What point of view is the word you

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать разговорную лексику.

Justin, what is your point of view on point of care?

Will the issue of a transitional authority be brought up and what is your point of view with regard to the mechanism of its formation?

Будет подниматься тема о переходном органе власти, какова ваша точка зрения относительно механизма его формирования?

What is your point of view on the Ukrainian crisis and the conflict with Russia?

People believe the law of attraction will generate an improvement in their lives but if you are doing the law of attraction, what is your point of view?

Люди верят, что закон притяжения улучшит их жизнь, но если вы соблюдаете закон притяжения, какова ваша точка зрения?

Ничего не найдено для этого значения.

Результатов: 1032258. Точных совпадений: 6. Затраченное время: 303 мс

Documents

Корпоративные решения

Спряжение

Синонимы

Корректор

Справка и о нас

Индекс слова: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900

Индекс выражения: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Индекс фразы: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

One of the best ways to prepare for the AP Literature exam is to learn about different literary devices and how you can use them to analyze everything from poetry to novels. Not only will this help you on the multiple choice section of the test, it’s critical for earning perfect scores on your essays, too!

Today, we’re going to take a closer look at one specific device: point of view. First, we’ll give you the point of view definition, then we’ll explain how the work’s narrator affects its point of view. Then we’ll explain the four types of point of view and provide examples and analysis for each one.

By the end of this article, you’ll be a point of view expert! So let’s get started.

Point of View: Definition and Meaning

In literature and poetry, point of view is defined as the perspective from which a story is told. Put another way, a story’s point of view is a way to articulate and analyze the position of the narrator in relation to the story they’re telling. Is the narrator a participant in the story they’re telling? Or are they describing events that happened to someone else? Both of these perspectives are different types of point of view (which we’ll talk about in a lot more depth later in this article, so hang tight)!

So how do you figure out the point of view in a text? In order to find the point of view of a story, you first have to identify whose perspective the story is told from. That’s because the perspective of the story determines a piece of literature’s point of view! That means that in order to establish a text’s point of view, you have to figure out the narrator of the text first.

What Is a Narrator?

Okay…so obviously figuring out the narrator of a piece of literature is important. But what’s a narrator, exactly? No matter what type of text you’re reading—whether it’s a newspaper article, a textbook, a poem, or a best-selling novel—someone is communicating the story to the reader. In literary terms, we call that someone the text’s narrator.

In other words, the narrator of a piece of literature is the person telling the story. And you know what’s even more helpful than that? Almost all written texts—whether they’re fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or otherwise—have a narrator.

And since a narrator and point of view go hand in hand, that means that almost all texts have a point of view, too!

Finding the Narrator

So how do you figure out the narrator of a text? Sometimes the narrator of a text is pretty easy to determine. For example, for a newspaper article, the narrator of the story is obviously the reporter who’s written the piece to report the facts. They’re the person who followed the story’s trail, and now they’re sharing the story with you!

Another good example of an “easy to find” comes from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. The very first sentence of the book reads, “Call me Ishmael.” Because that’s a line in the text rather than a piece of dialogue that uses quotation marks, you know it’s the narrator speaking to the audience. In other words, the narrator of Moby Dick identifies himself and tells you his name in the very first line of the book!

But figuring out the narrator of the text isn’t always that easy. For example, the Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling don’t have an easily identifiable narrator. Neither do some classic works, like The Giver by Lois Lowry or Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. What do you do in those situations? Well, just hang tight: we’ll walk you through how point of view can help you figure out the narrator in these tricky situations!

Narrator vs. Point of View: What’s the Difference?

Before we start really digging into point of view, it’s worth pausing a minute to talk about the differences between point of view and narration. Because narration and point of view are closely linked, it’s tempting to think of them as interchangeable terms.

But the narrator of a text and the point of view of a text are two different things. The narrator is who is telling the story. In contrast, a text’s point of view is the perspective the story is being told from. If you think of the narrator as a person, their point of view is the angle they’re taking on the story.

Think of it this way: in literature, point of view and narrators go together like…well, like thunder and lightning. You can’t have one without the other, but they’re definitely not the same thing.

The 4 Types of Point of View

Okay, let’s look more closely at the four different types of point of view found in literature. In the following sections, we’ll explain each type of point of view, give you tips for figuring out if something is written in that perspective, and then walk you through a real-life example of that point of view in literature.

In first person point of view, you see the story through the narrator’s eyes

First Person Point of View

In first person point of view, the story is told from the narrator’s perspective. This allows the narrator to give readers their first-hand experience, including what they saw, felt, thought, heard, said, and did. Think of it kind of like The Blair Witch Project: in first person point of view, it’s like the narrator is wearing a GoPro camera strapped to their forehead. The reader sees exactly what the narrator sees and gets their singular perspective on the events that unfold. In other words, a first person point of view makes the narrator the eyewitness to the plot of the story.

Using a first person point of view allows an author to dive much more deeply into the narrator’s character, since the reader gets to hear the narrator’s inner thoughts and experience the narrator’s emotions. Additionally, it makes the narrator the main character, or protagonist, of the story. If something is written in first person, it’s a pretty big indicator that the narrator is going to play a pivotal role in communicating the text’s messages or themes.

But there are also some pretty major limitations to a first person point of view, too. Just like real life, readers won’t be able to get the thoughts and feelings of other characters in the novel. Also, the narrator’s observations might be skewed depending on how they feel about other people. Because of that, first person narrators can be unreliable, meaning that their perspective skews the accuracy of the story they’re telling. That means it’s up to the reader to determine whether they believe the narrator is being truthful or not.

Tips for Identifying First Person Point of View

In many ways, a first person point of view is one of the easiest to pick out because it uses first person pronouns, like I, we, me, my, our, and us. If the book is written using these terms, then you can pretty much guarantee that the author is using first person!

Keep in mind that not all first person narrators are the book’s main character, like Moby Dick’s Ishmael or The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen. That’s because first person narrators aren’t always the main characters in the work. Take, for instance, the Sherlock Holmes stories, where Dr. John Watson is the narrator. While he’s an important character in the story, he’s definitely not the main character—Sherlock Holmes is!

Additionally, sometimes first person narrators are anonymous, like third person narrators often are. (Don’t worry: we’ll get into third person narration in just a minute.) That’s why it’s best to look for pronouns when trying to figure out a work’s point of view! If you’re trying to find the narrator’s name, it might not always be there. A good example of this is Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130,” where the narrator is describing the woman he loves. The narrator of the poem is never named, but because he uses pronouns like “I” and “my,” you know it’s written in first person.

Example of First Person Point of View: Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 29”

Many of Shakespeare’s sonnets are written in first person, and “Sonnet 29” is no different. Let’s look at the full poem and see why it qualifies as being written in first person:

Remember, we can tell that something’s written in first person if it uses first person pronouns outside of dialogue. Since there’s no dialogue in this poem at all, we can look at the entire text to find evidence of the first person point of view.  

Notice that the narrator (or speaker, as the narrator is often referred to in poetry) uses words like “I,” “me,” and “myself” throughout the poem. This is a clear indicator that this poem is written in a first person point of view!  

Actually, “Sonnet 29” is a good example of something written in first person where the narrator isn’t named. But we can still learn quite a bit about them through the poem itself! For example, we learn that he’s an outcast (line 2) who is unhappy with his current status (line 4). Despite his all-encompassing misery (line 9), when he thinks upon his love, his spirits are lifted (lines 10, 11, and 12). As we start piecing the evidence together, we begin to get a clearer picture of who the narrator of the poem is, and the power love has to lift us out of even the bleakest circumstance.

Other Works Written in First Person Point of View

First person is a really popular writing technique, so it’s no surprise that there are tons of books written in this point of view! Here are a few other poems, books, and book series that you might be familiar with that use first person point of view:

• Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18”
• Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games book series
• Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
• Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories

Second person point of view uses pronouns like «you» and «your» to tell the story.

Second Person Point of View

In second person point of view, the story is told from the perspective of another character. Sometimes this character is another person in the book, but it can also be the reader themselves! More importantly, when a writer uses second person, they want readers to connect emotionally with the topic they’re writing about!

Here’s an example of what we mean. Say you’re reading an article about the amount of plastic pollution in the ocean. If the writer wants to pull on your heartstrings and make you take the issue they’re writing about seriously, they might use a second person point of view and write something like this:

“Imagine you’re on the vacation of your dreams sailing across the Caribbean. You can’t wait to get out into the open water, where everything will be calm, peaceful, and gorgeous. You take a nap as the captain sets sail, and when you return to the deck, you’re shocked by what you see. Instead of a vast expanse of sparkling blue water, you see a huge, bobbing mound of trash. Fast food containers, plastic bags, and discarded water bottles bob along the surface as far as you can see. It looks like you’re sailing through a garbage dump, and you feel equal parts disgust and despair.”

Using the second person point of view in a passage puts the reader into the story—in this case, it’s a story about pollution. Second person makes the reader feel like they’re making every move…from the joy of going on vacation, to the shock of seeing so much plastic in the water, to the “disgust and despair” of realizing what pollution is doing to the sea. Suddenly, the reader becomes more invested in what the author has to say about the problem, since the second person point of view makes them feel like they’ve experienced it first-hand!

While it’s very rare to find a text that’s written completely in second person, many authors will switch to this perspective when they want readers to feel connected to the topic they’re writing about.

Tips for Identifying Second Person Point of View

Like first person point of view, it’s pretty easy to spot the second person point of view…when you know what you’re looking for, that is. When something is written in second person, the writer uses second person pronouns (like “you,” “yourself,” and “your”) in the text that falls outside of dialogue, too.

Like we just mentioned, it’s pretty rare to find a whole text that’s written this way. More than likely, you’ll find a few paragraphs written in second person, rather than an entire work. The one exception to this rule is the classic Choose Your Own Adventure book! You probably remember these from when you were a kid: each book had a topic, and at the bottom of each page, you were given decisions to make. Depending on what you chose, you’d flip to a different page in the book, and your decisions would affect the story!

Example of Second Person Point of View: Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerny

Jay McInerny uses second person to open his book, Bright Lights, Big City, which tells the story of life in the fast lane in 1980s New York. Let’s look at the first paragraph to see the second person point of view in action:

You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. How did you get here? It was your friend Tad Allagash. Your brain is rushing with Brazilian marching powder. You are talking to a girl with a shaved head. You want to meet the kind of girl who isn’t going to be here. You want to read the kind of fiction this isn’t. You give the girl some powder. She still doesn’t want you. Things were fine once. Then you got married. 

Notice that all the pronouns in this section are either “you” or “your,” which is a clear indicator that this is written in second person! It’s also a good example of how using second person can immediately pull someone into a narrative by making the reader and the main character one in the same. In this case, McInerny is creating a whole backstory for your character—from giving you friends like Tad to hinting at your dysfunctional marriage.

Other Works Written in Second Person Point of View

Second person is probably the rarest of the points of view. Usually writers will use second person in sections of their work to emphasize a point, rather than throughout their entire work. Here are some pieces of literature that use a second person point of view (at least in part):

• Langston Hughes’ “Hard Luck”
• Italo Calvino’s If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller
• Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric
• Emma Campbell Webster’s Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure

In third person omniscient point of view, the narrator is god-like and tells the reader everything!

Third Person Omniscient Point of View

The third type of perspective you can find in literature is a third person omniscient point of view. In third person omniscient, the narrator uses third person pronouns like “he,” “she,” “they,” and “their” to refer to all the characters in the work. As a result, the narrator removes themselves as a critical character in the work (unlike the narrators that use a first or second person point of view).

Additionally, because this is a third person omniscient perspective, the narrator is given god-like qualities over the story. (Merriam-Webster defines an “omniscient” person as someone who has “universal or complete knowledge”!) That means the narrator can dive into any character’s head and share their thoughts and emotions with the reader. Additionally, the narrator can move around in time and place to show the reader events that the characters themselves may not be aware of! That includes jumping around from location to location, or even moving backward and forward in time.

Using a third person omniscient narrator lets an author show the reader the whole gameboard, so to speak. There’s no real limit to what a narrator can show the readers! Consequently, it allows the author to build a robust world full of well-developed characters, since the author no longer has to contend with the single-character limits of a first or second person point of view. It’s also a particularly useful technique in works with large casts of characters, since the narrator can introduce the reader to each character more quickly—and with more detail—than other points of view would allow!

Example of Third Person Omniscient Point of View: Middlemarch by George Eliot

The narrator of George Eliot’s Victorian novel, Middlemarch, is an excellent example of how a third person omniscient narrator can give readers a comprehensive view of a text. Let’s take a look at the book’s opening paragraph to see this type of point of view in action:

Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. Her hand and wrist were so finely formed that she could wear sleeves not less bare of style than those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters; and her profile as well as her stature and bearing seemed to gain the more dignity from her plain garments, which by the side of provincial fashion gave her the impressiveness of a fine quotation from the Bible,—or from one of our elder poets,—in a paragraph of to-day’s newspaper. She was usually spoken of as being remarkably clever, but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. Nevertheless, Celia wore scarcely more trimmings; and it was only to close observers that her dress differed from her sister’s, and had a shade of coquetry in its arrangements; for Miss Brooke’s plain dressing was due to mixed conditions, in most of which her sister shared. The pride of being ladies had something to do with it: the Brooke connections, though not exactly aristocratic, were unquestionably «good:» if you inquired backward for a generation or two, you would not find any yard-measuring or parcel-tying forefathers—anything lower than an admiral or a clergyman; and there was even an ancestor discernible as a Puritan gentleman who served under Cromwell, but afterwards conformed, and managed to come out of all political troubles as the proprietor of a respectable family estate. Young women of such birth, living in a quiet country-house, and attending a village church hardly larger than a parlor, naturally regarded frippery as the ambition of a huckster’s daughter. 

Remember: omniscient narrators are god-like in that they can give you more information than a single character could provide from their limited perspective. In this case, Eliot’s omniscient narrator gives us tons of information about Miss Brooke. We know that she’s beautiful but not financially well off ( the narrator calls this living in “mixed conditions”), which is reflected in her “plain garments.” Regardless, Miss Brooke is also “remarkably clever.”

Beyond that, the narrator tells us about Miss Brooke’s family by looking into her past—which is easy given that the narrator is omniscient! We learn that she and her sister, Celia, aren’t aristocratic, but they come from a good family that includes admirals, clergymen, and politicians. This helps Eliot develop characters and situations quickly, which is important in a book with a large cast of characters like Middlemarch.

Other Works Written in Third Person Omniscient Point of View

Third person omniscient is a common point of view, especially in longer texts. Here are some examples of other works that feature an omniscient point of view:

• Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women
• Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
• Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter
• Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

In third person limited point of view, it’s as if the narrator is standing behind one character’s shoulder.

Third Person Limited Point of View

Example of Third Person Limited Point of View: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Like we mentioned earlier, all texts have a point of view…which means that the Harry Potter stories do, too! Let’s look at a passage from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to get a better idea of how a third person limited point of view works. In this scene, Harry and his friends, Hermione and Ron, are looking through the library to learn more about the sorcerer’s stone:

Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn’t somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew he’d never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

Other Works Written in Third Person Limited Point of View

The third person limited point of view is a popular perspective for writers to use, so there’s no shortage of examples! Here are a few works you might be familiar with that feature a third person limited point of view:

• Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Christabel”
• Eudora Welty’s The Golden Apples
• Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
• Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time

 

What’s Next?

If you’re studying for the AP Literature exam, you’ll need to know about more literary devices than point of view. Why not check out our other comprehensive guides, like this one on personification? The more familiar you are with literary terms, what they mean, and how to use them, the better your test score will be!

Did you know that there are two English AP tests? One is the literature exam, which focuses on literary analysis and comprehension. The second test is the language exam, which tests your ability to understand argument and write persuasively. Click here to learn more about the AP Language exam, how it differs from the literature exam, and what you need to do to knock it out of the park!

After you learn the fundamentals, the best way to prepare for an AP exam is to take practice tests. Check out this article on how to find the best AP practice exams, and learn how to use them to boost your score!

Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article!

Asked by: Rubye Morissette IV

Score: 4.1/5
(53 votes)

Your viewpoint is the particular way you see the world, or your distinct perspective on things. It’s literally your point of view! To stop arguing with someone, try to see things from their viewpoint so you can kiss and make up. Use viewpoint to talk about a person’s individual attitude about things.

What is you view point in communication?

The “you view” analyzes and emphasizes the reader’s interests and perspectives. Because the reader’s interest or benefit is stressed, the writer is more likely to help the reader understand information or act on a request.

What is an example of viewpoint?

The definition of a viewpoint is a way of looking at something. … If you believe you are paying too much in taxes and that everyone should pay a flat rate, this belief is an example of your viewpoint on taxes.

What is the you view point in business communication?

A you-centered business style employs the you view and an audience-centered tone to choose particular words and adopt a targeted tone in a message. The “you view” analyzes and emphasizes the reader’s interests and perspectives.

What viewpoint means?

: a position or perspective from which something is considered or evaluated : point of view, standpoint The novel is told from two major viewpoints and a number of minor ones …—

40 related questions found

What is Second Person Point of View in Literature?  •  How to Write in 2nd Person POV by Reedsy

2nd Person Point of View Examples  •  A True Second Person Game by Daily Quests

Trover Saves the Universe was co-created by Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland. Much of the satire from Rick and Morty is used to similar effect in Trover Saves the Universe; but a major difference lies in the works’ separate perspectives. Roiland and the development team effectively enter that meta-state we talked about earlier by putting us in the vantage of one character who’s controlling another. As such, many regard this perspective as second person.

point of view — перевод на русский

/pɔɪnt ɒv vjuː/

Показать ещё примеры для «точки зрения»…

Показать ещё примеры для «мнение»…

Показать ещё примеры для «взгляд»…

Показать ещё примеры для «место»…

Показать ещё примеры для «позицию»…

Показать ещё примеры для «как посмотреть»…

Показать ещё примеры для «точка зрени»…

Показать ещё примеры для «глазами»…

Показать ещё примеры для «понять»…

Показать ещё примеры для «взгляд на вещи»…

Вам встречались выражения «What’s the point?», «The point is», «That’s a good point?» Поначалу я их не понимал, потому что знал, что point — это точка в геометрии, пункт, место, но в этих выражениях point — это смысл, суть или некая мысль. Подобные выражения встречаются часто в обычной повседневной речи, сегодня мы подробно их разберем.

Прежде чем разбирать выражения, где point = смысл, суть, цель, мысль, давайте сначала разберем несколько других значений слова point.

• Point — точка в геометрии и дробях

Point — это точка в геометрии или точка в десятичных дробях. В предложении точка — это full stop или period, а точка в адресах веб-сайтов — это dot. Сравните:

Point is an exact position in space that has no size. — Точка — это точное положение в пространстве, не имеющее размера.

The total number is seventy-six point eight. — Итого: 76 целых 8 десятых (76.8).

Don’t use a period in the end of a headline. — Не ставь точку в конце заголовка.

Go to google dot com. — Зайди на гугл точка ком.

• Point — пункт, определенное место, точка в пространстве

You have reached the point of destination. — Вы достигли пункта назначения.

The ball should be placed at that point. — Мяч должен быть размещен на этом месте.

Сюда же отнесу point of view — точка зрения

I don’t share that point of view. — Я не разделяю эту точку зрения.

• Point — определенный момент во времени или степень развития действия

At that point, I didn’t care about the rules. — На тот момент, мне уже было наплевать на правила.

The couple got to the point where they didn’t talk at all. — Семейная пара дошла до того (до такой степени развития действия), что вообще не разговаривала.

• Point — очко при подсчете результатов

Ten points to Gryffindor! — Десять очков Гриффиндору!

The younger boxer won on points. — Молодой боксер выиграл по очкам.

Однако чаще всего слово point встречается в значениях: 1) суть, основной смысл, цель, 2) идея, мысль. Причем встречается в составе разговорных выражений, сейчас мы их разберем.

Выражения со словом Point в английском языке

Разберем выражения, когда под point подразумевается смысл чего-то. В данном случае понятие «смысл» иногда близко к понятиям «цель», «польза».

• What’s the point? — В чем смысл? Какой в этом смысл? В чем толк?

Подразумевается «какой прок?», а не «каково значение?»

— We are running late! Let’s get a cab! — Мы опаздываем! Давай найдем такси!

— What’s the point? We’ve missed the flight already. — Какой в этом смысл? Мы уже опоздали на самолет.

Выражение «What’s the point?» можно расширить, достроить, прибавив of + герундий (именно герундий, а не инфинитив). Получится так:

— What’s the point of taking a cab? We’ve missed the flight already. — Какой смысл в том, чтобы брать такси? Мы уже опоздали на самолет.

• There is no point in + герундий — Нет никакого смысла (прока) в…

Опять же, речь идет о пользе, проке, а не смысле как значении. После предлога in идет герундий, но не инфинитив.

There is no point in pretending, we know you stole the cookies. — Притворяться бессмысленно, мы знаем, что ты украл печеньки.

Под «бессмысленно» подразумевается «в этом нет никакого прока».

Выражение «There is no point» также используют без последующих in и др. слов в конце предложения. Например, вот так:

You can pretend you didn’t steal the cookies, but there is no point [in doing this]. — Ты можешь притвориться, что не украл печеньки, но это бессмысленно.

«In doing this» подразумевается, но опускается.

• What’s your point? — Что ты имеешь в виду? К чему ты клонишь?

Вопрос «What’s your point?» можно понять так: что ты имеешь в виду? что ты пытаешься донести? что ты подразумеваешь? к чему ты клонишь? Типичная ситуация: я высказал какую-то идею, но намеками, неявно, меня переспрашивают: «What’s your point?» То есть смысл этого вопроса в том, чтобы получить прямой ответ.

— I think your apartment is big enough for two, and I’ve got nowhere to stay, and we kinda went to school toghether… — Я думаю, у тебя квартира достаточно большая для двоих, а мне негде пожить, ну и мы как бы в школе вместе учились…

— What’s your point? — К чему ты клонишь?

— Can I stay at your place for a few weeks? — Можно у тебя пожить несколько недель?

• The point is (that) … — Суть в том, что / Смысл в том, что… / Дело в том, что…

А вот здесь под point подразумевается не прок, польза, а суть, важнейшая часть. 

Примечания: 1) союз that может опускаться, 2) часто перед этим выражением идет but: «but the point is».

It’s not hard for us to win the match, but the point is, we need to lose it. — Нам нетрудно выиграть этот матч, но суть в том, что нам нужно его проиграть.

The speech was long. The point was, we have to keep working hard etc. — Речь была долгой. Суть в том, что мы должны продолжать работать изо все сих и т. д.

• to get (straight) to the point — перейти (сразу) к сути, делу

Здесь point — это суть, важнейшая часть.

Let’s skip the formalities and get to the point. — Давайте пропустим формальности и перейдем к делу.

She skipped the introduction and got straight to the point. — Она пропустила вступление и перешла сразу к делу.

• to get the point — уловить суть, понять, что имелось в виду

Не путайте это выражение с предыдущим: to get TO the point = переходить к сути, to get the point = улавливать, понимать суть.

Примеры:

I’ve read the article but didn’t get the point. — Я прочитал статью, но не понял сути (не понял, что имелось в виду).

Could you repeat it, please? I’m afraid I didn’t get your point. — Вы не могли бы повторить? Боюсь, я не понял, что вы имели в виду. 

Частный случай этого выражения — это когда объясняют что-то, не могут подобрать слова, а затем, кивая, говорят: «You get the point» — «Ну, ты понял». Например:

— Well, in Russia ‘dacha’ is a kind of… summer house plus garden… but it’s usually smaller than regular houses… well, you get the point. — Ну, в России «дача» — это вроде… летнего домика с садом… но обычно домика поменьше обычных домов… ну, вы меня понимаете.

— Sure. — Конечно.

• to miss the point — не понять, что имелось в виду, не уловить сути

По сути, вместо «I missed the point» можно сказать «I didn’t get the point» — это синонимы.

I think you missed the point of the quote. — Я думаю, вы не уловили сути цитаты (не поняли, что в ней имелось в виду).

Sorry, I’m afraid I missed the point. — Извините, боюсь, я не понял, что имелось в виду.

• That is not the point — суть не в этом, дело не в этом

Если вы говорите, что у вас сломался кондиционер, а вам предлагают проверить слив в раковине, пригодится выражение «That’s not the point» (не в этом дело). Обычно после него объясняют, в чем именно суть. Для этого можно использовать уже знакомое вам выражение «The point is». Другой случай: если вы начали рассказывать про свою кошку, а отвлеклись на обсуждение сериала, вы можете прерваться, сказав, «But that’s not the point» (но суть не в этом, но речь не о том) и вернуться к рассказу про кошку.

— My uncle has five cats at his ranch. — У моего дяди на ранчо пять кошек.

— He really loves cats! — Он действительно любит кошек.

— Yeah, but that’s not the point. They catch mice. — Да, но суть не в этом. Они ловят мышей.

В следующих выражения слово point используется в значении «мысль, идея».

• That is a good point — Это хорошая мысль, хорошо подмечено

«That’s a good point» — это одобряющее выражение, которое используют, когда кто-то подметил важную мысль, сделал замечание, задав вопрос или уточнив что-то. В данном случае под point подразумевается не суть, значение, а просто некая мысль.

— We need to bury this treasure and burn the map so that no one could find it! — Нам нужно закопать эти сокровища и сжечь карту, чтобы никто их не нашел!

— But if we burn the map, how do WE find it? — Но если мы сожжем карту, как мы сами их найдем?

— That’s a good point. — Хорошо подмечено.

• You have a point — В этом есть смысл, резон

Другими словами: «Это звучит разумно», то есть к этому стоит прислушаться, я, может и не полностью, но согласен с вами.

At first I thought that your theory was ridiculous, but now I see, you have a point. — Сначала я думал, что ваша теория — смехотворна, но сейчас я вижу, в этом есть резон.

Hey, don’t interrupt him. He has a point. — Эй, не перебивайте его. Он дело говорит.

• I’ve made my point — Я высказал свою точку зрения, я все сказал, я сказал, что хотел

Вообще, выражение «to make (one’s) point» значит донести мысль, понятно высказаться, но именно в этой формулировке оно примерно равно русскому «я все сказал». Так говорят после какой-нибудь длинной тирады, подчеркивая, что, мол, мнение мое окончательно и непоколебимо, и вообще разговор окончен.

— … and this is the last time when I see you drunk at work! I’ve made my point. — … и это последний раз, когда я вижу тебя пьяным на работе! Я все сказал.

• to get the point across (to smb) — донести мысль (до кого-то)

Выражение to get the point across или to get one’s point across значит донести мысль, идею до собеседника. Можно добавить объект действия (to smb), чтобы уточнить до кого именно доносится мысль, хотя обычно это излишне.

I don’t speak English very well, but I can get my point across. — Я не говорю по-английски очень хорошо, но я могу донести мысль.

I wasn’t able to get my point across to him on phone, so I sent him an emai. — Я не смог донести до него мысль по телефону, поэтому написал ему на электронную почту.

• Point taken — Мысль ясна, ваша позиция ясна

Мы говорим «Point taken» в ответ на высказывание или замечание. Говоря «Point taken», вы даете знать, что поняли собеседника, но это не обязательно значит, что вы с ним согласны. Просто констатируете факт: ваша точка зрения предельно ясна.

— We must shut the plant down because it is bad for the environment. — Мы должны закрыть завод, потому что он вреден для окружающей среды.

— All right. Point taken. Does anybody else have better ideas? — Хорошо. Ваша мысль ясна. У кого-нибудь есть идеи получше?

---

Здравствуйте! Меня зовут Сергей Ним, я автор этого сайта, а также книг, курсов, видеоуроков по английскому языку.

Подпишитесь на мой Телеграм-канал, чтобы узнавать о новых видео, материалах по английскому языку.

У меня также есть канал на YouTube, где я регулярно публикую свои видео.

When you tell a story, an important thing to choose is the point of view that the story should take. Point of view determines who tells the story, as well as the relationship that the narrator has to the characters in the story. A story can have a much different feel depending on who is doing the telling.

The main points of view are first person and third person, with second person appearing less frequently but still common enough that it gets studied in writing classes. These are also the terms used to distinguish the personal pronouns. The pronouns I and we are first-person pronouns; they refer to the self. The pronoun you, used for both singular and plural antecedents, is the second-person pronoun, the person who is being addressed. The third person pronouns—he, she, it, they—refer to someone or something being referred to apart from the speaker or the person being addressed. Narratives are often identified as first, second, or third person based on the kinds of pronouns they utilize.

In first-person narration, the narrator is a person in the story, telling the story from their own point of view. The narration usually utilizes the pronoun I (or we, if the narrator is speaking as part of a group). The character who tells the story might be in the middle of the action or more of a character who observes the action from the outer limits, but in either case you are getting that character’s recounting of what happens.

It also means that impressions and descriptions are colored by that character’s opinions, mood, past experiences, or even their warped perceptions of what they see and hear.

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.

I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.

— Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847

In Jane Eyre, the narration is provided by the story’s title character, a governess. The information shared comes from her memories and impressions—of the weather, her knowledge of Mrs. Reed’s dining habits, and her dread at receiving a lecture from Nurse Bessie. We are likewise shielded from information that Jane doesn’t know.

Many classic works of fiction feature characters made memorable by their first-person voices: The Catcher in the Rye (Holden Caulfield), The Handmaid’s Tale (Offred), or To Kill a Mockingbird (Scout Finch). In some stories, such as in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the first person narrator (Nick Carraway) is an observer of the character around whom the story is centered (Jay Gatsby).

Second Person

Second-person narration is a little-used technique of narrative in which the action is driven by a character ascribed to the reader, one known as you. The reader is immersed into the narrative as a character involved in the story. The narrator describes what «you» do and lets you into your own thoughts and background.
The most well-known piece of fiction that employs second-person narration might be Jay McInerney’s novel Bright Lights, Big City.

At the subway station you wait fifteen minutes on the platform for a train. Finally a local, enervated by graffiti, shuffles into the station. You get a seat and hoist a copy of the New York Post. The Post is the most shameful of your several addictions.

— Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City, 1984

You will also find second-person narration used in the «Choose Your Own Adventure» style of books popular with younger readers, in which readers determine where the story goes by which page they turn to next. Allowing the reader to «be» the central character in the story provides an immersive reading experience, enhancing what is at stake for the character and reader.

Third Person Point of View

In third-person narration, the narrator exists outside the events of the story, and relates the actions of the characters by referring to their names or by the third-person pronouns he, she, or they.

Third-person narration can be further classified into several types: omniscient, limited, and objective.

Third Person Omniscient

Omniscient means «all-knowing,» and likewise an omniscient narrator knows every character’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations even if that character doesn’t reveal any of those things to the other characters.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott serves as a good example of third-person omniscient narration:

«Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,» grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

«It’s so dreadful to be poor!» sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.

«I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all,» added little Amy, with an injured sniff.

«We’ve got Father and Mother, and each other,» said Beth contentedly from her corner.

The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, «We haven’t got Father, and shall not have him for a long time.» She didn’t say «perhaps never,» but each silently added it, thinking of Father far away, where the fighting was.

— Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, 1868

The story is not told from the point of view of Meg, Jo, Beth, or Amy, but from someone who is observing the four sisters as they talk to one another. Each character is therefore referred to by their names or the third-person pronoun she. The narrator does not exist as a character in the story, and the girls do not acknowledge the narrator’s presence.

However, the narrator is omniscient, which means that they know what the characters are thinking. This is demonstrated in the last line of the excerpt, when the girls silently ponder the thought of their father never returning from the war.

Third Person Limited

In third-person limited narration, the narrator still exists outside the events of the story, but does not know the motivations or thoughts of all the characters. Rather, one character is the driver of the story, and the reader is given a closer peek into that character’s psyche than the others.

J. K. Rowling utilizes third-person limited narration in the Harry Potter novels. Even though the narrator is not Harry, and Harry is referred to as ‘he,’ the reader is allowed into Harry’s thoughts—what he is wondering without saying out loud. We are also, like Harry, left uncertain about what other characters are thinking:

Three days later, the Dursleys were showing no sign of relenting, and Harry couldn’t see any way out of his situation. He lay on his bed watching the sun sinking behind the bars on the window and wondered miserably what was going to happen to him.

What was the good of magicking himself out of his room if Hogwarts would expel him for doing it? Yet life at Privet Drive had reached an all-time low. Now that the Dursleys knew they weren’t going to wake up as fruit bats, he had lost his only weapon. Dobby might have saved Harry from horrible happenings at Hogwarts, but the way things were going, he’d probably starve to death anyway.

— J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 1999

Third-Person Objective

In third-person objective narration, the narrator reports the events that take place without knowing the motivations or thoughts of any of the characters. We know little about what drives them until we hear them speak or observe their actions. The resulting tone is often matter-of-fact, not colored by any opinions or commentary, nor of knowledge of what takes place outside the scene.

The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 25th. But in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.

— Shirley Jackson, «The Lottery,» 1948

Point of view definition

In English, the point of view is the narrator’s position or perspective through which the story is being communicated. An author’s point of view tells the reader who the person is experiencing the event or the topic of the writing.

All types of writing — fiction, song lyrics, nonfiction — are written from a point of view.

First, Second, And Third Person

First, second, and third person are the three main types of point of view.

• First person is the I / we perspective

• Second person is the you perspective

• Third person is the she / he / they / it perspective

The author chooses a point of view to relate the story as if you were experiencing it, to force you into the story, or to allow the author to show different points of view.

How to identify point of view

Identifying a point of view in a writer’s work can sometimes be challenging. The best way to find the point of view is to skip the dialogue, go to the narration, and look at the pronouns used in the narrative:

• I, me, my, mine, myself, we, our, ours, ourselves — First person

• You, your, yours, yourself — Second person

• She, her, hers, herself, he, him, his, himself, they, them, themselves, their, theirs — Third person

First person point of view

Usually, we speak in the first person when we talk about ourselves, our opinions, or our experiences.

Anytime a writer wants to share another person’s life, you will see the first-person perspective. With a first-person view, every person reading the passage sees into the character’s life.

The first-person point of view is identified by singular pronouns such as; me, my, I, mine, and myself or plural first person pronouns like we, us, our, and ourselves.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song, “In My Life” in first person:

There are places I’ll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends, I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I’ve loved them all

New Yorker magazine writer and children’s book author E.B. White often wrote in the first person, especially in his nonfiction essays. This excerpt is from «Goodbye to Forty-Eighth Street»:

One day a couple of weeks ago, I sat for a while staring moodily at a plaque that had entered my life largely as a result of some company’s zest for promotion.

Choose first person when you want the reader to go along for the ride with you. You direct the action, sure, but the reader feels it. Consider these famous first-person plural words:

We the People of the United States in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Novels from around 1900 to the present usually show this active, engaged point of view. Tasks ideal for the first person (singular or plural) include:

• Autobiographies

• Journals or diaries

• Fiction

• Essays

• Blogs

• Reading records

• Song lyrics

• Poems

• Letters (formal or friendly)

Places to avoid the first person:

• Academic work

• Instructions

Types of first person

First person narration can take different forms:

• Reliable – the writer’s character speaks the truth

• Unreliable – the writer’s character is hiding something; they are an unreliable narrator

• First-person central – the narrator is the main character and central to the plot

• First-person peripheral – the narrator is a witness, but not the main character

To read a gripping first-person narrative, revisit Suzanne Collins’ «Hunger Games» trilogy.

Second person point of view

Second person point of view is known as the “you” perspective. It is the perspective of the person or persons that the narrator is addressing. The second person perspective is identifiable by the author’s use of second-person pronouns: you, yourself, your, yours, or yourselves.

The second person point of view attempts to turn the reader into the character. It is seldom used in novels but does give an immediate jolt.

Second person point of view examples

The use of second-person perspective in novels or stories is rare, but it does exist. Consider this example from fiction, «Earth and Ashes» by Atiq Rahimi and Erdag Goknar:

With your back to the autumn sun, you are squatting against the iron railings of the bridge that links the two banks of the dry riverbed north of Pul-i-Khumri.

Second person helps to deeply immerse new readers in many children’s books. The entirety of «How to Babysit a Grandpa» is written as a second-person book of instructions:

As soon as your grandpa says, “I give up,” jump out and shout, “Here I am!”

The second person point of view is perfectly natural for recipes and directions. Here is a way to make lemonade, written in the second person:

1. You need six lemons, six cups of cold water, and one cup of sugar.

2. You’ll need a large pitcher for mixing everything and a juicer.

3. Before you juice the lemons, you can make your work easier by rolling the lemons on the counter, hard.

4. Then you just juice them normally.

5. You combine the fresh lemon juice, water, and sugar in the pitcher.

6. Stir; you may want to adjust sweetness or water to taste.

With instructions and directions, second person can be an “understood” point of view:

“Turn to page 178 and solve problems 6 through 10.”

The understood but unwritten subject of that sentence is “You”, the pronoun is just left out.

Third person point of view

The third-person point of view belongs to the people or person the narrator is referring to. Third-person pronouns are she, he, her, him, hers, his, herself, himself, it, its, itself, they, their, theirs, them and themselves.

For the writer who must tell several interwoven stories, provide psychological distance between the subject and the reader, or who needs to stay neutral, nothing beats the third-person viewpoint.

All academic writing, most advertising, many novels, and most quotations or aphorisms are written in the third person.

Third person limited

The third-person limited point of view is when the narrator only has some access to the experiences and thoughts of the characters. Many times, the third person limited perspective limits the narrators access to the thoughts and experiences of just one character.

Third person omniscient

The third-person omniscient point of view is when the narrator has access to all the experiences and thoughts of all the characters in the story. An omniscient narrator knows the main character’s thoughts and those of every other character in the novel or short story.

Third person point of view examples

Here is a passage from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, showing the power of third person:

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself…

In fiction, third person allows a writer to put the reader into the heads of all the characters, explain important plot points, and present information in a seemingly neutral way.

Speaking In Third Person

Speaking in the third person is not typical, but people do it. It can be an excellent  comedic effect or to grab someone’s attention.

Here is an example of Larry speaking in the third person:

Fourth person point of view

The fourth person point of view is a term used for indefinite or generic referents. A common example in the English language is the word one as in “one would think that’s how it works.” This example sentence is referring to a generic someone.

You may also see the fourth person point of view called the third person generic.

Choosing a point of view

We all like to write in a natural way. As a writer, you have a duty to your reader to think carefully about your point of view. Many writers rewrite their work if the point of view seems awkward.

That paragraph went from first person to second person to third person, all in just three sentences!

The first-person point of view or a first-person narrator can fool a reader into trusting the narrator when the narrator is not a reliable reporter (great for mysteries, recounted tales, and fictional confessionals).

Many great novels such as «The Great Gatsby» are written from a first-person perspective. Another classic in first person POV is Herman Melville’s «Moby Dick.» It is clear who is narrating with the line «Call me Ishmael.»

The second person is suitable for simple, direct storytelling (for children, recipes, assembly instructions, and the like).

A third person narrator creates the most distance between events and the reader. It is almost always seen as a reliable, neutral viewpoint. With the third person, the author can select the point of view of a single character or be omniscient (all-knowing, all present) and move in and out of the minds of all the characters.

Point of View

Examples of Point of View: