point of view question

October 14, 2015 7:21 PM

Hi, I am working on a story and I have a sentence that says, "Please give them the food packets." Can anyone tell me if that is second person point of view or if it's third person point of view. Thanks in advance.
posted by lynnie-the-pooh to Writing & Language (4 answers total)

It's second person, imperative mood. There's an understood "you" before "Please".
posted by Sara C. at 7:28 PM on October 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

This is an imperative sentence with the implied subject “You,” which is a second-person pronoun.

However, I can't tell from just that sentence what the “point of view” is. Is this dialogue from one character to another? Or is it the narrator of the story addressing the reader? If it's dialogue between two characters, it could be from any point of view. If it's the narrator speaking to the reader, then it's a second-person point of view.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:29 PM on October 14, 2015 [13 favorites]

Yeah, not enough information to determine point of view.
posted by Miko at 7:33 PM on October 14, 2015 [6 favorites]

Second person point of view (which is rarely done) is the sort that speaks consistently in the form of "you."

You woke up. You noticed your feet were missing. You heard a voice. "Please give them the food packets."

Since you have a bit of dialogue it could be included in a story from anyone's point of view or omniscience.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:06 AM on October 15, 2015 [3 favorites]