I's

See also: Appendix:Variations of "is"

English

Noun

I's

1. plural of I (letter of the alphabet)

Usage notes

• Opinions vary regarding the use of apostrophes when forming the plurals of letters of the alphabet. New Fowler's Modern English Usage, after noting that the usage has changed, states on page 602 that "after letters an apostrophe is obligatory." The 15th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style states in paragraph 7.16, "To avoid confusion, lowercase letters ... form the plural with an apostrophe and an s". The Oxford Style Manual on page 116 advocates the use of common sense.

See also

• i's

Contraction

I's

1. (nonstandard, dialectal) Contraction of I is.

   I's going now.

2. (nonstandard, dialectal) Contraction of I has.

   I's got to go.

3. (nonstandard) Contraction of I was.

   I's going to the store yesterday.

See also

• i's (eye dialect version of it's (it is), rather than I is, but is often written the same as I's because it is at the beginning of a sentence.)

Determiner

I's

1. (nonstandard) Synonym of my

   John and I's house is up for sale.

Usage notes

• When used in lists, it is often thought better to refer to oneself last. Thus it is more natural to say John and I than I and John. In such lists, the traditional rule is to use the same case form one would choose if there were only one pronoun. I's is thus a result of wishing to preserve this rule at the expense of using the standard first-person singular possessive pronoun my. Due to even further hypercorrection, I's may also be found where, if the phrase were not possessive, me would be used rather than I such as in the sentence Mary saw John and I's new car.

Anagrams

• S. I., S.I., SI, Si, Si., si