First Person Check

This rule helps maintain professional and objective writing by identifying instances of first-person pronouns and expressions in text. In technical and professional documentation, excessive use of first-person perspective can make content feel too informal or subjective. Microsoft's style guide recommends limiting first-person usage to make documentation more focused on the user's needs rather than the writer's perspective.

Examples:

The rule flags first-person pronouns and their variations:

• "I think this feature works well" ⚠️
• "Let me show you how" ⚠️
• "My recommendation is" ⚠️
• "I'm going to demonstrate" ⚠️
• "This solution is mine" ⚠️

Instead, prefer more direct, user-focused language:

• "This feature works well"
• "Here's how to..."
• "The recommended approach is"
• "This demonstration shows"
• "This solution works best"

The rule uses regular expressions to catch various forms of first-person pronouns, including cases where "I" appears at the start of sentences or after spaces, contractions like "I'm", and possessive forms like "my" and "mine".