fourth person

English

Noun

fourth person (uncountable)

1. (grammar) A variety of the third person sometimes used for indefinite referents, such as one, as in one shouldn't do that.
2. (linguistics) grammatical person in some languages distinct from first, second, and third persons, semantically translated by one of them in English. For example, in Ojibwe, it is a variety of the third person used for a secondary, or obviative, third person.

   The man saw the dog as he was leaving. (if he is the third person, or proximate, it refers to the man; if he is the fourth person, or obviative, it refers to the dog)

Synonyms

• obviative

Antonyms

• proximate

Translations

person distinct from first, second, and third persons

• Dutch: vierde persoon m
• French: quatrième personne (fr)
• Galician: cuarta persoa f
• Georgian: მეოთხე პირი (meotxe ṗiri)
• Japanese: 四人称 (yoninshō)
• Portuguese: quarta pessoa f
• Russian: четвёртое лицо́ (četvjórtoje licó)
• Spanish: cuarta persona f
• Swedish: fjärde person c
• Vietnamese: ngôi thứ tư