Definitions

I

PRONOUN

nominative singular pronoun

Synonyms

STRONGEST

he it she sie they ve xe you ze zie

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s another way to say I?

We don’t traditionally think of I as having synonyms, but there are several situations in which it can replace—or be replaced with—another word, phrase, or series of words. me Me is sometimes used in place of I in a very informal way, as in Me and Greg are going hiking on Saturday. Such sentences are considered grammatically incorrect, but they’re very common in casual speech. It’s also commonly used after linking verbs (like is and was) in sentences like It’s me or as an alternative to the awkward-sounding It is I (or This is he or This is she). These kinds of constructions are especially common in situations when identifying yourself at someone’s door or on the phone, or perhaps when pointing yourself out in a photo (Hey, that’s me!). Though considered informal, this use of me is much more widely accepted. myself The word myself is sometimes used in place me or I, especially in cases in which there is a compound subject, object, or complement (meaning one that has more than one person or thing), as in John and myself were asked to attend or The event was planned by Kim and myself. slang synonyms for I There are a few creative, informal ways of referring to oneself. One common one is yours truly, which is often used as a way to end a letter before signing your name, but can also be used in place of me, myself, or I in certain cases, as in Guess what? Yours truly is the lucky winner. Other phrases can be used in the same way, such as this guy.

What can I say instead of I?

There may be some situations when you want to avoid using the words me or I in a piece of writing, such as in journalism or a scientific report. This is typically done to avoid focusing on the writer’s point of view and to create a sense of objectivity. In these cases, you can reword things to avoid referring to yourself altogether. For example, instead of saying I will further discuss this data in the next chapter, you could rephrase with a passive construction, as in This data will be further discussed in the next chapter. Though less common today, journalists have sometimes used terms like this writer when referring to themselves, especially in columns or opinion pieces, as in This writer will certainly not endorse such legislation. Despite the tradition of avoiding the use of me and I in journalism, using a firsthand point of view can be very effective and may even be preferable in certain cases, especially when the writer is a part of the story being told.

What kind of pronoun is I?

I is a personal pronoun. Pronouns are used as substitutes for nouns—they’re another way of referring to a noun without using a specific name. Personal pronouns are used to refer to the one communicating, to the one being addressed, or the one being talked about. I is a nominative pronoun, meaning that it’s typically used as a subject of a sentence. On the other hand, me is an objective pronoun, which means that it’s used as an object. I, along with me (and forms like myself and mine), is categorized as a first person pronoun, meaning it refers to the speaker or writer themselves. In contrast, a second person pronoun (like you) is one that’s used to address the person being spoken to or reading. Third person pronouns (like he, she, they, him, her, and them) refer to anyone other than the person doing the addressing or the ones being addressed. In literature, first-person point of view is a common form of narration in which the events of the story are told using the first person, as if the action is happening from the point of view of the narrator.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“It was a whole new start, and that’s what it felt like I needed,” Walsh said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

McBride “was heated for sure, but I never heard a curse from him,” Kinkhabwala wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

I have a whole section in my fridge for film.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

I use it constantly for smoothies and soups or pesto.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

I smile even wider as Father pats my back.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

The medieval Cloth Hall and St. Martin’s Church were two of the most prominent monuments in Ypres, Belgium, and among World War I’s early casualties.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

The company taking the top spot on Gauntlet I’s leaderboard External link was Skycutter, a British startup that partnered with Ukrainian drone company SkyFall.

From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026

"I's a very different offering up there. You've still got beaches, but then you've got greenery and mountains and wildlife."

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026

“Yeah, it takes us a little longer, but we dot our I’s and we cross our Ts,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2024

The only double letters are the twin I’s inside.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Is this evidence that maybe the court is finally doing the thing we’ve asked it to do, which is police its own conflicts?

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

"If I send him upstairs, am I damaging him emotionally? Is he going to develop an attachment disorder because of this?"

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Is it a booklet with charts and graphs?

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

Is it plausible that Americans will spend as much of their income on this one technology as they do on food?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

“This Reardon guy probably doesn’t have anything to do with you. That Post-it must have been on some other paper in there. Maybe . . . Is your dad a spy or something?”

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Now, there are still some t’s to cross and i’s to dot.

From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2026

"I had really dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's of the experiment," he said.

From Science Daily ● May 18, 2026

The deputy chief told Boyd that Spivey’s body was towed “to make sure that every i’s dotted, t’s crossed to clear you.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025

"Your proposal does not adequately acknowledge the multiple and significant challenges such a transaction would face from US competition law enforcement agencies," Seven & i's letter added.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2024

She wrote in big curling script, and she dotted her letter i’s with stars.

From "Hopping Mad (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #4)" by Franklin W. Dixon

Andy Baraghani’s “The Cook You Want to Be”—I love his approach to food, everything is always so flavorful and ingredient-driven.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

The most delicious almond butter is Alison’s Organics almond butter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Expert input is essential to policymaking—but avoiding policy debacles means understanding the experts’ proper role.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

My fridge is always stocked with: eggs, greens, a lot of Spindrift sparkling water, lemons.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Tuberculosis is a feared disease during this period in history, with good reason.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

In all three cases, as we examine in a paper with Terrence Keeley, the consensus was wrong and the public suffered severe consequences, while the architects of failure avoided accountability.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

“We’re going on day four of this really significant heat wave and we still have several more days of heat,” said Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

In the meantime, if everyone remains vigilant and ready, we should make it safely to January.

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

"It's meaningful in that we want to reach one and a half million children who have never played the game before. That's a significant programme and the ambition that sits behind this."

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

We put up a plank of wood until we can get the glass fixed.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Let me go back a step, in terms of the fossil fuel industry’s relationship with this court.

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

Staff have told me they want clear direction and an end to the salami slicing of resources.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

“Baseball has provided me with a fabulous opportunity to see the world and work in an industry that most people envy,” he wrote in the book.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

“Think of me as an independent contractor. No Guardians. No Corps,” he says.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

Caesar pats me, murmuring, “It’ll be all right. Everything will be fine. We won the war.”

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Those who said so—including one of us, Dr. Atlas, from inside the White House—faced attacks in the media and university censure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Also, a recusal without an explanation for why the recusal is happening really gives us nothing at all.

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

"We were at the time the principal place for space exploration in the UK and Colin came to us because of our experience," Lee said.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Without us, there is no one to hoist blame upon when the film reveals its layers, no one to compare to the film’s wide-eyed spectators of global collapse.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

According to the rundown Dad gave us, she recently moved here from Atlanta.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

I’m not going to blindly follow the adviser; after all, his judgment could be flawed and he has biases just like I have mine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

“We had to turn the school into a restaurant, so I called mine Vaura,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

If so, I’ll defer to what my father told me was mine: asking annoying questions.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

"He's a good friend of mine," says Ferguson.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Her feet were as big as mine, and I knew her shoes were crowding them painfully.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

I think that’s where I had my first coffee too, a cappuccino.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Pickford pleaded guilty in writing and told Warrington Magistrates Court: "I would like to attend court to put forward my mitigation."

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

It’s because in baseball, if you listen, and you’re not afraid to take a chance once in a while, even somebody with my lack of ability can stay around for a while,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

"I look forward to bringing my unique perspective from my experience as White House Press Secretary, along with the same energy and candor that defined my tenure," Leavitt said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

“You feel it,” I whisper, resting my head against her.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

We like to think our lives are ordered by easily understood causation, a chain of big, identifiable things connected by logic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

"We were at the time the principal place for space exploration in the UK and Colin came to us because of our experience," Lee said.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

My follow-up conversation with Mishra brought up another change afoot in America beyond our aging demographics: the prevalence of GLP-1 usage.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

“We are proud of our 40-year public-private partnership with ICE, and we stand ready to continue to assist the federal government in meeting its immigration enforcement priorities,” Zoley added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

She asks when he’s going to pass on some of that cooking talent to our dad.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

"Just imagine: having to stop right in the middle of the season like that. It's unbearable for a company like ours," he said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

My wife essentially says that because we’re married, our retirement savings are ours, not mine.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

“It looked like this newsroom has money and ours doesn’t,” Koman adds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

They’re surprisingly warm inside, and ours made a cozy setting for pork belly skewers, crab puffs and smoked cocktails.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

Mrs. Tilbury’s cleaning the table next to ours.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

I

Frequently Asked Questions

Example Sentences

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