles something directly, r
used to say that someone is physically present and handles something directly, rather than doing it online, by phone, or through another person.
Lena handed in the form in person at city hall.
in person after an action verb
The doctor wants to see Marcus in person before changing the medicine.
see somebody in person
We met the singer in person after the school concert.
Parents must sign the papers in person on the first day.
Because the website failed, Rosa booked the room in person.
- personally
close in meaning, especially when you do something yourself
- face to face
stresses direct meeting between people
- yourself
used to stress that nobody else does it for you
文法句型
do something in person
see somebody in person
appear in person
用法筆記
Almost always appears as the phrase 'in person' and often contrasts with 'online', 'by phone', or 'by email'. Distinguish from sense 1: this is an adverbial expression, not a countable noun meaning 'human being'.
常見錯誤
4. in grammar, one of the forms that show whether a word refers to the speaker, the
in grammar, one of the forms that show whether a word refers to the speaker, the person being addressed, or somebody or something else.
On the whiteboard, Ms. Lin wrote "I" under first person.
first person in grammar explanation
The guide says travel blogs often use the second person to sound friendly.
second person for direct address
Children learn that "they" belongs to the third person plural.
For the school play, Mira changed the story from first person to third.
- grammatical person
the full technical term used in grammar books
文法句型
first person
second person
third person
用法筆記
Most often appears in the fixed labels 'first person', 'second person', and 'third person'. Common in grammar lessons and when discussing point of view in writing.
常見錯誤
person — suffix
1. added to a noun to make a word for someone with that job or duty, especially whe
added to a noun to make a word for someone with that job or duty, especially when you want a gender-neutral title instead of one ending in '-man' or '-woman'.
The company hired a new salesperson for its Kaohsiung office.
[noun]person as a job title
During the storm, the police spokesperson spoke outside the station.
spokesperson for an official role
Our class chose Mia as chairperson for the spring festival meeting.
The website suggests using "businessperson" in job ads.
文法句型
[noun]person
[noun]person + for + place/task
用法筆記
This ending attaches to another noun and forms a single role word such as 'salesperson' or 'chairperson'. Distinguish from noun sense 2: suffix sense 1 is a word-building ending inside a title, not the separate noun 'person' after a describing word.