I remember high school assignments in which teachers instructed the class about using "I" in term papers. Some teachers wanted students to use "I" to show how each student interpreted research and quoted material. Other teachers forbid the use of "I", insisting a student use "we" as the designated pronoun. At the time, students wanted to sound so scholarly. "We" seemed a small price to gain that effect, although confusing to use.

High schools and colleges still recommend ditching "I" in term papers. However, writers can do without this personal pronoun in most writing.

Writers should DELETE most of these. An alternate is listed for a few.

I would also add that = In addition
I cannot believe X did Y =Seemingly, X did Y
I must say
I wonder
I think
I believe
I feel
I hope
I saw

I also need to say (that), =DELETE
I also understand =DELETE
I participated =participating, DELETE ‘I’
I (just) wanted to let you know that =DELETE


Even if the type of writing can sustain use of "I", writers should evaluate each one to see if they can rewrite sentences using "I", especially wherever the repetition becomes frequent.

Judith


I do feel that =I feel
I can remember =del ‘can’
I myself = I