Meaning & use
normal person
Last updated
Meanings
phrasecountable
Someone whose behavior, feelings, and abilities are typical of most people, not unusual or extreme.
Grammar: Countable phrase: you can say 'a normal person' or 'normal people'.
Patterns
- a normal person
- normal people
- be a normal person
After months of treatment, she felt like a normal person again.
He just wants to live like a normal person, without cameras following him.
Most normal people would find that joke offensive.
phrasecountablemedicaltechnical
In medicine and psychology, someone with no mental or physical illness or disability.
Grammar: Used mainly in clinical or technical discussion, often in contrast with 'patient' or 'case'.
Patterns
- compared with a normal person
- in a normal person
The scan results were compared with those of a normal person of the same age.
In a normal person, this reflex happens automatically.
Word forms
| plural | normal people |
|---|
Common combinations
- a perfectly normal person
- He's a perfectly normal person once you get to know him.
- feel like a normal person
- A good night's sleep made her feel like a normal person again.
- an ordinary normal person
- The film shows the president as an ordinary normal person.
- what a normal person would do
- That's not what a normal person would do in that situation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ordinary person
- This is the neutral, non-medical choice and avoids suggesting that anyone different is abnormal.
- average person
- Use this when you are thinking about statistics or what is typical of a group.
- everyday person
- This emphasizes a life without fame or special status, not mental or physical health.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: normal person or average person?
normal person vs average person
An average person is typical in a statistical sense (income, height, etc.); a normal person is about health, behavior, or what is considered usual.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'normal person' most naturally in everyday conversation?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 uses the phrase naturally to mean an ordinary, typical person. Option 1 is wrong because 'normal person' is not a medical category for infection. Option 2 is wrong because 'a normal person of the team' is not a natural pattern. Option 3 is wrong because the plural 'people' is needed, not 'person'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “normal person”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.