we

Designates the speaker(s)/writer(s) as belonging to or constituting the stated category of people.

Determiner

  1. Designates the speaker(s)/writer(s) as belonging to or constituting the stated category of people.
    • We Canadians like to think of ourselves as different.
    • We the undersigned wish to express our disapproval.

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wéyder. Proto-Germanic *wīz Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ Old English wē Middle English we English we From Middle English we, from Old English wē (“we”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz (“we”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéy (“we (plural)”). Cognate with Scots wee, we (“we”), North Frisian we (“we”), West Frisian wy (“we”), Low German wi (“we”), Dutch we, wij (“we”), German wir (“we”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian vi (“we”), Icelandic vér, við (“we”), Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬨 (vaēm), Sanskrit वयम् (vayám).

Pronoun first person, nominative

  1. Two or more people including or consisting of the speaker(s)/writer(s).
    • We are here to arrest you.
    • It’s time to overcome queasiness and restraint. We, the liberal and progressive people of the world, are at war with the far right to save the earth. - 2017 February 20, Paul Mason, “Climate scepticism is a far-right...

    1. Excluding the person(s) being addressed. (This is the exclusive we.)

    2. Including the person(s) being addressed. (This is the inclusive we.)

      • We need to have a talk, you and me.
  2. The institution which the speaker/writer is acting for. (This is the editorial we, used by writers and others when speaking with the authority of their publication or organisation.)
    • We will in due course state our reasons for publishing the name of the accused.
    • As the government, we have a duty to ensure public safety.
    • In light of the promulgation of the aforementioned laws and decisions, we (the administration) propose to make the following amendments to local legislation to implement the relevant requirements on oath taking by...
  3. Any other entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc.
    • I went to watch our school football match against Puddletown High. We lost 2-0.
    • In English, we do not inflect adjectives for gender.
  4. People in general.
    • We live and learn.
    • We still have much to learn about quantum mechanics.
    • As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. - 2013 July-August, Stephen...
  5. The sovereign alone in his or her capacity as monarch. (This is the royal we. The reflexive case of this sense of we is ourself.)
    • We are Queen of all these Isles.
    • Everything we do is so wholesome. - 1953, Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter, John Dighton, Roman Holiday, spoken by Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn):
  6. Everyone being addressed.
    • Good evening everyone. How are we all tonight?
  7. An individual being addressed; used especially to a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given. (Sometimes called the nurse's we or the doctor's we.)
    • Hello Mrs Miggins. How are we feeling this morning?
    • You've been spending all your money boozing when you have a wife and family to support. I think we need to get our priorities straight.
    • “Well, my dear ma’am, and how are we?” inquired Wosky in a soothing tone. / “Very ill, doctor—very ill,” said Mrs. Bloss in a whisper. - 1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “The Boarding-House”, in Sketches by...
  8. Used to refer to a third person, especially someone in the speaker's care.
    • "I've just been to see Mrs Miggins." — "And how is she?" — "I'm afraid we aren't too good today."
  9. Used to connect to or include readers or listeners.
    • Hey guys, in this video I'll show you how I make my upside-down sponge cake. First we take 200 g of butter and we whisk in 200 g of sugar. Next, we ...
    • All Vice President [Mike] Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify and we become president and you are the happiest people. - 2021 January 6, 3:38:03 from the start, in Rally on Electoral College Vote...
    • [Today is] not a day to think about fishing so we will get back to working on the shelter. [cut in video] Cool, so I guess the best analogy for this, then, is that we've basically framed the house, and now we get to...

    1. (colloquial) Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners. (Compare the plural of modesty.)

    2. Used in explanatory or procedural writing, such as mathematical explanations, to imply inclusion of the reader in the undertaking.

      • To solve the equation, we first collect all the terms in x on one side.
  10. Used when talking to oneself to refer to oneself.
    • Now then ... let me see ... I hope I'm doing this right ... if we just connect these two wires together ...
  11. Us.
  12. The side which is keeping score.

    Antonyms: they

Forms

us our ours ourselves ourself

Derived

are we deadass are we there yet as we know it as we speak author's we can we say even as we speak here we are here we go here we go again Houston, we have a problem imperial we lest we forget let's not and say we did shall we say the devil we know is better than the devil we don't the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know the poor we will always have with us the real treasure is the friends we made along the way there we go this is where we came in this is why we can't have nice things today we are all until we meet again

Pronoun Geordie

  1. us
    • He was a propa gadgie, and always bought we drinks after a long shift.
    • And what have you done for we since? Nowt!