personandnumber

Person and number are grammatical categories used in many languages to mark who is involved in an action and how many participants are involved. Person distinguishes first person (the speaker and, in some languages, the addressee and others connected to the speech event), second person (the addressee), and third person (others). Number marks quantity, typically singular and plural; some languages also include dual (two), paucal (a few), or trial forms.

In many languages, verbs, pronouns, and sometimes determiners or adjectives agree with the person and number of their subject or object. For example, in English, the verb form changes with person and number in some tenses: I am, you are, he is, we are. Pronouns inherently carry person and number, whereas nouns generally do not reflect these features. Word order, case, and agreement patterns may vary widely across languages.

Some languages also encode inclusive versus exclusive first-person plural, distinguishing “we” including the listener from “we” excluding the listener. Others have a dedicated dual form for exactly two referents, in addition to singular and plural. The expression of person and number can be via affixal morphology on verbs, through pronouns, or with separate words, and languages differ in how extensively they mark these categories.

Overall, person and number influence pronoun reference, verb and noun agreement, and the structure of clauses, illustrating how speakers encode speaker roles and participant quantity in communication. See also agreement, concord, pronouns, and clusivity.