While it isn’t grammatically incorrect to start a sentence with the personal pronoun I, how, when and how often you do so are important considerations.
In this article, we offer some insight into usage that can help writers inform their assignments. Read on and update your understanding of using I to begin your sentences.
The history of starting sentences with I
For many years, writers have been discouraged from using I as a sentence starter. However, this wasn’t always so.
The academic community in the UK used I to begin sentences up to the 20th century. In 2018, a new trend began that encouraged writers to not draw attention to themselves with personal pronouns and stay in the background.
While recent years have seen a partial reversal of this approach, starting a sentence with I is typically found in personal blogs, memoirs, fiction and opinion pieces in newspapers. It isn’t called for in most types of formal writing, but is sometimes used in abstracts, introductions and conclusions of academic and scientific papers.
The frequency of using I to begin sentences
Experts remind writers that the first word used to start a sentence often attracts the most attention. As a result, it’s wise to only use I as the first word if that is the intention.
Authors writing in the first person commonly start a sentence with I, to write from a specific character’s experience and perspective. However, overuse can become tiresome to readers, and editors are frequently required to restructure sentences to make them more interesting while maintaining the original intent. Common techniques include cutting out unnecessary actions, swapping clauses, omitting filter phrases (like “I saw”) and using a prepositional phrase instead.
However, writers are warned not to re-write all their sentences using a passive voice, as this can weaken the writing overall.
To sum up, there is nothing wrong with starting a sentence with I when it is appropriate for a specific type of writing, but overuse should always be avoided.
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