Can you use "I" in the GED essay?

You can, but GED's own advice is to avoid it. Using "I" will not by itself give you a 0.^[1] We found no GED rule that bans it. Still, a GED workshop for teachers lists first person, meaning writing with "I", "me" or "my", among the things to avoid.^[1] And "I think" adds no support to your argument.^[2] The points for your argument come from what you show about the passages and their evidence.^[3] This post walks through both sides and shows how to rewrite "I think" sentences.

"I" is not an automatic 0

You may have heard that a single "I" in the essay means an automatic 0. A 2018 GED workshop for teachers lists that belief as an urban legend, a story people repeat that is not true.^[1]

GED's scored examples point the same way. In a 2015 GED guide for adult educators, one sample essay names the better-supported side in its first paragraph with an "I believe" sentence, and that essay earned the top score of 2 on all three traits.^[3] The same guide's scoring notes accept essays in which writers argue their own opinion on the issue.^[3] As you will see below, though, that is not where the points are.

Writing teachers outside GED agree that "I" is not off limits in general. Purdue University's writing lab says the idea that "I" is never used in academic writing is not true.^[4]

But GED advises against first person

The same 2018 workshop has a slide called "What to Avoid". It says responses should not be written in first person.^[1] It also says they should not include personal information, such as opinion.^[1]

The slide does not give its reason in writing, so we will not guess at GED's reason. The advice in the rest of this post is our own, built on what GED's scoring notes and two university writing centers do say.

So GED's own sources point two ways. A workshop slide advises against first person, yet one of GED's own top-scoring sample essays uses "I believe".^[1][3] The fair reading of both: one "I" will not sink your essay, but it does not help it either. The safer habit is to leave it out.

Why "I think" adds nothing

Look at these two sentences:

• I think the second writer is more convincing.
• The second writer is more convincing.

They make the same claim. The words "I think" add no support at all. The University of North Carolina's Writing Center (UNC) makes this point: adding "I think" or "I believe" cannot stand in for actually defending an argument.^[2] In one of its own examples, UNC simply cuts "I think" from a sentence, because the reader does not need to be told that the statement is the writer's thought.^[2]

Your claim is still yours. You wrote it, so the reader already knows whose judgment it is.

What earns points for your argument is the support. GED's scoring notes say writers who stay on the task, analyzing the texts to decide which position is better supported, are more likely to score highly.^[3] Every word spent on "I think" is a word not spent on that analysis.

Purdue's writing lab offers a simple test: use "I" only when you yourself are an important part of the subject.^[4] On the GED essay, the subject is the passages, not you. So by Purdue's test, "I" is rarely needed there. That is our reading of Purdue's advice, not a GED rule.

GED's notes on Trait 2 also say high-scoring essays keep a formal style and an objective tone.^[3] An objective tone sticks to what can be shown, not to what you feel. Sentences about the passages fit that tone well.

The bigger issue: your opinion and your stories

Two questions often get mixed up: whether you use the word "I", and whether you write about yourself. GED's sources say much more about the second one.

• Your opinion about the topic. One common reason for low essay scores is giving your own opinion about the topic instead of evaluating the arguments in the texts.^[5] GED's tips for test takers put it plainly: "Do not just offer your opinion on the given topic."^[6]
• Your own stories. At lower score points, essays may lean more heavily on evidence from the writer's personal experience with the topic.^[3] Such stories do not count against you, but scorers are told to treat them as "white noise", background that adds nothing to the score.^[3]

Here is the difference in practice. "I believe the second writer gives stronger evidence" judges the arguments, even with the "I" in it. "I believe towns need more parks" is an opinion about the topic, the kind of sentence GED warns about, with or without the "I".^[6] Your claim should still be your own judgment. What changes is what you judge: the arguments, not the issue.

To decide which side your claim should name, see our post on picking the better-supported side. Our post on how the GED essay is scored explains what scorers look for, trait by trait.

How to rewrite "I think" sentences

Three steps work for most sentences:

1. Cut "I think", "I believe" or "in my opinion".
2. Make a writer, a passage or a piece of evidence the subject of the sentence.
3. Add the evidence that backs up the point, often with "because".

The examples below are made up. Picture two letters about whether a town should turn an empty lot into a small park.

Example 1: your claim

• Before: I think the second writer makes a stronger case.
• After: The second writer makes the stronger case, because she backs up each claim with figures from the town's own budget.

The new sentence makes the same claim and gives the reason a reader needs.

Example 2: judging the evidence

• Before: I believe the first writer's numbers are wrong.
• After: The first writer's numbers come from a survey taken twelve years ago, so they say little about the town today.

Calling the numbers wrong, with no reason, is only an opinion. The rewrite points at a real weakness in the evidence: its age.

Example 3: a personal story

• Before: In my opinion, parks make people happier, because my family visits one every weekend.
• After: The second writer supports her claim that a new park would be used: she reports that the town's two other parks are full most weekends.

The first sentence is an opinion about the topic, backed by a personal story. The rewrite uses evidence from a passage instead, which is where the task points you.

One warning: do not twist a sentence just to get rid of "I". UNC notes that trying hard to avoid "I" can make writing awkward and vague.^[2] A sentence like "It is the view of this writer that the park is a good idea" still talks about you, only in more words. The fix is not to hide the "I", but to write about the evidence.

Practice the habit

Writing without "I think" takes practice, especially if you are used to sharing your opinions in writing. Plan your claim around the evidence before you write: our post on planning the GED essay in 45 minutes shows how. Then reread each practice essay, find every "I think", and rewrite it with the three steps above.

On OpenEssayMe you can write practice essays and get feedback on each of the three traits, to improve your writing one draft at a time. For the whole test, see our GED RLA test guide.