using i in an essay

Using “I” in Academic Writing

Traditionally, some fields have frowned on the use of the first-person singular in an academic essay and others have encouraged that use, and both the frowning and the encouraging persist today—and there are good reasons for both positions (see “Should I”).

I recommend that you not look on the question of using “I” in an academic paper as a matter of a rule to follow, as part of a political agenda (see webb), or even as the need to create a strategy to avoid falling into Scylla-or-Charybdis error. Let the first-person singular be, instead, a tool that you take out when you think it’s needed and that you leave in the toolbox when you think it’s not.

Examples of When “I” May Be Needed

You are narrating how you made a discovery, and the process of your discovering is important or at the very least entertaining.
You are describing how you teach something and how your students have responded or respond.
You disagree with another scholar and want to stress that you are not waving the banner of absolute truth.
You need “I” for rhetorical effect, to be clear, simple, or direct.

Examples of When “I” Should Be Given a Rest

It’s off-putting to readers, generally, when “I” appears too often. You may not feel one bit modest, but remember the advice of Benjamin Franklin, still excellent, on the wisdom of preserving the semblance of modesty when your purpose is to convince others.
You are the author of your paper, so if an opinion is expressed in it, it is usually clear that this opinion is yours. You don’t have to add a phrase like, “I believe” or “it seems to me.”

Works Cited

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin . Project Gutenberg , 28 Dec. 2006, www.gutenberg.org/app/uploads/sites/3/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm#I.

“Should I Use “I”?” The Writing Center at UNC—Chapel Hill , writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/should-i-use-i/.

webb, Christine. “The Use of the First Person in Academic Writing: Objectivity, Language, and Gatekeeping.” ResearchGate , July 1992, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.1992.tb01974.x.

J.S.Beniwal 05 August 2017 AT 09:08 AM

I have borrowed MLA only yesterday, did my MAEnglish in May 2017.MLA is of immense help for scholars.An overview of the book really enlightened me.I should have read it at bachelor's degree level.

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Dr. Raymond Harter 25 September 2017 AT 02:09 PM

I discourage the use of "I" in essays for undergraduates to reinforce a conversational tone and to "self-recognize" the writer as an authority or at least a thorough researcher. Writing a play is different than an essay with a purpose.

Osayimwense Osa 22 March 2023 AT 05:03 PM

When a student or writer is strongly and passionately interested in his or her stance and argument to persuade his or her audience, the use of personal pronoun srenghtens his or her passion for the subject. This passion should be clear in his/her expression. However, I encourage the use of the first-person, I, sparingly -- only when and where absolutely necessary.

Eleanor 25 March 2023 AT 04:03 PM

I once had a student use the word "eye" when writing about how to use pronouns. Her peers did not catch it. I made comments, but I think she never understood what eye was saying!

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Collaboration, information literacy, writing process, using first person in an academic essay: when is it okay.

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Related Concepts: Academic Writing – How to Write for the Academic Community ; First-Person Point of View ; Rhetorical Analysis; Rhetorical Stance ; The First Person ; Voice

In order to determine whether or not you can speak or write from the first-person point of view, you need to engage in rhetorical analysis. You need to question whether your audience values and accepts the first person as a legitimate rhetorical stance. Source:Many times, high school students are told not to use first person (“I,” “we,” “my,” “us,” and so forth) in their essays. As a college student, you should realize that this is a rule that can and should be broken—at the right time, of course.

By now, you’ve probably written a personal essay, memoir, or narrative that used first person. After all, how could you write a personal essay about yourself, for instance, without using the dreaded “I” word?

However, academic essays differ from personal essays; they are typically researched and use a formal tone . Because of these differences, when students write an academic essay, they quickly shy away from first person because of what they have been told in high school or because they believe that first person feels too informal for an intellectual, researched text. While first person can definitely be overused in academic essays (which is likely why your teachers tell you not to use it), there are moments in a paper when it is not only appropriate, but also more effective and/or persuasive to use first person. The following are a few instances in which it is appropriate to use first person in an academic essay:

Including a personal anecdote: You have more than likely been told that you need a strong “hook” to draw your readers in during an introduction. Sometimes, the best hook is a personal anecdote, or a short amusing story about yourself. In this situation, it would seem unnatural not to use first-person pronouns such as “I” and “myself.” Your readers will appreciate the personal touch and will want to keep reading! (For more information about incorporating personal anecdotes into your writing, see “ Employing Narrative in an Essay .”)
Establishing your credibility ( ethos ): Ethos is a term stemming back to Ancient Greece that essentially means “character” in the sense of trustworthiness or credibility. A writer can establish her ethos by convincing the reader that she is trustworthy source. Oftentimes, the best way to do that is to get personal—tell the reader a little bit about yourself. (For more information about ethos, see “ Ethos .”)For instance, let’s say you are writing an essay arguing that dance is a sport. Using the occasional personal pronoun to let your audience know that you, in fact, are a classically trained dancer—and have the muscles and scars to prove it—goes a long way in establishing your credibility and proving your argument. And this use of first person will not distract or annoy your readers because it is purposeful.
Clarifying passive constructions : Often, when writers try to avoid using first person in essays, they end up creating confusing, passive sentences . For instance, let’s say I am writing an essay about different word processing technologies, and I want to make the point that I am using Microsoft Word to write this essay. If I tried to avoid first-person pronouns, my sentence might read: “Right now, this essay is being written in Microsoft Word.” While this sentence is not wrong, it is what we call passive—the subject of the sentence is being acted upon because there is no one performing the action. To most people, this sentence sounds better: “Right now, I am writing this essay in Microsoft Word.” Do you see the difference? In this case, using first person makes your writing clearer.
Stating your position in relation to others: Sometimes, especially in an argumentative essay, it is necessary to state your opinion on the topic . Readers want to know where you stand, and it is sometimes helpful to assert yourself by putting your own opinions into the essay. You can imagine the passive sentences (see above) that might occur if you try to state your argument without using the word “I.” The key here is to use first person sparingly. Use personal pronouns enough to get your point across clearly without inundating your readers with this language.

Now, the above list is certainly not exhaustive. The best thing to do is to use your good judgment, and you can always check with your instructor if you are unsure of his or her perspective on the issue. Ultimately, if you feel that using first person has a purpose or will have a strategic effect on your audience, then it is probably fine to use first-person pronouns. Just be sure not to overuse this language, at the risk of sounding narcissistic, self-centered, or unaware of others’ opinions on a topic.

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Academic Writing

To Use “I” or Not to Use “I”: That Is Not Really a Question

by Teresa Marie Kelly · Published October 1, 2021 · Updated September 28, 2021

“How can I show my experience and opinion without using ‘’I’?” a student recently asked for about the billionth time in my teaching career.

Hi everyone! This is TK from the Department of Composition and WAC at Purdue Global. In CM 107–our Composition I course–students progress from personal writing about problem-solving to academic writing. As part of teaching academic writing and formal language, we focus heavily on the point of view. Students struggle with avoiding “I,” often including unnecessary phrases like “I think,” I feel,” and “I believe.” Over time, I have learned that their struggle comes from several places and that it takes a slow reinforcement of the concept to help students change their default habit of using the first person to a new practice of mainly using the third person.

First, I spent time considering where the problem comes from in the first place. I distinctly recall learning in high school that when you write something, readers understand it to be your opinion. You don’t have to identify it as such. Instead, you remember ideas and words that belong to others–hence the need for signal phrases and citations. I’m 50, so I thought about what differed for the student writers I teach, most of whom are in their late 20s to late 30s. The answer came immediately.

The internet rears its often-ugly head.

Online, especially in social media, posters challenge each other, demanding sources and evidence unless posters clearly say things like “It’s only my opinion, but . . . ” or “In my humble opinion . . . ” (IMHO). In traditional writing–be it personal, professional, or academic the audience understands and accepts that unless signaled otherwise, opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Helping students understand how internet writing differs must start early in their writing instruction. One way I begin is by sharing links to opinion columns in our live seminars. We specifically examine the disclaimers posted with these pieces–that these are the author’s opinions–and then how the writers use or do not use first-person pronouns. I encourage students to imagine that their work has a disclaimer so that they do not need to set off their opinions and feelings.

Once I have exposed students to this concept, I introduce the use of signal phrases immediately. While we cover research and APA in CM 107l later in the term, students must reference their readings, labs, and other course materials in their discussion posts. I guide them via instruction and feedback to use signal phrases to show what comes from those materials. Since I already recognize the content of the materials, I can easily remind students where they need the signal phrases.

Next, I remove the opportunity for the habit of using the unnecessary first person to grow. In personal writing–especially in assignments such as the problem-solving blog post assignment–the first person is allowed. That does not mean the “I think,” “I feel,” and “I believe” disclaimers are needed. In addition to reminding them about the understood disclaimer, I encourage students to consider their assignment’s subject. When “I” dominates the writing, they are the subject. If that is the purpose, then fine. However, in the Unit 4 blog post assignment, the subject is the problem, solution, and encouragement for the audience. They will use “I” with active verbs to show what they did to solve the problem, but they do not need to use it to express their feelings.

Presenting writing as a process also helps. I encourage students to draft discussion posts freely, without worrying about the habitual “I.” I also urge them to eliminate all those phrases in revising and editing, so they can make their writing more precise and concise. Over time, they discover that their default setting no longer includes those phrases. They’ve instead adopted a new habit.

Ultimately, the academic writing section of CM 107–Units 5-8–is a time to bring together the ideas of the roots of unnecessary first person, the understood nature of ownership of thoughts and feelings in writing, the use of signal phrases, and the elimination of excessive uses of the first-person via revision and editing. As with most writing skills, effective and appropriate point of view develops with practice. Approaching the concept as a skill to learn rather than an error to correct allows students to develop the skills over time–meaning it has a better chance of sticking with them and their writing.

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Scholarly Voice: First-Person Point of View

First-person point of view.

Since 2007, Walden academic leadership has endorsed the APA manual guidance on appropriate use of the first-person singular pronoun "I," allowing the use of this pronoun in all Walden academic writing except doctoral capstone abstracts, which should not contain first person pronouns.

In addition to the pointers below, APA 7, Section 4.16 provides information on the appropriate use of first person in scholarly writing.

Inappropriate Uses: I feel that eating white bread causes cancer. The author feels that eating white bread causes cancer. I found several sources (Marks, 2011; Isaac, 2006; Stuart, in press) that showed a link between white bread consumption and cancer. Appropriate Use: I surveyed 2,900 adults who consumed white bread regularly. In this chapter, I present a literature review on research about how seasonal light changes affect depression.

Confusing Sentence: The researcher found that the authors had been accurate in their study of helium, which the researcher had hypothesized from the beginning of their project. Revision: I found that Johnson et al. (2011) had been accurate in their study of helium, which I had hypothesized since I began my project.

Passive voice: The surveys were distributed and the results were compiled after they were collected. Revision: I distributed the surveys, and then I collected and compiled the results.

Appropriate use of first person we and our : Two other nurses and I worked together to create a qualitative survey to measure patient satisfaction. Upon completion, we presented the results to our supervisor.

Make assumptions about your readers by putting them in a group to which they may not belong by using first person plural pronouns. Inappropriate use of first person "we" and "our":

We can stop obesity in our society by changing our lifestyles.
We need to help our patients recover faster.

In the first sentence above, the readers would not necessarily know who "we" are, and using a phrase such as "our society " can immediately exclude readers from outside your social group. In the second sentence, the author assumes that the reader is a nurse or medical professional, which may not be the case, and the sentence expresses the opinion of the author.

To write with more precision and clarity, hallmarks of scholarly writing, revise these sentences without the use of "we" and "our."

Moderate activity can reduce the risk of obesity (Hu et al., 2003).
Staff members in the health care industry can help improve the recovery rate for patients (Matthews, 2013).

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When is it Okay to use I in Academic Essays?

There’s no set answer as to whether one can use I in essays, always check with the professor.

In our essay, while it’s fine to use it in a limited usage–without filtering everything through the self–the audience is often best engaged by moving toward a use of readers . The latter gives us a recognition that, yes, there is in fact an audience out there. Everyone has a limited point of view, so it can be a problem having too many sentences starting with I . Even so, I work with many students who share their relevant experiences. If we are writing an essay about war’s impacts and the soldier-student has been deployed six times from Ft. Drum, they are subject experts with credibility. Blended with other voices, their views can be credibly powerful .

While I is Okay in Essays in Limited Usage, Readers Functions Better. Authored by : Joshua Dickinson. Provided by : Jefferson Community College. Located at : http://www.sunyjefferson.edu . Project : ENG 101. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

First-Person Pronouns

Use first-person pronouns in APA Style to describe your work as well as your personal reactions.

If you are writing a paper by yourself, use the pronoun “I” to refer to yourself.
If you are writing a paper with coauthors, use the pronoun “we” to refer yourself and your coauthors together.

Referring to yourself in the third person

Do not use the third person to refer to yourself. Writers are often tempted to do this as a way to sound more formal or scholarly; however, it can create ambiguity for readers about whether you or someone else performed an action.

Correct: I explored treatments for social anxiety.

Incorrect: The author explored treatments for social anxiety.

First-person pronouns are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 4.16 and the Concise Guide Section 2.16

Editorial “we”

Also avoid the editorial “we” to refer to people in general.

Incorrect: We often worry about what other people think of us.

Instead, specify the meaning of “we”—do you mean other people in general, other people of your age, other students, other psychologists, other nurses, or some other group? The previous sentence can be clarified as follows:

Correct: As young adults, we often worry about what other people think of us. I explored my own experience of social anxiety...

When you use the first person to describe your own actions, readers clearly understand when you are writing about your own work and reactions versus those of other researchers.

We should use ‘I’ more in academic writing – there is benefit to first-person perspective

Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland

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The use of the word “I” in academic writing, that is writing in the first person , has a troublesome history. Some say it makes writing too subjective, others that it’s essential for accuracy.

This is reflected in how students, particularly in secondary schools, are trained to write. Teachers I work with are often surprised that I advocate, at times, invoking the first person in essays or other assessment in their subject areas.

In academic writing the role of the author is to explain their argument dispassionately and objectively. The author’s personal opinion in such endeavours is neither here nor there.

As noted in Strunk and White’s highly influential Elements of Style – (first published in 1959) the writer is encouraged to place themselves in the background.

Write in a way that draws the reader’s attention to the sense and substance of the writing, rather than to the mood and temper of the author.

This all seems very reasonable and scholarly. The move towards including the first person perspective, however, is becoming more acceptable in academia.

There are times when invoking the first person is more meaningful and even rigorous than not. I will give three categories in which first person academic writing is more effective than using the third person.

1. Where an academic is offering their personal view or argument

Above, I could have said “there are three categories” rather than “I will give three categories”. The former makes a claim of discovering some objective fact. The latter, a more intellectually honest and accountable approach, is me offering my interpretation.

I could also say “three categories are apparent”, but that is ignoring the fact it is apparent to me . It would be an attempt to grant too much objectivity to a position than it deserves.

In a similar vein, statements such as “it can be argued” or “it was decided”, using the passive voice, avoid responsibility. It is much better to say “I will argue that” or “we decided that” and then go on to prosecute the argument or justify the decision.

Taking responsibility for our stances and reasoning is important culturally as well as academically. In a participatory democracy, we are expected to be accountable for our ideas and choices. It is also a stand against the kinds of anonymous assertions that easily proliferate via fake and unnamed social media accounts.

Read more: Post-truth politics and why the antidote isn't simply 'fact-checking' and truth

It’s worth noting that Nature – arguably one of the world’s best science journals – prefers authors to selectively avoid the passive voice. Its writing guidelines note:

Nature journals prefer authors to write in the active voice (“we performed the experiment…”) as experience has shown that readers find concepts and results to be conveyed more clearly if written directly.

2. Where the author’s perspective is part of the analysis

Some disciplines, such as anthropology , recognise that who is doing the research and why they are doing it ought to be overtly present in their presentation of it.

Removing the author’s presence can allow important cultural or other perspectives held by the author to remain unexamined. This can lead to the so-called crisis of representation , in which the interpretation of texts and other cultural artefacts is removed from any interpretive stance of the author.

This gives a false impression of objectivity. As the philosopher Thomas Nagel notes, there is no “ view from nowhere ”.

Philosophy commonly invokes the first person position, too. Rene Descartes famously inferred “I think therefore I am” ( cogito ergo sum ). But his use of the first person in Meditations on First Philosophy was not simply an account of his own introspection. It was also an invitation to the reader to think for themselves.

3. Where the author wants to show their reasoning

The third case is especially interesting in education.

I tell students of science, critical thinking and philosophy that a phrase guaranteed to raise my hackles is “I strongly believe …”. In terms of being rationally persuasive, this is not relevant unless they then go on tell me why they believe it. I want to know what and how they are thinking.

To make their thinking most clearly an object of my study, I need them to make themselves the subjects of their writing.

I prefer students to write something like “I am not convinced by Dawson’s argument because…” rather than “Dawson’s argument is opposed by DeVries, who says …”. I want to understand their thinking not just use the argument of DeVries.

Read more: Thinking about thinking helps kids learn. How can we teach critical thinking?

Of course I would hope they do engage with DeVries, but then I’d want them to say which argument they find more convincing and what their own reasons were for being convinced.

Just stating Devries’ objection is good analysis, but we also need students to evaluate and justify, and it is here that the first person position is most useful.

It is not always accurate to say a piece is written in the first or third person. There are reasons to invoke the first person position at times and reasons not to. An essay in which it is used once should not mean we think of the whole essay as from the first person perspective.

We need to be more nuanced about how we approach this issue and appreciate when authors should “place themselves in the background” and when their voice matters.

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30+ Ways to Avoid Repetition of “I” in First-Person Writing

First-person narrative engages readers, who experience the world from your narrator’s perspective — including intimate thoughts and feelings. However, it’s easy to overplay constructions such as I did this and I thought that and I wanted something else.

Many people claim the I, I, I approach is permissible because I is an invisible word like said .

Don’t believe them.

Prose or poetry with an overabundance of the same words or structures will seem off. Readers might not be able to tell you what’s wrong, but they know they’re unsettled by something .

Consider the Following Two Story Snippets

I answered the irresistible beckoning of the backyard. I watched brightly colored birds there frolicking in the breeze as they fluttered toward the creek. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth of the sun . I smelled the fragrance of the clover underneath my feet, a fragrance so sweet I could almost taste it. I heard fledgling robins twittering in a nearby tree.

I thought to myself , This is the life. I knew I never wanted to leave this place.

I decided to phone the real estate agent and tell her to take the FOR SALE sign off my lawn. She acted as though she had expected my call.

I told her in a firm voice that my mind was made up, and yes, I understood she would still receive her full commission.

I realized I didn’t care about the money.

The backyard beckoned with its irresistible sights and sounds. Frolicking in the breeze, brightly colored birds fluttered toward the creek. The sun warmed my closed eyelids, and my nostrils were flooded by the sweet fragrance of clover underneath my feet, a fragrance so sweet it almost sugared the taste buds. In a nearby tree, fledgling robins twittered.

This is the life. Who in their right mind would ever leave this place?

The real estate agent acted as though she had expected my call when asked to take the FOR SALE sign off the lawn.

My voice was firm. “Yes, my mind is made up. … Understood. … You’ll still receive your full commission.”

Hah! Who cares about the money?

Beware Verbosity

Rewrites could result in bloat, and the wrong words could make you seem pretentious or long-winded.

The second snippet reduces, rather than increases, word count.

The first example would be even shorter with the removal of to myself. Who else would you think to? Your editor? Your cat? Or maybe your dictation software?

Did You Notice the Changes?

Almost every sentence in the first example begins with I.

In the rewrite, note the removal of several filtering phrases:

I watched I … felt I smelled I could … taste I heard I thought I knew I decided I told I understood I realized

Whenever you filter thoughts and senses through your narrator’s eyes, you distance readers from your story — like a selfie of a selfie. Use the direct approach instead.

Passive voice appeared once to vary sentence structure. “I smelled the fragrance of the clover underneath my feet ” became “my nostrils were flooded by the sweet fragrance of clover underneath my feet.”

A so-called rule of writing is not to use passive voice. However, you’ll find times such as this when it’s warranted.

The phrase could also have been written as “my nostrils flooded with the sweet fragrance of clover underneath my feet.”

Reread the examples. Compare again. You’ll notice subtle changes that make the text flow smoother.

A Partial List of Filter Words

Watch for these or their equivalents. They all have the potential to weaken your writing:

A to W assume, be able to, believe, can, decide, experience, feel (or feel like) , hear, know, look, note, notice, realize, remember, see, seem, sound (or sound like), taste, think, touch, watch, wonder

Change the Focus

Just because you’re writing in first person doesn’t mean you, the storyteller, should be the most important character in the piece.

If you concentrate on the activities of other characters, readers will feel as though they are you. They still know you’re the narrator, but you become invisible.

Try These I Alternatives

I agree: We are in agreement

I am convinced that: In my opinion

I am sure that: Correct me if my opinion is wrong

I believe: The experts say (or, in Dothraki , “It is known”)

I decided: It was my intention

I disagree: You are wrong

I dislike that: That’s not for me

I don’t know: That’s an excellent question

I feel: In light of the evidence

I have experience in: My experience includes

I interpret the results: The results indicate

I like: It’s one of my favorites

I was nearly hit by a car: A car nearly hit me

I’ll show you: The report will show you

I’m hungry: My stomach is growling

Beware the Me-My Snare

In an attempt to remove instances of I, you might introduce excessive repetition of me and my .

For instance, “I felt an irresistible urge to buy the shoes” could become “An irresistible urge to buy the shoes came over me .”

“I saw three chickadees sitting on the fence” could end up as “Three chickadees sitting on the fence came into my view.”

As shown by the strikeout, you can often omit my .

Rely on Your Ears

They’re excellent critics.

Read your text out loud or harness your computer’s text-to-speech capabilities and listen to your writing . Repetitions that hide from notice during a silent read often become obvious and irritating when processed by the ears .

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28 thoughts on “ 30+ Ways to Avoid Repetition of “I” in First-Person Writing ”

how can we replace i in this sentence i had a dream to spend a beautiful day at an island

Sleep, peaceful sleep, filled the night, interrupted only by the dream of an idyllic day on a tiny island.

Hello Kathy,

Me again. Since reading your article, I have made a greater conscious effort in avoiding the use of “I” in my first-person stories. However, in doing so, I’m noticing I am starting to use “-ing” words to begin sentences more often, and I understand that’s something to use sparingly in fiction writing.

I may be over-analysing my works (that’s a bad habit of mine), but if using “I” in a sentence, whether it’s beginning a sentence or in the middle of it, creates a clearer structured sentence when compared to using a “-ing” word, would you say it’s okay to use “I”, or to try and figure out another way of structuring the sentence to avoid either?

On a side note, sometimes when I do avoid both, the sentence gets written in passive voice, as that seems to be the only way to structure it, while keeping it clear and precise. For example, a sentence within a story of mine read: “Rather than wasting time on breakfast, I can use it for more important things, such as training.” After re-editing it, it became: “Rather than wasting time on breakfast, it can be used for more important things, such as training.”

I’m really just trying to determine out of “I”, “-ing”, or passive voice, which is the best to use. Apologies if this is unclear. Sometimes that’s my thought process for you. There’s logic in there, but you’ve gotta dig past all the dribble to find it.

Kind regards, Footrot Flats

Phrases such as the following can help eliminate some instances of “I”:

– experience has shown – statistics indicate – events suggest – circumstances often require

Regarding your sentence: “Rather than wasting time on breakfast, it can be used for more important things, such as training.”

Try something like: “[Whatever ‘it’ is] can focus on activities, such as training, which are more important than breakfast.”

Remember: The goal is not to eliminate words but to eliminate their overuse.

Thank you for the response, Kathy!

I’ll keep those phrases in mind and see if they can be used anywhere that fits. Thank you for the suggestion as well.

I understand it’s okay to use “I”, just not too often, which is what I’m trying to do, but also figuring out how often “I” is fine to use. Finding that ‘Goldilocks Zone’ is my next challenge. If it’s used once every few paragraphs, it doesn’t stick out at me, but if I see two (or more) I’s in the same field of view, that’s when I tend to change it.

I may or may not pop up again sometime in the future. If I don’t, your article and advise has helped me immensely, so thank you for the time and effort you have put in. It’s much appreciated.

All the best, and stay safe too! Footrot Flats

When writing stories, I’ve always tried avoiding the usage of I’s (same goes for adverbs). 95% of the time, there’s an alternative way of describing a scene, whether it’s action, thoughts or dialogue, but something, every now and then, there just doesn’t seem to be a way to avoid using I (or an adverb).

Like adverbs, would you say it’s okay to use ‘I’ sparingly?

In some cases, the word ‘I’ gets replaced with an adverb, and then I enter a never-ending cycle.

Your approach is astute, FF.

Words exist for a reason, including adverbs and I . The goal is not to eliminate them but to reduce their frequency and make them “invisible” to readers. That turns them into useful tools.

Good luck with your writing, and please stay safe! (Exclamation points, em dashes, and parentheses are more useful tools — when used sparingly. 🙂 )

Thank you for the reply Kathy.

I agree that making them “invisible” rather than eliminating them completely is the better approach. Everything would provide a greater impact when used sparingly.

All the best, and stay safe too. Footrot Flats

Hello Kathy, the article above really helped me but i am still just a little confused. . . . would it be alright if you could un-I-ify my story. i haven’t written much and i probably wont be using it, but just to get a rough idea on how i could do it.

I was sitting on the train minding my own business and reading a book, when I casually looked out the window. It was pretty dark and rainy, but I could still see the blurry silhouette of the woods turning into a dim lighted village. As I was about to turn away, I started to sweat and felt a pounding in my head. My heart felt as if I had just run a marathon 3 times and I could hear my blood rushing through my ears. My hands shook and my breathing turned uneven. My vision went all blurry. I had to get away. I did not want to be on a train while having a panic attack. I stood up and hit my knee on the table but I ignored the pain. I grabbed my book and backpack and yelled for assistance. An assistant quickly rushed over and asked if I needed anything. I told her to stop the train. “But ma’am, we don’t have a station here, we can’t stop here-” “Just stop the train. NOW! Please!” I cut her off. “Ma’am, are you feeling ok? You should probably sit down.” She offers. “STOP THE TRAIN! NOW!” I shout. She nodded to me and swiveled around and quickly rushed to the front of the train. My mouth started to feel dry and I could feel tears coming starting to form at the corners of my eyes. By this time I was shaking. I turned to the nearest compartment and grabbed the glass of water on the table. I took one big sip and looked up at the young bloke who was sitting there. My mouth felt a bit better knowing it was hydrated and I could say my words without them sounding raspy. “I am so sorry. I really needed that drink.” I grabbed my backpack and took out £2 and put it down on the table. “I’m really sorry about the drink, I know you paid for that so here’s the money. I know it was 3 pound but this is all I can find right now.” I blurted out. I could feel the train slowing down and felt nauseous. I sat down in the young blokes compartment seat and looked down. I could feel the guy’s eyes staring at the top of my head which made me feel uncomfortable.

sorry if thats too much. thank you 🙂

Thanks for stopping by, Astoria.

I’ve retired from editing, but you can join online critique groups free of charge.

Scribophile and Critique Circle are two popular sites.

Good luck with your writing, and stay safe!

Undertaking a short story/flash fiction assignment for Open University. Word count is up to 800 words. The premise is in hand, and I’ve done a plan.

Really want to do it in First POV, though I know third is easy to fall back on. Your advice is brilliant, I am just so nervous of the structure and grammar. I don’t envision that creative writing is for me, as the strain of English Lit etc scares me.

You can do this, Louise. I hope you’ll be able to use some of the advice in this post.

Good luck, and stay safe!

This is so frustrating, As I edit my work I can’t think of anything to replace my ‘I’ overuse!!!

Think less of how you control the action and more about how the action happens, period. The suggestions in this article will help.

Thanks for stopping by, Max!

Great article. Chuck Palahnuik is an expert at submerging the ‘I’, and I’m constantly perplexed about how to avoid the pitfalls you mentioned when following his advice. This has helped a great deal.

Thanks, Tom. May your muse be ever with you — and stay safe.

I get it, I just don’t know how to repair the problem. Online English class?

There’s no magic one-size-fits-all approach. You have to examine each occurrence to determine a suitable remedy. This requires time and effort; but as you edit, you become more proficient at creating solutions.

Thanks for stopping by!

Can you please give me some examples of books written in first person, without the overuse of ‘I’? My 13 year old daughter is in an Academic Excellence class and has had her eyes opened and mind blown buy how removing the ‘I’s, it makes you live the story. She has Aspergers and dyslexia and has always loved writing, it is her get away. We would be truly grateful for some guidance.

Warmest wishes Michelle Australia

Hi, Michelle. Thanks for stopping by.

The books that stand out in my mind are To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, all The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins, and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. They should keep your daughter busy for a while.

Thank you very much Kathy. I am truly grateful.

May you too keep safe.

Warmest wishes Michelle

Thank you so much. I always put I’s in my stories and it bothered me because ‘I’ use it repeatedly. That’s when ‘I’ started to notice it also want to thank you for the alternatives to making my story look as if a professional wrote it. Well I’m no professional but hopefully one day. 4 years later and came across this website. Thank you btw. (PS I was embarrassed now because I used my I’s a lot in this comment lolz so I had to fix it to make it right ) Anyways I’m forever grateful and have a good year in 2020!

Thanks for stopping by, Nora. Yes, those Is can be slippery little creatures. You’ve made the most important step by recognizing the problem.

You have a great 2020 too, and may the muses favor your writing!

Excellent, as per usual. 🙂

Thanks, Jenn!

Another excellent post, Kathy. This is exactly what I was looking for. As an added bonus, I now know what filter words are. Time for another edit on my latest WIP. (Heck – I’ve just noticed two I’s in the above comment. Oh no, there’s another two!)

Thanks, Tom. I laughed out loud as I was reading your reply. Next week I’ll be posting an open letter to book pirates. Arrgh! Three I ‘s.

Let’s see …

As my eyes scrutinized your reply, a humongous LOL burst from my lips. Next week’s blog post will feature an open letter to book pirates.

Doesn’t have the same snap, does it?

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Writing Tips

Use of the First Person in Academic Writing

3-minute read

29th July 2014

Early in our school lives, we are encouraged to express our thoughts and opinions. This sometimes leads to a writing style very focused on the first person, with sentences which begin ‘I believe’, ‘I think’, ‘In my opinion’, etc.

There are differing opinions about whether or not first-person pronouns should be used in academic writing . Whatever your position, though, overuse of ‘I’ or ‘my’ is not a good idea, as it can draw focus from the subject under discussion.

When Not to Use the First Person

When writing, there is no need to state that you think something. Asserting it as fact implies that you believe it. For example, take these sentences:

Henderson’s argument is invalid because…
I believe Henderson’s argument is invalid because…

These both mean the same thing. Saying ‘I believe’ is unnecessary, as it is clear that you are expressing an opinion without having to signal it explicitly!

The first sentence is also more persuasive, as the second seems like mere opinion. Your argument is not strengthened by writing ‘I think that…’, but rather by providing relevant supporting evidence.

When to Use the First Person

Sometimes the first person is useful for highlighting how your opinion differs from a thinker you are discussing. For example, in summing up, you might say ‘while Henderson has stated X, I believe the opposite’.

Unless your university forbids using ‘I’ in essays, you can also use the first person when describing your methods to avoid awkward sentences. For instance, the following sentence is a bit confusing:

It was concluded that the new technique can reduce remission rates.

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The question, then, is who made the conclusion? To ensure clarity, the sentence could be written as:

We conclude that the new technique can reduce remission rates.

This eliminates the ambiguity over who is drawing the conclusion, as well as being more impactful by using the active rather than passive voice.

The crucial thing to consider when using the first person in your work is whether it detracts from the focus of your argument. Using ‘I’ or ‘we’ when describing your methodology is generally fine, since it clarifies the role you play in the research process.

But phrases like ‘In my opinion…’ do not add to the clarity of your writing. Instead, they make it seem like your research is more about you than whatever you’re investigating!

Finally, if in any doubt, it is always best to check with your supervisor or style guide before setting to work. Good luck!

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How to Replace 'I' in essays and formal writing

Using I in an essay and alternative words to use instead

You have probably written personal essays, admission essays, memoirs, or narrative essays that call for using first-person pronouns. Writing such personal essays without using "I," "we," "my," "us," and "you," among others, is practically impossible and sometimes very challenging. Nevertheless, when writing academic essays that require research, critical thinking, and a formal tone, the use of a first-person perspective becomes taboo.

For many college students, confusion looms because first-person pronouns are technically prohibited when writing middle and high school essays. Therefore, we can say this early that although you can use first-person pronouns in academic essays, you have to restrict it only to some types of essays and writing perspectives, as discussed widely in this guide.

Using personal experience or person pronouns does not mean you have weak writing skills. We explore everything you need to know about using first-person pronouns in academic essays, when to and when not to use them, and alternatives to utilize instead of "I," "we," and "you."

We will also answer areas surrounding giving opinions or introducing arguments using "I think/believe/forecast/hold" and "I argue/opine/contend," respectively.

Why is using Person Pronouns a Taboo in Formal Writing?

Using person pronouns "I," "we," and "you" in an essay is discouraged in formal writing unless necessary because it makes an essay sound subjective, personal, unofficial, or informal, and not critical.

More often than not, academic essays that use personal pronouns are subjective in that the writer's perspective reigns over what experts or scholars in the field have discovered or advised.

Again, using personal pronouns also makes your readers get bored easily. As the writer is at the center of every argument, the flow of ideas is lacking in such essays.

At the same time, the tone of such essays is show-off or bragging, especially if you are too subjective and blind to scholarly findings. Citing essays written in a personal perspective or tone is also not easy.

It is easy to plagiarize other people"s ideas when writing an essay in the first person. There are also high chances of repetition and redundancy, making reading and marking such essays difficult.

Deciding when to use "I" based on academic field conventions

As you may have rightfully discovered, some academic fields outrightly permit using the first person when writing essays.

The rules about the use of first-person pronouns change continuously. Therefore, students must consult their instructor on whether to use the first-person perspective. However, the following guidelines can also assist you in deciding when to use "I."

The use of "I" in humanities essays will depend on the view of your instructor. Humanity subjects essays often offer personal language analysis, artwork, or ideas.

Writers in this discipline tend to emphasize agency and value assertiveness. Therefore, the first person is used appropriately in many instances.

In many cases, writers may apply the first person less effectively, following assertion phrases such as "I believe," "I feel," and "I think" to manifest real argument defense. Though your audience is interested in your view about the field, they expect you to support, argue, and elaborate your assertions fully.

Personal suggestions do not support your view; you require concrete evidence to convince the audience. Technically, this means blending in some scholars' concepts, facts, and opinions and citing them altogether.

Social sciences

Generally, several social scientists shun the use of the first person, probably because scientists also ignore it. It leads to a subjective perspective or tone and conflicts with the ideals of scientific writing . However, using the first person is persistently accepted in social sciences, especially when describing a personal perspective or project. You can use the first person when writing an internship report, reflection essay, and other papers if allowed to do so by your instructor.

Scientific writers eschewed the application of "I" in the past because they considered the first person affects the impersonality and objectivity impression they intend to create. However, conventions seem to transform over time. For example, when you describe a particular project you are working on or link the project with the existing research topic. In this case, you must check with your instructor to determine whether you can use the first person.

Other writings

Several writing situations apply first person. For example, speech writing uses the first and second person to create a desirable relationship between the listener and the speaker. However, when writing a resume, you should ignore the use of the first person and describe your education. Skills and experience without employing personal pronouns.

Instances that permit the use of the first person in an academic essay

You are allowed to write your essay in the first person. However, that has a limit beyond which punitive measures will apply. You might lose a good grade because you did not follow instructions.

Again, always read your prompt before planning and writing an essay. It helps clarify various conventions to be observed and those to be bypassed.

After all, the main audience of your essay is your tutor, professor, or instructor, so their say matters more.

Clarification of passive constructions

As a writer, when you ignore the use of the first person in academic essays, you may create confusing and passive sentences. Using the first person is sometimes critical in making your essay clearer.

For example, when writing an essay about word processing automation, you want to elaborate on the point that you are employing Microsoft Word to write your paper. If you try to ignore first-person pronouns, the sentences might read, "Right now, this paper is being written in Microsoft Word."

Even though this statement is correct, it is passive in nature- the subject is acted upon, and there is no action in the sentence. However, the sentence "Right now, I am writing this paper in Microsoft Word "sounds better to many people.

When you analyze the two sentences, you will find that the second sentence is clearer, and this is due to the application of the first-person pronouns. Generally, the use of the first person is vital in improving the clarity of the sentence.

Defining your view about other positions

Argumentative essays sometimes provide you with an opportunity to define your opinion concerning the topic. This dimension is critical in informing your audience about your stand. Therefore, it is sometimes vital to put your personal opinion in the essay.

As stated in the point above, as an essay writer, you can imagine the clarity of your sentence in case you omit the first-person pronoun. So an important hint here is applying personal pronouns to clear and sounding sentences that make your points clear.

Developing your credibility

Credibility is defined by ethos is an ancient Greece word that means character in the sense of credibility.

A writer can create ethos by convincing the reader that he or she is a credible source. The best way to create ethos is to become personal to a certain extent- inform the reader about yourself.

For example, when you are writing an argumentative essay about dance as a sport. Using personal pronouns occasionally to inform your audience that you are a skilled dancer and that you have scars and muscles to prove it will establish your ethos and prove your argument.

Generally, the use of the first person will not annoy or distract your audience because it is reasonable.

Incorporating personal anecdote

An anecdote refers to a strong hook that is used in an essay to attract the reader's attention in your essay introduction . The best hook involves an existing story about yourself or a personal anecdote in many cases.

Therefore, in this case, using the personal pronoun is unnatural; your audience will be excited with your personal touch that can convince them to explore your essay. Using the first-person pronoun in creating anecdotes in an essay introduction is one of the ideal instances in academic essay writing.

The instances that we listed above are not exhaustive. We recommend that you use personal judgment and consult your instructor when you agree not certain about their perspective concerning using the first-person pronoun.

Ultimately, it is fine to use the first person when you feel it will serve a purpose or convey strategic influence on your readers. However, it is important not to overuse the first person because it may lead to a self-centered essay.

How to avoid using "I" in an essay

Sometimes your instructor may be categorical on the use of personal pronouns like "I," "we," and "You" in your essay. Many students have been asking how to avoid using "I" in an essay.

Writing without using the first person can be cumbersome for some students. In addition, it is sometimes challenging to get alternatives to personal clauses. Nonetheless, there are numerous ways to avoid this problem in your essay writing, especially when instructed not to use a personal pronoun.

Practicing the following methods will introduce you to the guidelines of formal academic writing and assist you in producing an exemplary essay.

1. Follow General Rules

Below are some suggestions on avoiding the deliberate use of first-person pronouns in formal writing.

Apply third-person perspective. It is formal to use the third-person point of view to limit the use of the first-person point of view. Additionally, you should also ignore the use of a second person. It is critical to write the content matter of your essay in the third person point.
Use objective language rather than informal expressions: Informal expressions involve colloquialisms, contractions, clinches, and slang. The use of objective language is fundamental in eradicating informal expression. For example, when referring to evidence, you can say: As per X and Y", "Given the evidence," considering the findings", From the findings of the study," X asserts that, "X opines that," etc.
Be specific : Personal language is imprecise, while formal writing is exact and clear. Being specific will assist you as a writer avoid using the first person in your essay.
Think about strong verbs and adjectives: as a writer, refrain from using personal language. Instead, you should develop solid adjectives that relate to facts and are free from personal opinions. Then, you can use the thesaurus to make references to find the word that conveys your point formally.

2. Get an alternative to the first-person point of view

Put your claims directly: Sometimes, you require to avoid the use of the first person. Putting your claims directly will guarantee the elimination of personal pronouns in your essay. Undertake your research to garner concrete evidence that can ensure direct claims in your essay. as a writer, you should maintain an authoritative tone throughout your essay and avoid using personal pronouns that can affect your stance. Also, comparing the examples will help you as a writer to consider the direct claim that is free from the first-person point of view.
Refer to the supporting evidence rather than personal thoughts: Many students are tempted to use personal claims when writing an essay, thinking that they make the claims stronger. However, this is not true; to make your claims stronger, you should refer to the evidence provided by secondary sources. Mentioning an authoritative source is vital in making your claims credible.
Outline your essay without employing personal pronouns: As an academic essay writer, it is crucial to ignore personal pronouns when you develop the structure of your paper. However, you can make adjustments if you cannot delete personal pronouns from your outline.
Utilize the passive voice to stress an action without stating yourself: You can apply passive voice sparingly to describe a procedure and map your argument. However, as an academic writer, we recommend the extensive use of active voice where possible to make the essay formal.

Personal Pronouns in Academic Writing

Personal pronouns can be employed to replace places, people, or things to make the sentences shorter and clearer.

Personal pronouns comprise I, it, we, she, he, you, and they.

Your personal pronoun preference predicts whether your paper is in the third person or the first person.

Second Person (You)

The second person pronoun is least used in academic writing, and it addresses the audience directly. In many cases, it is regarded as chatty and, therefore, commonly avoided in academic writing. However, the second person is used in writing presentations where the readers are addressed directly.

When are you required to use the second person?

This is one of the questions that many students have asked. The second person is used to offer advice, explain, or give directions. It permits the author to connect with the readers by concentrating on the audience directly. It includes pronouns such as "you," "yours," and "your."

When should you avoid the use of the second person?

This is one of the questions that many students ask. Unfortunately, writing your essay in second person perspective can lead to ineffective arguments and research papers.

Using second papers can make the essay sound like the writer is persuading or advising the audience. consequently, the use of second-person perspective is avoided in many academic essay writings except when ideal guidelines are provided by your instructor that allows its use.

As a writer, you should avoid using the second person to ensure compelling arguments and research papers rather than persuasive and advising papers.

How to avoid using second person

One common guideline for writing academic papers is avoiding the second person. This is because formal academic papers are not intended to address the audience directly. However, many students find s it challenging to write an essay without the inclusion of the second person pronouns because the second person is one of the main components of speech. There are numerous ways of refraining from using the second person without interfering with the meaning of your text. The following are some of the tips that can assist you in overcoming this challenge.

Apply the word "one."

The word "one" can be used to replace you in many sentences without sacrificing the meaning of the sentence. For example:

Second person : you can perceive danger from a distance.
Revision : one can perceive danger from a distance.

Use somebody or someone

Somebody or someone is a third-person perspective that can be used to replace the second person without interfering with the meaning of the sentence. For example:

Second person : You may feel sad about the decision.
Revision : Someone may feel sad about the decision.

Replace You with the word people

In many cases, the use of the word people serves to replace the second person better without changing the meaning of the sentence in your essay. For example:

Second person : you know the consequences of heavy rains.
Revision : people know the consequences of heavy rains.

Reconstruct the sentence

in some instances, it is possible to rearrange your sentence to eliminate the second person without affecting the meaning of the sentence. For example:

Second person: after reading the script, you will be ready to do the experiment.
Revision: this script describes how the experiment was conducted.

Eliminate the unnecessary second person

Unnecessary use of a second person is common in most academic essays. This makes the sentence sound vague and advising in nature. Therefore, it is vital to peruse through your work and eliminate the unnecessary second person. For example:

Second person : you should initially make sure all issues are addressed.
Revision : Initially, make sure all issues are addressed.

We as a personal pronoun is commonly used in instances where co-authors write the paper. In most cases, students use we to refer to all historians, humankind, historians. However, this should be avoided as possible because it makes the audience guess your reference. It is recommended to use a noun instead of a pronoun in this perspective. Also, you can switch to third person

Third-person (she, he, her, it, her, its)

The third-person point of view is applied in scientific writings. It involves the use of indefinite pronouns to refer to the subject.

However, the rule is not n stringent, and there are several exceptions. For example, employing the first person in introductions, discussions, conclusions, and abstracts is acceptable. However, the use of "I" in this case is still not allowed, and as a writer, you should use "we" to describe the group of researchers who took part in the study.

The third person is used to write results and methods sections. As a writer, it is crucial to maintain consistency, and switching from one point to another within the parts of your text can be discouraging and distracting.

It is always the best idea to check your assignment guidelines to make sure your piece is free from nanny grammatical errors that might result from inappropriate third-person pronouns.

Avoiding personal pronouns in academic writing

Students, in many instances, are advised to avoid using personal pronouns when writing academic essays. However, this rule is not permanent, and it depends on the supervisor's preference.

When you write your essay, you should make sure that you withdraw the reader's attention rather than yourself. Generally, when you are writing an academic essay, you should be professional. Using personal pronouns makes your essay sound personal, making it more informal. The following strategies can help you avoid using the personal pronoun in your essay writing.

Use passive voice to replace pronouns

As we stated earlier, the use of personal pronouns such as "I," "You," and "We" can make your essay sound informal in most instances.

Employing passive voice in place of these pronouns may deem your essay formal. Therefore, as a student, you should avoid these pronouns as possible and instead employ passive voice.

Employ third-person perspective

The third person is an ideal perspective that you can use to replace the first-person and second-person points of view. In addition, the use of the third person is significant in elevating the formality of your essay.

When to use personal pronouns in formal academic writing

Formal academic writing demonstrates impression and knowledge of the topic to the audience. It incorporates information that displays the writer's respect to the audience and indicates the seriousness of the writer concerning the topic.

The use of the personal pronoun in formal academic writing is not common. However, they are allowed in tasks that require the inclusion of personal information.

First-person pronouns

It is advisable not to use first-person pronouns in your formal essay because they can make your paper wordy. In addition, this reveals that the writer is less confident in expressing the ideas, resulting in an informal tone in the essay.

Moreover, the use of the first person will discourage your readers, making them speculate that you are using your thoughts. Therefore, in this context, you should avoid expressions such as I believe, in my opinion, or I think.

Second person pronoun

Using the second person in your essay affects the formality of your essay. It can bring false assumptions to an essay. To ensure your essay is formal, you can replace the second person with third-person perspectives.

Third-person pronouns

Third-person pronouns are the best choice in most college or academic writing. However, they can be sued in writing research reports and formal essays. Therefore, they are used to replace the first and second-person points of view.

Essays involve evaluating the topic, and I rely on the writer's experience and ideas rather than researched information. The second person does not imply because the essay entails the writer's thoughts and not the audience's thoughts. Using the second person indicates the reader's thoughts, especially when the reader is your instructor.

Additionally, using the first person is unnecessary because the reader can easily speculate that the points addressed in the essay are the writer's perspectives. After all, the writer's name is indicated in writing.

Research reports

Research report involves writers" analysis of other sources. When writing research reports, the use of the third person is critical in providing concrete evidence to the paper. The use of the third person in writing research reports assists the writer to credit other people"s perspectives concerning the topic. For example:

James suggested that the formation of a peace club is essential in solving wars
Records of the past show that the formation of a peace club is essential in solving wars (James)

In instances where the source is not accredited, the reader may assume that those are the writer's thoughts without the use of the first-person pronoun. Generally, the use of third-person pronouns is vital in ensuring the formality of academic writing.

Related Read: How to write a perfect narrative essay.

How to express the personal experience in your academic writing

The role of personal experience in academic writing depends on your paper's purpose and context.

Papers that seek to evaluate data or objective principles as in anthropology reduce the use of personal experience because they may distract the writer from the purpose of the paper.

Nonetheless, you may need to explain your stand as a researcher based on your topic in some cases.

Personal experiences can be used to explain how theory or idea is applied or apply the experience as a proof or demonstration of a certain principle.

Overall, personal experience plays a legitimate role in academic writing. Applying personal experience effectively means presenting your argument rather than making it the end of your paper.

Additionally, it is critical to keep your hypothetical stories concise. However, they can support arguments required for vitality and concrete illustrations.

Below are some different ways to use personal experience as part of your academic writing:

Anecdotes: as we stated before, incorporating anecdotes is the best way to include your personal experience in the introduction part of your essay. for example, writers use real hypothetical experiences to explain principles and ideas in philosophical arguments.
Most specific writing conditions like application essays require the inclusion of personal experience as part of the discussion.
Making references to personal experience is significant in developing your authority about a certain subject. This applies when writing internship reports, practicum reports, reflection essays , and narrative essays , among others.
When writing a research proposal for a thesis, dissertation, term paper, or research paper

Discipline-Specific Suggestions on Incorporating personal experience in your academic writing

Let"s explore how different disciplines allow you to incorporate personal experiences when writing a formal paper.

Religion permits the use of personal experience in most cases. Nevertheless, many religion courses involve a textual, historical, or cultural approach that requires impersonality and objectivity.

Therefore, despite possessing powerful experiences or strong beliefs in this discipline, they could not support scholarly analysis.

But it would help if you asked your instructor to confirm whether you can include personal experiences, especially in response papers

Women"s studies

Women"s studies are taught from feminist perspectives. This perspective is interested in the manner in which women perceive gender roles.

In this case, personal experience can be used as evidence for argumentative and analytical papers in this discipline.

Also, in this field, you can be asked to maintain writing that necessitates the application of theoretical concepts derived from your experiences.

As we explained earlier, science as a discipline involves the study of fixed principles and data objectively. Therefore, including personal experiences is minimized as possible in this type of writing.

When you write lab reports, you must primarily describe observations so that the audience can redo the experiment.

Consequently, providing minimal information is effective. However, when you are working on case studies in social sciences, including people's personal experiences may be the fundamental part of these writings.

The analysis of the historical period does not require the inclusion of personal experience because it is less likely to advance your intended objectivity.

But some historical scholarship presumes the investigation of individual histories. Therefore, though you may not reference your individual experience, you may as well discuss the illustrations of people's historical experiences.

Literature, fine arts, Film, and Music

In most cases, including personal experience is vital in writing projects in this field. For example, personal experience is vital in response paper or any assignment that enquires about your experience as a viewer or reader.

Many literature and film scholars are concerned with how their audience perceives their literary work. Therefore, the discussion about the viewers, or audience's personal experience is appropriate.

Also, personal experience plays an integral part in this field because it provides the writers with hints on how to improve and make the changes that conform to the reader's requirements.

Philosophical writings involve evaluating and constructing existing arguments or developing personal arguments. In most instances, doing this efficiently incorporates the presentation of hypothetical illustrations or examples.

In this scenario, you may find that recounting or inventing your experience can assist in the demonstration of your point.

Personal experience may play an integral role in philosophical papers as much as you consistently explain to the audience the relationship between your experience and your argument.

As a student, your decisions on the use of personal experience will be controlled by the type of discipline that your paper belongs to. Moreover, the instructor's choice is also very fundamental in writing a particular paper. Therefore, it is critical to check with your instructor to be sure whether to include a personal experience or not.

Which personal pronouns to use? Third (it) or First (I)

Generally, your choice of the type of personal pronoun to use in your academic writing depends on your discipline or the nature of your assignment.

Discipline . As stated earlier, fields such as social sciences or sciences recommend the third person. However, some components of humanities demand to be addressed in the first person. This still relies on the assignment. Consequently, it is vital to refer to your handbooks, module or speak with your instructor to confirm.
Nature of your assignment. A s a student, you must write your academic assignment using the third person. However, the major exception is when you are required to write reflexively, where you link your thoughts with experiences. In this case, the use of the first person is appropriate.

Final Remarks

As you set out to write your essay, you are likely to wonder when to use and when to avoid using personal pronouns like "I," "You," and "My" in an essay. Although using personal pronouns is allowed in formal academic writing conventions, there is a limit.

Although there are different types of essays, each formatted differently, they mostly use a third-person tone. It is a preferred way of doing things in the scholarly realm to make it objective, reasonable, and credible. Using the first person can increase concreteness and authority in your essay, which might be impersonal and vague .

We have discussed, at length, alternatives to use instead of personal pronouns, when to use personal pronouns, and how to weave in personal perspective when writing an essay or other academic papers, and we are confident your questions are answered.

Thus far, we advise that you maintain a formal tone and language when writing academic essays. Most importantly, consult with your instructor or professor before writing an essay, which is great if you read the prompt and are still confused.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

Tips & Guides

How To Avoid Using “We,” “You,” And “I” in an Essay

Posted on October 27, 2022 October 27, 2022

Maintaining a formal voice while writing academic essays and papers is essential to sound objective.

One of the main rules of academic or formal writing is to avoid first-person pronouns like “we,” “you,” and “I.” These words pull focus away from the topic and shift it to the speaker – the opposite of your goal.

While it may seem difficult at first, some tricks can help you avoid personal language and keep a professional tone.

Let’s learn how to avoid using “we” in an essay.

What Is a Personal Pronoun?

Pronouns are words used to refer to a noun indirectly. Examples include “he,” “his,” “her,” and “hers.” Any time you refer to a noun – whether a person, object, or animal – without using its name, you use a pronoun.

Personal pronouns are a type of pronoun. A personal pronoun is a pronoun you use whenever you directly refer to the subject of the sentence.

Take the following short paragraph as an example:

“Mr. Smith told the class yesterday to work on our essays. Mr. Smith also said that Mr. Smith lost Mr. Smith’s laptop in the lunchroom.”

The above sentence contains no pronouns at all. There are three places where you would insert a pronoun, but only two where you would put a personal pronoun. See the revised sentence below:

“Mr. Smith told the class yesterday to work on our essays. He also said that he lost his laptop in the lunchroom.”

“He” is a personal pronoun because we are talking directly about Mr. Smith. “His” is not a personal pronoun (it’s a possessive pronoun) because we are not speaking directly about Mr. Smith. Rather, we are talking about Mr. Smith’s laptop.

If later on you talk about Mr. Smith’s laptop, you may say:

“Mr. Smith found it in his car, not the lunchroom!”

In this case, “it” is a personal pronoun because in this point of view we are making a reference to the laptop directly and not as something owned by Mr. Smith.

Why Avoid Personal Pronouns in Essay Writing

We’re teaching you how to avoid using “I” in writing, but why is this necessary? Academic writing aims to focus on a clear topic, sound objective, and paint the writer as a source of authority. Word choice can significantly impact your success in achieving these goals.

Writing that uses personal pronouns can unintentionally shift the reader’s focus onto the writer, pulling their focus away from the topic at hand.

Personal pronouns may also make your work seem less objective.

One of the most challenging parts of essay writing is learning which words to avoid and how to avoid them. Fortunately, following a few simple tricks, you can master the English Language and write like a pro in no time.

Alternatives To Using Personal Pronouns

How to not use “I” in a paper? What are the alternatives? There are many ways to avoid the use of personal pronouns in academic writing. By shifting your word choice and sentence structure, you can keep the overall meaning of your sentences while re-shaping your tone.

Utilize Passive Voice

In conventional writing, students are taught to avoid the passive voice as much as possible, but it can be an excellent way to avoid first-person pronouns in academic writing.

You can use the passive voice to avoid using pronouns. Take this sentence, for example:

“ We used 150 ml of HCl for the experiment.”

Instead of using “we” and the active voice, you can use a passive voice without a pronoun. The sentence above becomes:

“150 ml of HCl were used for the experiment.”

Using the passive voice removes your team from the experiment and makes your work sound more objective.

Take a Third-Person Perspective

Another answer to “how to avoid using ‘we’ in an essay?” is the use of a third-person perspective. Changing the perspective is a good way to take first-person pronouns out of a sentence. A third-person point of view will not use any first-person pronouns because the information is not given from the speaker’s perspective.

A third-person sentence is spoken entirely about the subject where the speaker is outside of the sentence.

Take a look at the sentence below:

“In this article you will learn about formal writing.”

The perspective in that sentence is second person, and it uses the personal pronoun “you.” You can change this sentence to sound more objective by using third-person pronouns:

“In this article the reader will learn about formal writing.”

The use of a third-person point of view makes the second sentence sound more academic and confident. Second-person pronouns, like those used in the first sentence, sound less formal and objective.

Be Specific With Word Choice

You can avoid first-personal pronouns by choosing your words carefully. Often, you may find that you are inserting unnecessary nouns into your work.

Take the following sentence as an example:

“ My research shows the students did poorly on the test.”

In this case, the first-person pronoun ‘my’ can be entirely cut out from the sentence. It then becomes:

“Research shows the students did poorly on the test.”

The second sentence is more succinct and sounds more authoritative without changing the sentence structure.

You should also make sure to watch out for the improper use of adverbs and nouns. Being careful with your word choice regarding nouns, adverbs, verbs, and adjectives can help mitigate your use of personal pronouns.

“They bravely started the French revolution in 1789.”

While this sentence might be fine in a story about the revolution, an essay or academic piece should only focus on the facts. The world ‘bravely’ is a good indicator that you are inserting unnecessary personal pronouns into your work.

We can revise this sentence into:

“The French revolution started in 1789.”

Avoid adverbs (adjectives that describe verbs), and you will find that you avoid personal pronouns by default.

Closing Thoughts

In academic writing, It is crucial to sound objective and focus on the topic. Using personal pronouns pulls the focus away from the subject and makes writing sound subjective.

Hopefully, this article has helped you learn how to avoid using “we” in an essay.

When working on any formal writing assignment, avoid personal pronouns and informal language as much as possible.

While getting the hang of academic writing, you will likely make some mistakes, so revising is vital. Always double-check for personal pronouns, plagiarism , spelling mistakes, and correctly cited pieces.

You can prevent and correct mistakes using a plagiarism checker at any time, completely for free.

Quetext is a platform that helps you with all those tasks. Check out all resources that are available to you today.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, is it acceptable to use 'i' in my college essay.

As I'm writing my college essay, I realized I've been using the word 'I' quite a bit. Is it appropriate to use personal pronouns in this context, or should I focus on writing more formally? I appreciate any feedback!

Absolutely! Using 'I' in your college essay is not only acceptable but encouraged. The primary goal of your essay is to give admissions officers a glimpse into your personality, experiences, and how you think. Using personal pronouns like 'I' allows you to tell your unique story more effectively.

Of course, it's essential to strike the right balance in your essay. Avoid using 'I' in every sentence as it may sound repetitive and monotonous. At the same time, don't shy away from expressing personal experiences or emotions relevant to the topic or prompt. For example, if you're writing about an experience where you overcame a challenge, it would be appropriate to say 'I felt overwhelmed but ultimately learned to adapt and grow from the situation.'

Remember, while maintaining a formal tone to an extent is important, the college essay is also a chance for you to showcase your authentic voice. Don't hesitate to use 'I' to convey your thoughts and emotions effectively. Good luck with your essay!

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How do expert writers avoid using "I" when they have to refer to themselves in their article?

How do competent authors, in a refined and perhaps (slightly) formal way, refer to themselves without saying I ? I've seen the term "this writer" somewhere. How is it with a native? Are there other terms that are a little bit more formal and delicate than I is?

word-choice

1 In journalism and reporting, they sometimes use "your correspondent" or "your [word that describes journalist on reporting duty]" – George Capote Commented Jul 25, 2014 at 21:03
3 "one", possibly. " One does not simply refer to themselves " – Mateo Commented Jul 25, 2014 at 23:18
2 One of the best-written mathematics books I know (Wilfrid Hodges, Model Theory) starts with a section on conventions used in the book, as is usual. But this one includes the following gem: "'I' means 'I' and 'we' means 'we'." And the author really uses the two pronouns in this way without any attempts to hide his personality. Maybe this approach only works in mathematics and hard science, where people sometimes say things such as: "You are right, yesterday you proved the main theorem in my book is wrong and today I found my mistake." And it's not the end of the world, either. – Hans Adler Commented Jul 26, 2014 at 16:20
1 Don't be afraid to use the right word in the right situation. Sometimes that word is "I." Just don't talk about yourself so much in your papers. – ssdecontrol Commented Jul 26, 2014 at 18:56
3 My point was that it's bad style for a single person to write "as we showed in an earlier paper" or "as the author has shown previously". Instead, write either "as I have shown previously" or just "for a proof of ... see [1]". "We will see in the next section" is fine, though, as it includes the readers. – Hans Adler Commented Jul 26, 2014 at 21:25

12 Answers 12

Use of pronouns like "I" and "me" in a narrative will tend to cast the writer as the protagonist. Use of other forms such as "yours truly" or non-reflexive "myself" tends to cast the author into a "supporting character" role.

Suppose someone is writing about Mr. Smith's performance in a chess tournament and, after saying "In round one, Mr. Smith played against Alec Jones" and describing his performance in that round, went on to say "In round two, Mr. Smith played against me". A reader might expect the description of the round to be focused on the writer, rather than on Mr. Smith. If instead the text had been "In round two, Mr. Smith played against yours truly."

Some people cringe at non-reflexive usages of "myself". I personally don't find them objectionable when used in either the imperative or passive voice, with the purpose of suggesting semantic equivalence between the person writing or speaking and others. For example, if Mr. Smith asks people "Please submit reports to Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Jones, or to me", that would suggest that submissions to him would be perceived differently. Using the non-reflexive "...or to myself" would suggest that the set of people to whom forms may be submitted includes him, but he has no special significance within that set.

Even though the non-reflexive "myself" is often useful, there are many places where it just doesn't work, especially with the active voice, or when used with verbs that would be amenable to reflexive usage. For narrative situations, "yours truly" is concise but effective; it conveys no implication that the character in the story were affected by the fact that they would later be written about. By contrast, "this author" implies that the writer's status as an author was significant to the events described.

What's important is to recognize that there are many ways an author can refer to himself, and usage of forms other than simple first-person pronouns is not merely a matter of being "cute", but often carries somewhat different meanings and implications.

7 If in the second round, Mr. Smith played against the author, any circumlocution like "yours truly" or even "the author" will sound like just that: a circumlocution, and thus awkward and unprofessional. In such a situation, any semi-competent author will use "me", period end of story. – Martha Commented Jul 25, 2014 at 21:47
1 Is there any source for acceptability of a non-reflexive meaning of "myself"? – Ari Brodsky Commented Jul 27, 2014 at 7:21

Many competent writers will challenge the assertion that "the perpendicular pronoun" (I) really needs to be avoided. Others seem to believe that only third person is acceptable, or that no person should ever be mentioned unless specifically talking about people.

My own take is that this is all a matter of style, and whatever you pick -- as long as it sounds natural and you're consistent about it -- is probably fine. If I'm writing for my employer, I'll follow my employer's style guidelines. If I'm writing for publication, I'll follow the publication's preferences. If I'm writing without those constraints, my writing is generally only slightly more formal than my speech.

Competence precludes finding oneself needing to mean "I" but having to say "this writer" - or, variously:

your correspondent
this ink-stained wretch (please, no!)

TBH, the form hardly matters - silk purses and sow's ears, etc.

23 Exactly. A genuinely expert writer avoids introducing himself into a literary context where his presence is deprecated. An essay is like any other social occasion. If you belong there, you may introduce yourself in the first person without offense. If you don't belong there, you shouldn't be trying to sneak in unnoticed by pretending to be somebody else. – StoneyB Commented Jul 25, 2014 at 4:54
8 I used to favor "your humble narrator" for a while. Then I decided I wasn't all that humble and often wasn't narrating. – keshlam Commented Jul 25, 2014 at 5:16
2 I agree with StoneyB. If I have a reason to write about myself, then I'll use "I" (and "me", "my", etc.). If I don't have a reason to write about myself, I won't. – Andreas Blass Commented Jul 25, 2014 at 16:55

In science, it is quite common to use "we" instead of "I" even if there is only one author.

15 In maths, "we can see" or whatever can imply "You, the reader, and I", which I think is quite nice. – GKFX Commented Jul 25, 2014 at 13:04
True, that is another meaning of the scientific "we". – painfulenglish Commented Jul 25, 2014 at 13:36
In science it is common because most papers are published by two or more authors! So the impression that "we" is common might be a false one. In my experience, single authors always refer to themselves as "I" in the natural sciences. – user5645 Commented Jul 28, 2014 at 9:14
There definitely are single-author papers which use "we". However, people sometimes feel uncomfortable using this form, and change everything to passive voice to avoid it. – painfulenglish Commented Jul 29, 2014 at 6:45
Formally this is called 'royal we', which has uncomfortably arrogant connotations, although I agree, it's used. – Jeff-Inventor ChromeOS Commented Aug 13, 2014 at 5:38

It seems to depend on the context, and even more so on the type of writing. Some answers have addressed it, it's strange that none have aggregated different scenarios where one would want to avoid referring to oneself directly.

In journalism, it's generally frowned upon to use "I." I've seen many cases of "your correspondent" in most of the articles I read. "Your author" is also possible, though maybe not so much for journalism.
In most scientific cases, authors sometimes avoid using a reference to themselves entirely by using the passive voice. I found that this is common here .
In other academic scenarios, many do use "I" but I've seen many research papers which use "we" even when referring to the single author. Mathematic proofs, for example, always say "we know that..." or "we can see from ... that..."

Of course it's always good to do a bit of research on the particular scenario in which you are.

3 As commented above, the mathematical "we" means "the author and the reader", so it's certainly appropriate even with only one author. – Steve Jessop Commented Jul 26, 2014 at 9:39
I disagree. Both meanings exists. When I write "We studied problem x" in a paper, I mean me and possibly my co-authors, but certainly not the reader. I'm quite sure many other scientists use "we" in this way. – painfulenglish Commented Jul 28, 2014 at 17:19

I see two main contexts:

The author of the work is also relevant to the subject under discussion. Then the author should use the third person and a name. "Reports must be submitted in triplicate to both Itsme and Steve Jessop". "Mr. Jessop has responsibility for X, whereas Itsme handles Y". It might matter which of us wrote that text, we might have collaborated on it. Someone who cares can check the top of the document, but it's not relevant to the matter at hand, so let's not mess about identifying professional responsibilities relative to authorship of the document.

The author wants to personalize the authorial voice. This generally isn't what you want in formal writing, but might be done from an excess of ego or an excess of honesty that you're writing a personal opinion or experience.

In this case, assuming you want to avoid "I", then you say "the author", "this author", "this reviewer", "this observer", and so on. Identify the role whose point of view you're trying to inject. So for example a journalist who attended a political event might first lay out the facts in the usual way, and then mention "this observer" when giving a more subjective view: "Following the speeches a fistfight occurred, but this observer was unable to determine who started it" makes clear that even to those in the room it was not necessarily obvious what was going on.

Whether you should want to avoid "I" at all is probably outside the scope of the question, but personally I think it depends in large part on whether you think the reader knows or cares who is addressing them. Extreme case, a newspaper report with no by-line shouldn't use "I", because the reader can't know who that is even if they want to. Even with a by-line, a reporter's style avoids it. An opinion piece has a lot more scope to use "I".

For things like memos which, while written by people, are supposed to speak in the voice of the company those people are representing, it is entirely appropriate for the author to refer to himself by name just as would anyone else. In cases where the author has a personal voice, however, such a thing might prompt readers to wonder whether the author and the person identified were the same person, or whether the text was actually written by the claimed author; such distractions might be avoided if you refer to yourself as "Steve Jessop (yours truly)". – supercat Commented Jul 27, 2014 at 17:30
Well, "yours truly" to mean "me" is awful, but that's a matter of taste since it's entirely comprehensible. Anyway in writing it's just an indirect way of saying "the author" or "your correspondent", i.e. it's the person who would sign off a letter "yours truly". – Steve Jessop Commented Jul 28, 2014 at 10:22

This writer is correct.

For example:

Exercise has many benefits. Proponents of exercise find there is a large variety of exercise options to fit different lifestyles. Barack Obama goes running in the morning. Jane Doe attends a weekly dancing class. I myself do press ups and stomach crunches in between writing stints through out the day.

The writer can remove the first person perspective by replace 'I myself' with 'this writer'.

Exercise has many benefits. Proponents of exercise find there is a large variety of exercise options to fit different lifestyles. Barack Obama goes running in the morning. Jane Doe attends a weekly dancing class.This writer does press ups and stomach crunches in between writing stints through his writing day.

1 What evidence do you have to proclaim it as "correct"? – curiousdannii Commented Jul 27, 2014 at 0:45
Why not, "Press ups and stomach crunches can be accomplished in between writing stints throughout the day"? Or, "in between performing sedentary tasks..."? – user26732 Commented Aug 12, 2014 at 19:45

In the natural sciences, the use of the personal pronouns "I" (for one author) and "we" (for two or more authors) is perfectly fine. In fact, you must use these pronouns, if you refer to yourself!

For example the Manual (2009) of the American Psychological Association clearly states (pp. 69-70):

Attribution. Inappropriately or illogically attribution action in an effort to be objective can be misleading. Examples of undesirable attribution include use of the third person, anthropomorphism, and use of the editorial we . Third person. To avoid ambiguity, use a personal pronoun rather than the thrid person when describing steps taken in your experiment. Correct: We reviewed the literature. Incorrect: The authors reviewed the literature. Anthropomorphism. Do not attribute human characteristics to animals or to inanimate sources. Correct: The staff for the community program was persuaded to allow ... Incorrect: The community program was persuaded to allow ... An experiment cannot attempt to demonstrate , control unwanted variables , or interpret findings , nor can tables or figures compare (all of these can, however, show or indicate ). Use a pronoun or an appropriate noun as the subject of these verbs. I or we (meaning the author or authors) can replace the experiment . Editorial we. For clarity, restrict your use of we to refer only to yourself and your coauthors (use I if you are the sole author of the paper). Broader uses of we may leave your readers wondering to whom you are referring; instead substitute an appropriate noun or clarify your usage: Correct: As behaviorists, we tend to dispute ... Incorrect: We tend to dispute ...

The fundamental rule of all APA syle are "precision and clarity" (p. 68):

"Make certain that every word means exactly what you intend it to mean."

See also this post in the APA Style Blog: Use of First Person in APA Style .

If the work has a list of references, then refer one can refer to the reference as if referring to any one else's reference. As an alternative, one can refer to the name of the content of what they want to reference instead of using the attribution of the content's creator (ie, "I").

In legal writing there is an easy answer: you refer to the roles played rather than the individuals who undertook them. So if you are writing a brief and complaining that the judge did something you didn't like, you wouldn't write, "the judge did not let me present evidence" but, "counsel for plaintiff was prevented from presenting evidence." Because in this context personalities do not matter.

While this question is directed towards non-fiction, the winds of what the French call "autofiction" are blowing and I think we will see a greater use of the first person in all types of writing. Even though Rimbaud famously wrote, " Je est un autre." ( I is someone else.)

If the writer is truly an expert, then they refer to themselves so enigmatically that they set the 2000-year-old standard for how to subtly promote oneself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciple_whom_Jesus_loved

Use "I" all you want. I was taught the same thing in school: "don't use "I" because of whatever". That's total BS.

If you haven't already, read "Journey to the End of the Night " by Celine, one of the best books in French literature. You'll see how you can write a masterpiece not just using "I" everywhere, but also making intentional grammar/syntax errors in every other sentence!

PS: the book is translated from the French at Project Nutenberg, for free...

1 Welcome to ELU.SE. I don't believe it's all that convincing to explain something you believe to be the case in English by referring to French literature, I'm afraid. "Don't bother" might be a reasonable answer, but needs some English substantiation. – Andrew Leach Commented Jul 26, 2014 at 13:23
1 The pleasure is all mine. I am afraid that you are wrong though. The fact that the book is French is completely irrelevant for this conversation. It is for the exact same reason the word "I" should be avoided in French as it is in English. Furthermore, I was not referring to "Voyage jusqu'au bout de la nuit", but to its English translation "Journey to the End of the Night". – user83260 Commented Jul 26, 2014 at 16:29

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How to avoid using lot of I's in the personal essay? [closed]

I am writing my statement of purpose for applying to grad school. When I read my statement of purpose I see a lot of "I"s:

I did this I worked on this I want to I got to learn this I got to work on that I got to learn that I did that

I just realized I am so bad in writing. How do I avoid using lots of "I"s?

american-english
letter-writing
writing-advice

1 This is a dulicate of writers.stackexchange.com/q/7074/4626 which got moved to Writers. – Jon Hanna Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 13:11
4 I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because EL&U doesn't do style reviews or provide writing advice. This question might be better placed on Writing , but I can't speak for them. – Dan Bron Commented Apr 28, 2015 at 14:33

3 Answers 3

The whole point of the personal statement is to give the admissions officer a convincing impression of what kind of person you are, your passions and strengths, your most valued experiences, etc. It is pretty much impossible to do this without liberal use of the first person pronouns.

In fact, if you try and avoid using I you may well end up with some bland passive constructions or formulaic expressions that will not help you stand out from the thousands of other applicants.

Of course, this does not mean that you should start each sentence with I . There are many other ways to ensure sentence variety. For example:

After finishing my three months as an intern, I .. One of my most memorable experiences was when I .. Six months later I ..

Here is an extract from advice from Indiana University ,

Consider The “I” Problem: This is a personal statement; using the first person pronoun “I” is acceptable. Writers often feel rather self-conscious about using first person excessively, either because they are modest or because they have learned to avoid first and second person (“you”) in any type of formal writing. Yet in this type of writing using first person is essential because it makes your prose more lively. Using third person can result in a vague and overly wordy essay. While starting every sentence with “I” is not advisable, remember that you and your experiences are the subject of the essay.

You will find many pages of similar advice if you Google on " writing an application " and " first person ".

1 A more general version of the I problem is that writers scanning over their work can see repetition of some words that don't actually stand out as heavy repetition when reading normally rather than scanning anxiously ( I but also tags like said , copulas, etc.). It's just not the problem people convince themselves it is. – Jon Hanna Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 13:10

The simple answer is to turn your sentences around so that I isn't the subject.

I got to learn a lot about neuroscience. Neuroscience was a fascinating subject because...

I worked on designs and blueprints for building a rocket ship. A favorite project was designing blueprints for building a rocket ship.

3 Sometimes you can still use pronouns that draw attention to your own involvement without the direct use of 'I', if only to mix in a bit of variety to the familiar 'I'-centered format. For instance, "One of my favorite projects was drawing up the blueprints for a rocket ship". – Erik Kowal Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 11:50

Whatever you do, please don't let anyone talk you into over-using the impersonal "one". When my Norwegian colleagues fell into that trap, I would ask them whether they were Queen Elizabeth II, explaining that, for the rest of us, it should not be used for autobiography, only for what it says on the tin, namely impersonals. For instance, I might say, "In Africa, one has to bribe traffic policemen", but if I say, "One is now living in Douala", I sound like the Queen -- or a pompous twit.

I like Shoe's answer and am upvoting.

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How to write an argumentative essay | Examples & tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

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When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

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An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

Make a claim
Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
Cite data to support your claim
Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
Highlight the problems with this position
Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

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How to decide whether I should use “we” in an essay? [duplicate]

The answers to this question promote a view that the personal pronoun we is acceptable in an academic paper. But I did not see an answer there, or more generally on this site, that discourages the use of we. This question is different to the one mentioned above because it queries whether the word we should be used at all, not just to ask whether I or we is more appropriate.

The economics department at my university (UCT) discourages the use of personal pronouns in an essay – I was marked down in my essay for my use of the word we. At the end of my essay, I wrote

In conclusion, we note that the European sovereign debt crisis created uncertainty in the global financial market, and South Africa was one of many countries that dealt with this.

I decided to use we in my essay because I had grown accustomed to seeing it in mathematics textbooks, so I assumed that it was formal enough. But the economics department says that it is not formal enough.

Even though it seems acceptable to use we in some circles, it seems that it is a point of debate. What guidelines should I be using in order to make my decision about whether to use we or not?* Should I continue to use we as I see fit, except for economics essays? Or, should I apply this rule to all my academic essays (I also study public policy & administration)?

It would ostensibly be silly to have different writing styles emanating from the same person. The problem has not been brought up before, and I have used the word in a number of sociology essays in first year, and one public policy & administration essay in second year. In those essays, I used the word in the following ways.

In this section, we discuss motivations for why provincial government should be restructured.

Applying this model to provincial government, we can graph a U-shaped function of long-run average cost.

Approaching the question from the side of the teacher, we find that inequality can be caused via culturally insensitive teaching methods.

As a final clarification, I do prefer to use the word.

* Edit: Although it was not initially made clear, I have not been provided with style guides. However, I doubt that I would ask this question if I were provided with style guides. Saying that I should "follow the style guide" makes perfect sense, but doesn't really help me in my situation. I asked this question on academia.SE so that I could ask others to brainstorm ideas about how I could make the decision without a style guide (e.g. how were those rules formed in the first place?).

writing-style

6 "It would ostensibly be silly to have different writing styles emanating from the same person." - why? You adapt your writing style according to the community you write for, the kind of document (general announcement, grant application, paper on finished results, ...), and the format of the publication (formal document, newsfeed announcement, press release, ...), anyway, do you not? – O. R. Mapper Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 12:09
" discourages the use of personal pronouns in an essay " I'm confused: did you mean the first person plural personal pronoun or any personal pronoun? If you can't use a personal pronoun, which pronoun would you use instead? Are you expected not to write any sentences that use the active voice? – Dan Romik Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 19:45
Please provide a couple of example sentences from your essay that have "we" in them. – aparente001 Commented Nov 13, 2015 at 3:48
@aparente001 I found that I actually only used the word once in my economics essay. It is now quoted in the question. – ahorn Commented Nov 13, 2015 at 10:53
@DanRomik they do not have a style guide, so I am just saying what I remember being told. I don't think they were that specific, but I think they don't want me to use any personal pronouns at all. That means that I should use words such as one and the author instead of personal pronouns as a way to make the tone more abstract. – ahorn Commented Nov 13, 2015 at 11:00

4 Answers 4

As already noted, there is usually little you can do against a styleguide, unless it’s blantantly against every convention. Be prepared to encounter styleguides with much weirder rules, in which, e.g., the punctuation at the end of this sentence is “correct.”

That being said, you can impose some guidelines. I am aware of the following occasions on which we (or I) can be used in an academic paper:

To describe experiments or simulations you performed, e.g.:

We transmogrified 500 apples and determined their contrafibularity.

To refer to the results and other work from the same paper:

In comparison to Smith’s transmogrificator, our method has the advantage that […]

In derivations (most common in mathematics):

Combining equations 23 and 42, we obtain: […]

To summarize the paper in an abstract or introduction:

We here present a new method to transmogrify bananas.

In this review, we summarise recent advances in the transmogrification of fruit.

In phrases such as:

We note that […]

In the acknowledgements :

We thank Jane Doe for constructive comments.

Now, if you are writing an economics essay, you are probably not performing experiments or deriving new theories, which excludes reasons 1–3. In fact, most review papers use we only for reasons 4–6. Moreover, you likely do not have a summary in the style needed for reason 4. Using we only due to reason 5 would be so rare that it can be considered inconsistent style, in particular since it can usually be avoided easily.

Thus, I expect that the reason for which you were marked down was that you used we in a way that is not considered appropriate in academic writing at all, or because you used it only due to reason 5 only.

If you want a general guideline (if none is obviously imposed): If you describe experiments, derivations and similar of your own, use we. In the abstract or introduction of a review paper or something similar, you can use we. If you are doing neither, avoid using we except in the acknowledgements.

2 I think economics papers can easily have (social scientific) experiments, and there are plenty of theories and derivations (economics can be very mathematical). So I think all the points apply. – ahorn Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 18:28
@ahorn: Sure, but does this apply to essays too? – Wrzlprmft ♦ Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 18:45
True. There is less likely to be primary research in an undergraduate essay. – ahorn Commented Nov 13, 2015 at 11:03

You're doing a postgraduate degree, so you should have been taught / be about to be taught the basics of academic writing.

Here is one of the basic rules.

Follow the style guide.

You've been told what the style guide for your coursework says about personal pronouns: it says don't use them. Follow it. Don't use personal pronouns in your coursework.

When you write for something with a different style guide, follow that style guide instead.

Different style guides have different rules. That's what makes them different.

No, it is not ostensibly silly to have different writing styles from the same person, assuming that person can comprehend and follow Rule 1, above.

Thanks for the advice. I have requested the style guide from the department, although I don't think they have one yet. I am an undergraduate. – ahorn Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 18:31

Styles differ by (sub-(sub-))discipline, so if you work in different disciplines you'll do a lot better if you adapt your style to that discipline. Its unfortunate, but I don't think there is a real solution to that.

As can be seen in the comments, it is also discipline specific whether you should use "we" or "I" if you are the only author, and opinions are quite strong on that. So here the same rule applies: you will be most successful in communicating what you want to communicate if you just follow the conventions of the discipline you are aiming at.

10 However, I think it is a real mistake to use the word "we" if there is only a single author. — The I/we distinction is also field-dependent. This is an issue of culture, not logic. The standard fiction in mathematics is that "we" means the author(s) and the readers , who after all are not merely letting the symbols wash over their eyes, but are actively working through the results with the paper as a guide. – JeffE Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 21:16
@JeffE I see what you mean, and edited the answer. In my discipline, this is interpreted as the author trying to delegate part of her or his responsibility to the reader. It is the task of the author, and only the author, to make her or his case. – Maarten Buis Commented Nov 13, 2015 at 8:05

style guide avoid personal pronoun -gender

(could someone edit that to center it or at least move the margin over a little bit, please?)

and found plenty of people recommending avoidance of I and we . Apparently, whoever graded your essay is one of those people.

Here's your we sentence again (thanks very much for posting it):

I'm a big believer in "rules are made to be broken," but in this case, even without your department's stuffy rule, I don't see a need to include the "we note that". I could sort of see it in an outline of the content of your article -- as a tour guide might describe the different places your article goes.

Look how much stronger a statement this is:

In conclusion, the European sovereign debt crisis created uncertainty in the global financial market, and South Africa was one of many countries that dealt with this.

By the way, there are a few other things you could do to increase the impact of your final sentence. By its location, it is already clear that it is the conclusion. So let's give "In conclusion" the axe.

"Dealt with this" is such a vague expression -- perhaps you could be more specific here about how South Africa dealt with the crisis? If your article doesn't get into that, but only shows how South Africa was affected by the crisis, then perhaps you could put in something about the particular way, or the particular degree to which, the country in your magnifying glass, South Africa, was affected.

What a shame, that you've got nasty people in your department penalizing you (in a vague, non-written form, yet) instead of giving you friendly edits.

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The college essay is a pivotal piece of the college application showcasing your individuality and differentiated outlook to admissions officers. What makes an essay truly shine? Let’s dive into the words behind three standout essays highlighted by university websites and a school newspaper's brand studio so you can get into the right mindset for crafting your own narrative.

Embracing Differences: Finding Strength In Uniqueness

Essay Excerpt: ‘Bra Shopping ’ (Harvard)

Featured by the Harvard Crimson Brand Studio , Orlee's essay recounts a student's humorous and insightful experience of bra shopping with her grandmother, weaving in her unique family dynamics and challenges at her prestigious school.

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For Your Essay : To write an essay that embraces your uniqueness, start by identifying a quirky or challenging experience that reflects who a key insight into your experience. Think about how this experience has shaped your perspective and character. Use humor and honesty to bring your story to life, and focus on how you have embraced your differences to become stronger and more resilient.

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For Your Essay: To infuse humor and self-reflection into your essay, start by identifying an ordinary experience or object and think about how it relates to your life. Write down funny or insightful observations about this connection. Use humor to make your essay more engaging, but ensure it still conveys meaningful self-reflection. This balance can make your essay both entertaining and profound.

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Bill Birchard is a business author and book-writing coach. His Writing for Impact: 8 Secrets from Science That Will Fire Up Your Reader’s Brain will be published by HarperCollins Leadership in April 2023. His previous books include Merchants of Virtue, Stairway to Earth, Nature’s Keepers, Counting What Counts, and others. For more writing tactics, see his website .

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COMMENTS

Using "I" in Academic Writing
Using "I" in Academic Writing. by Michael Kandel. Traditionally, some fields have frowned on the use of the first-person singular in an academic essay and others have encouraged that use, and both the frowning and the encouraging persist today—and there are good reasons for both positions (see "Should I"). I recommend that you not ...
Should I Use "I"?
Each essay should have exactly five paragraphs. Don't begin a sentence with "and" or "because.". Never include personal opinion. Never use "I" in essays. We get these ideas primarily from teachers and other students. Often these ideas are derived from good advice but have been turned into unnecessarily strict rules in our minds.
PDF First Person Usage in Academic Writing
Using First-Person Pronouns. In most academic writing, first-person pronouns should be avoided. For instance, when writing a research project, words such as "I," "we," "my," or "our" should probably not be used. The same principle applies to lab reports, research papers, literature reviews, and rhetorical analyses, among many ...
style
Arguably, I could write a formal essay that starts with, "When I was young, I remember . . . but today, its use is less common." In such a context, my use of the pronoun seems reasonable to me—because it's only my memory that I can be speaking about with authority. (I could replace I with my name or this author but both of those constructs seem even more awkward to me.)
Using First Person in an Academic Essay: When is It Okay?
Source:Many times, high school students are told not to use first person ("I," "we," "my," "us," and so forth) in their essays. As a college student, you should realize that this is a rule that can and should be broken—at the right time, of course. By now, you've probably written a personal essay, memoir, or narrative that ...
To Use "I" or Not to Use "I": That Is Not Really a Question
When "I" dominates the writing, they are the subject. If that is the purpose, then fine. However, in the Unit 4 blog post assignment, the subject is the problem, solution, and encouragement for the audience. They will use "I" with active verbs to show what they did to solve the problem, but they do not need to use it to express their ...
"Me, Me, Me": How to Talk About Yourself in an APA Style Paper
General Use of I or We. It is totally acceptable to write in the first person in an APA Style paper. If you did something, say, "I did it"—there's no reason to hide your own agency by saying "the author [meaning you] did X" or to convolute things by using the passive "X was done [meaning done by you].". If you're writing a ...
Academic Guides: Scholarly Voice: First-Person Point of View
Use the first person singular pronoun appropriately, for example, to describe research steps or to state what you will do in a chapter or section. Do not use first person "I" to state your opinions or feelings; cite credible sources to support your scholarly argument. Take a look at the following examples: Inappropriate Uses:
When is it Okay to use I in Academic Essays?
There's no set answer as to whether one can use I in essays, always check with the professor.. In our essay, while it's fine to use it in a limited usage-without filtering everything through the self-the audience is often best engaged by moving toward a use of readers.. The latter gives us a recognition that, yes, there is in fact an audience out there.
First-person pronouns
First-Person Pronouns. Use first-person pronouns in APA Style to describe your work as well as your personal reactions. If you are writing a paper by yourself, use the pronoun "I" to refer to yourself. If you are writing a paper with coauthors, use the pronoun "we" to refer yourself and your coauthors together.
We should use 'I' more in academic writing
An academic should be able to use "I" in an essay which offers their point of view. In this way, they take responsibility for their argument. We should use 'I' more in academic writing ...
Is it okay to use 'I' in a college essay?
Hi there! It's completely normal to use 'I' in your college essay, as the purpose of the essay is for the admissions officers to get to know you better as a person. So, don't worry about sounding self-centered when using 'I'. However, it's essential to strike a balance between sharing your experiences and not coming across as too focused on yourself.
30+ Ways to Avoid Repetition of "I" in First-Person Writing
Snippet 1. I answered the irresistible beckoning of the backyard. I watched brightly colored birds there frolicking in the breeze as they fluttered toward the creek. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth of the sun. I smelled the fragrance of the clover underneath my feet, a fragrance so sweet I could almost taste it.
Use of the First Person in Academic Writing
This sometimes leads to a writing style very focused on the first person, with sentences which begin 'I believe', 'I think', 'In my opinion', etc. There are differing opinions about whether or not first-person pronouns should be used in academic writing. Whatever your position, though, overuse of 'I' or 'my' is not a good ...
Can You use First Person in An Essay? What to use instead of 'I.'
Learn when and how to use first-person pronouns in academic essays, and what alternatives to use instead of 'I'. Find out the pros and cons of using 'I' in different fields and situations, and how to avoid passive constructions and plagiarism.
Is it acceptable to use 'I' in a college essay?
Using first-person is actually encouraged in this context. While it's true that first-person can be frowned upon in some formal writing, college essays are an exception to this rule. The goal is to showcase your unique experiences, perspective, and voice. By using 'I', you'll be able to create a more engaging and authentic narrative.
Can I Use "I" and "Me" in an Academic Essay?
"As I observed the communication styles of first-year Carolina women, I noticed frequent use of non-verbal cues." In this case, we're dealing with an essay rooted in a social-scientific study. By using "I," the writer has reduced the study to a matter of individual experience—hardly the scientific foundation that the study aims for.
How To Avoid Using "We," "You," And "I" in an Essay
Maintaining a formal voice while writing academic essays and papers is essential to sound objective. One of the main rules of academic or formal writing is to avoid first-person pronouns like "we," "you," and "I.". These words pull focus away from the topic and shift it to the speaker - the opposite of your goal.
Is it acceptable to use 'I' in my college essay?
Absolutely! Using 'I' in your college essay is not only acceptable but encouraged. The primary goal of your essay is to give admissions officers a glimpse into your personality, experiences, and how you think. Using personal pronouns like 'I' allows you to tell your unique story more effectively. Of course, it's essential to strike the right balance in your essay.
writing
3. Modern essay style accepts the use of "I", especially in preference to older uses of passive voice that now tend to look stilted, e.g. "one would opine" or "it was thought" rather than "I think". "one would opine" isn't a "passive" construction.
PDF Should I Use "I"?
Each essay should have exactly five paragraphs. Don't begin a sentence with 'and' or 'because.' Never include personal opinion. Never use 'I' in essays. We get these ideas primarily from teachers and other students. Often these ideas are derived from good advice but have been turned into unnecessarily strict rules in our minds. The
3.10 The Use of "I" in Writing
The use of "I "in writing is a topic of debate, and the acceptance of its usage varies from instructor to instructor. ... If the subject of the essay is supposed to be, say, smoking, then by inserting yourself into the sentence, you are effectively displacing the subject of the essay into a secondary position. In the following example, the ...
How can I stop overusing "I" in my writing?
Use a different perspective - "I" is 1st person, switching to a neutral, 3rd person or 2nd person ("you") will implicitly prevent the use of "I". Alternate "I" with other pronouns: Third person pronouns - E.g., "one could take", "some say". See DPT's answer for more detail. You should be able to use this style with 1st person perspective.
Use of "I", "we" and the passive voice in a scientific thesis
Using "we" allows it to simply sink into the background, where it belongs. If it's your thesis, you don't have to put any special effort into reminding the reader who is talking, just like in an essay, they used to tell me not to say "in my opinion" before stating it. EDIT: Oh, I forgot entirely about "the author". I hate that phrase, because ...
How do expert writers avoid using "I" when they have to refer to
Inappropriately or illogically attribution action in an effort to be objective can be misleading. Examples of undesirable attribution include use of the third person, anthropomorphism, and use of the editorial we. Third person. To avoid ambiguity, use a personal pronoun rather than the thrid person when describing steps taken in your experiment.
How to avoid using lot of I's in the personal essay? [closed]
Using third person can result in a vague and overly wordy essay. While starting every sentence with "I" is not advisable, remember that you and your experiences are the subject of the essay. You will find many pages of similar advice if you Google on "writing an application" and "first person".
How to Write an Argumentative Essay
Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim. Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim) Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives. The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don't have to use these specific ...
How to decide whether I should use "we" in an essay?
The economics department at my university (UCT) discourages the use of personal pronouns in an essay - I was marked down in my essay for my use of the word we. At the end of my essay, I wrote In conclusion, we note that the European sovereign debt crisis created uncertainty in the global financial market, and South Africa was one of many ...
College Essays That Worked And How Yours Can Too
Use humor to make your essay more engaging, but ensure it still conveys meaningful self-reflection. This balance can make your essay both entertaining and profound.
The Science of Strong Business Writing
Strong writing skills are essential for anyone in business. You need them to effectively communicate with colleagues, employees, and bosses and to sell any ideas, products, or services you're ...

Using “I” in Academic Writing

Examples of When “I” May Be Needed

Examples of When “I” Should Be Given a Rest

Works Cited

J.S.Beniwal 05 August 2017 AT 09:08 AM

Dr. Raymond Harter 25 September 2017 AT 02:09 PM

Osayimwense Osa 22 March 2023 AT 05:03 PM

Eleanor 25 March 2023 AT 04:03 PM

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The Elements of Style – The DNA of Powerful Writing

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To Use “I” or Not to Use “I”: That Is Not Really a Question

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When is it Okay to use I in Academic Essays?

First-Person Pronouns

Referring to yourself in the third person

Editorial “we”

We should use ‘I’ more in academic writing – there is benefit to first-person perspective

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1. Where an academic is offering their personal view or argument

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3. Where the author wants to show their reasoning

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Use of the First Person in Academic Writing

When Not to Use the First Person

When to Use the First Person

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How to Replace 'I' in essays and formal writing

Why is using Person Pronouns a Taboo in Formal Writing?

Deciding when to use "I" based on academic field conventions

Social sciences

Other writings

Instances that permit the use of the first person in an academic essay

Clarification of passive constructions

Defining your view about other positions

Developing your credibility

Incorporating personal anecdote

How to avoid using "I" in an essay

1. Follow General Rules

2. Get an alternative to the first-person point of view

Personal Pronouns in Academic Writing