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I'm wondering if it's considered casual and natural to start sentences without the pronoun, or if a native English speaker would find that odd and feel that I'm either being way too casual or that I'm not on point with grammar and question rather I'm a native English speaker or not.

Example of phrases omitting the pronouns:

(I) Just read that you.... (I) Noticed something about your.... (I) Appreciate that you're.... (I) Would love to know if.... (Do you) Mind if I send you... (I'm) Reaching out because... (I'm a) Big fan of the way you...

The context: I understand this is informal language. The situation I intend to use such phrases is on emails for business purposes. But with the goal of sounding friendly and slightly casual, only if it's natural and not way too casual nor odd to say it like that.

Thanks for any help.

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  • It's OK for colleagues you know well; it might be considered too informal for more general business purposes.
    – Kate Bunting
    Nov 12, 2021 at 13:01
  • Spoken English is quite often much more informal and 'sloppy' than written English. Leaving out words, as in your example, is a tradeoff between faster communication and the risk that your listener may not understand you. As Kate Bunting says, informal speaking may be fine between friends, but in more formal circumstances, when you are trying for a professional impression, use formal speaking.
    – Mark Ripley
    Nov 12, 2021 at 14:36

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(I) Just read that you.... (I) Noticed something about your.... (I) Appreciate that you're.... (I) Would love to know if.... (Do you) Mind if I send you... (I'm) Reaching out because... (I'm a) Big fan of the way you...

Some of these are possible in informal English. The "just read" one works particularly well, as does "mind if I...", but most of the others are significantly less likely.

It is better to err on the side of including the pronouns if you are unsure. Even in very informal speech I would be much more likely to say "I'm a big fan of..." than "Big fan of..." and "I'm reaching out..." than "Reaching out...". Preferences will vary by person and by region, but it is important to note that English is not a "pro-drop" language.

Linguists divide languages into two broad categories - "pro-drop" (pronoun-dropping) languages where pronouns can routinely be omitted in a wide range of scenarios - these include Spanish and Russian - and non-pro-drop languages, such as English, where pronoun-dropping is relatively rare and the circumstances where it is allowed are more constricted.

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