i
uh
I (pronoun) means used by a speaker or writer to refer to themself as the subject of a sentence. Example: “I am going to the store later.”
pronoun
1
Used by a speaker or writer to refer to themself as the subject of a sentence.
"I am going to the store later."
"I told her the truth as soon as I could."
"Yesterday I found a lost wallet on the bus."
noun
1
The ninth letter of the English alphabet.
"The word "igloo" starts with the letter I."
"A lower-case i has a small dot above its stem."
"Spell the word slowly and write each i clearly."
2
The sense of one's own identity or self; the ego.
"Therapists sometimes describe the I as the part of us that feels separate."
"In his essay, the writer asked how the I develops during childhood."
"Losing the argument was a blow to his sense of I."
numeral
1
The Roman numeral for one.
"The chapter heading was just a large I in gold lettering."
"On the old watch, the hour hand pointed just past I."
"The clock face showed I, II, III instead of 1, 2, 3."
How to use i
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe word you use to talk about yourself, and also the ninth letter of the alphabet.
Common mistake
Use "I" as the subject ("I went") and "me" as the object ("she called me"), not the other way around — "me and him went" should be "he and I went."
Common pairings
I think
I believe
as far as I know
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Word forms
- Plural
- is, i's, ies
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
_____ am going to the store later.
Etymology
From Old English "ic," which traces back through Germanic languages to a very old Indo-European word for "I."
Related words
Frequently asked questions
What does “i” mean?
The word “i” means used by a speaker or writer to refer to themself as the subject of a sentence. In plain terms, the word you use to talk about yourself, and also the ninth letter of the alphabet.
How do you pronounce “i”?
“I” is pronounced uh (/ə/ in IPA).
How do you use “i” in a sentence?
Here is “i” used in a sentence: “I am going to the store later.”
What is another word for “i”?
Words with a similar meaning to “i” include ich, ch, my ass, m'ass, muggins and yours truly.
What part of speech is “i”?
Depending on how it is used, “i” can be a pronoun, a noun and a numeral.
Where does the word “i” come from?
The word “i” comes from Old English. From Old English "ic," which traces back through Germanic languages to a very old Indo-European word for "I.".
Is “i” a common word?
“I” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.
How many meanings does “i” have?
“I” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: used by a speaker or writer to refer to themself as the subject of a sentence.
Why is "I" always capitalized?
Capitalizing the pronoun "I" is a long-established English spelling convention, and it applies wherever the word appears in a sentence, not just at the beginning. Writing it lowercase ("i") is considered nonstandard outside very casual texting.
Should you say "you and I" or "you and me"?
Use "you and I" when the pair is the subject of the verb ("You and I should talk") and "you and me" when it is the object ("She invited you and me"). A quick test is to drop "you and": you would say "She invited me", never "She invited I."
What is the difference between "I" and "me"?
"I" is a subject pronoun, used for the person doing the action: "I wrote the email." "Me" is an object pronoun, used for the person receiving it: "The email was sent to me." This is why "between you and me" is correct — prepositions like "between" take object pronouns.
Is "It is I" or "It's me" correct?
"It is I" follows the traditional formal rule that a pronoun after "be" takes the subject form. In everyday modern English, "It's me" is the natural, universally accepted choice, and "It is I" now sounds stiff outside very formal contexts.
Featured in
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