I (IPA: /aɪ/) is the first-person, singular personal pronoun (subject case) in Modern English. It is the person you are referring to when you are referring to yourself.
| Singular | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Object | Subject | Object | ||
| First | I | me | we | us | |
| Second | you | you | you | you | |
| Third | Masculine | he | him | they | them |
| Feminine | she | her | |||
| Neuter | it | it | |||
Contents |
Usage
In orthography, this pronoun is comparable to proper nouns; in most writing I is always capitalised. However, internet slang on comment sites frequently shows a lower-case i.
The oblique cases of I are me (object) and my (possessive).
A first person subjunctive can be used as a circumlocution, to avoid direct criticism in the second person.
- I wouldn't believe all you read. You shouldn't believe all you read.
- I wouldn't do that [if I were you]. Don't you do that!
Compare:
- One wouldn't do that oneself.
Etymology
- Further information: Proto-Indo-European pronouns
English I originates from Old English (OE) ic, the continuation of Proto-Germanic ik, ek, ek being attested in Elder Futhark inscriptions (in some cases notably showing the variant eka; see also ek erilaz); ik is assumed to have developed from the unstressed variant of ek. Germanic cognates are: Old Frisian ik, Old Norse ek (Danish, Norwegian jeg), Old High German ih (German ich) and Gothic ik.
The Proto-Germanic root came, in turn, from the Proto Indo-European language (PIE). The reconstructed PIE pronoun is *egō, egóm, with cognates including Sanskrit aham, Hittite uk, Latin ego, Greek ἐγώ egō and Old Slavonic azъ. The oblique forms are formed from a stem *me- (English me), the plural from *wei- (English we), the oblique plural from *ns- (English us).
Old English
| Nom | Acc | Dat | Gen | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sing | ic | me(c) | me | min | |
| Dual | wit | unc | uncer | |||
| Plur | we | us | ure | |||
| 2nd | Sing | þu | þe | þin | ||
| Dual | git | inc | incer | |||
| Plur | ge | eow | eower | |||
| 3rd | Sing | M | he | hine | him | his |
| N | hit | hit | him | his | ||
| F | heo | hie | hire | hire | ||
| Plur | hie | hie | him | hira | ||
| Nom | Acc | Dat | Gen | |||
Middle English
By 1137 ic was reduced to i in Northern England. By around 1250 capitalisation began, to distinguish I as a distinct word.
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Object | Possessive | Subject | Object | Possessive | ||
| First | I | me | mi(n) | we | us | ure | |
| Second | thou | thee | thy | ye | you | your | |
| Third | Impersonal | hit | it/him | his | he they |
hem them |
hir their |
| Masculine | he | him | his | ||||
| Feminine | sche | hire | hir | ||||
See also
|
|
|---|
| I · you · he · she · it · one · we · you · they |
