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On resumes, I frequently see a style of writing like the following:

Acme Corp -- Contraption Designer

Designed systems for catching road runners. Coordinated with clients for delivery in remote locations. Collected statistics on system efficacy.

The writing here does not actually include a subject, instead the "I" is implied. This is similar to an imperative sentence but instead in the past tense.

I found one source that called this "first person implied", but the source does not seem to be very reputable.

Is there a term for this sort of writing? Are there any style guides for it?

WirthLuce
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  • @KannE "first person implied" (in quotes) only has ~2000 results on Google, so I'm not sure about this. – WirthLuce Feb 06 '21 at 02:08

1 Answers1

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Linguistic sources call it a null subject, subject pronoun drop, or diary drop:

As the first source explains, “diary drop” is a more specific term used for this phenomenon in written language: “subject pronouns can frequently be dropped in certain registers of written English, such as diaries but also including text messages, emails, and other forms of informal communication”.

Laurel
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  • Ah thank you. That also leads to https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/80730/is-there-a-name-for-the-practice-of-dropping-pronouns-in-written-speech/80785#80785 which is a related question. – WirthLuce Feb 08 '21 at 09:13