Why a capital I as a subject?

It is a pronoun.
France is a pronoun in English. We always write France and never 'france'.

Anonymous This is a question an English girl asked me when I told my French pupils not to forget that "I" is always written in Capital letter.

Do any of you know why this is so?

I sometimes find that the best answer to a "why" question is simply "because".

In Old English the pronoun was ic and it became reduced to i in the 12th century. People began to capitalize it in the mid-13th century to mark it clearly as a distinct word. In those days everything was written by hand and it was also quicker to draw just one vertical line without a dot.

CB

Cool BreezeIn Old English the pronoun was ic and it became reduced to i in the 12th century. People began to capitalize it in the mid-13th century to mark it clearly as a distinct word. In those days everything was written by hand and it was also quicker to draw just one vertical line without a dot.

CB

I kn

PhilipWas the pronunciation at the time of [ic] similar to the German [ich]? If so, when did it change to [eye]? Before or after the dropping of the [c]?

Hi Philip

The pronunciation of ic, which was spelled with a dot above the c, I just can't pruduce it on my keyboard, was fairly close to the German

Before or after the dropping of the [C]?

I always forget -- was the Dropping of the Coffee Cup before or after the Great Vowel Shift?

By the way -- just for the record -- "France" is not a pronoun, and pronouns are not necesarily capitalized. It is a proper noun, and therefore capitalized.

Thank you for these answers, the historical one satisfies me better than the "because" (which I actually used as an escape on the spot). My other explanation would have been that I am important so I am in Capital letter. But that did not sound a grammatically proper answer!!!

Thanks again, I have just discovered this forum and so I am still anonymous. But it is now part of my favorite sit