we

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
() pronunciation
pron.
  1. Used by the speaker or writer to indicate the speaker or writer along with another or others as the subject: We made it to the lecture hall on time. We are planning a trip to Arizona this winter.
  2. Used to refer to people in general, including the speaker or writer: "How can we enter the professions and yet remain civilized human beings?" (Virginia Woolf).
  3. Used instead of I, especially by a writer wishing to reduce or avoid a subjective tone.
  4. Used instead of I, especially by an editorialist, in expressing the opinion or point of view of a publication's management.
  5. Used instead of I by a sovereign in formal address to refer to himself or herself.
  6. Used instead of you in direct address, especially to imply a patronizing camaraderie with the addressee: How are we feeling today?

[Middle English, from Old English .]

USAGE NOTE   Appositive nouns or noun phrases sometimes lead writers and speakers to choose incorrect pronoun forms. Thus us is frequently found in constructions such as Us owners will have something to say about the contract, where we is required as the subject of the sentence. Less frequently, we is substituted in positions where us should be used, as in For we students, it's a no-win situation. In all cases, the function of the pronoun within the sentence should determine its form, whether or not it is followed by a noun or noun phrase. See Usage Notes at be, I1.



1. The personal pronoun we has a wide range of reference, so that care is often needed to avoid misunderstanding. In its primary meanings it can denote any of the following: (1) you (singular or plural) and I, (2) you and I and some others, or (3) I and some others (but not you: We are going now, but don't you hurry). Informally, it can also mean just 'you', as in the condescending form of enquiry How are we today?

2. We is also used with indefinite reference in the following conventional uses:
  • When a writer or speaker includes his or her readers or hearers and other unnamed people in a statement or proposition: As we saw in the last chapter... / What do we, as a nation, care about books? / We have to tackle the problem of inflation.
  • When a monarch is using the first person (the so-called royal we). This practice is dying out, however. Queen Victoria is credited with the remark We are not amused, but Queen Elizabeth II is noted for My husband and I and generally uses the singular form when referring to herself. (Margaret Thatcher's pronouncement We have become a grandmother, quoted in The Times of 4 March 1989, was blatant affectation.)


3. We is sometimes used mistakenly for us, possibly as a kind of hypercorrection, in sentences such as: Perhaps this product is best suited to we cloth-capped northerners. For the wrong use of us for we, see us 2.

Previous:ways, waylay, wax verb
Next:wear, gear, weave verb, wed
Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: The nominative plural of "I" used to refer to the speaker and one or more other persons.

pronunciation The more generous we are, the more joyous we become. — William Arthur Ward

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

sign description: The index finger moves from one shoulder to the next.




  See crossword solutions for the clue We.

Coordinates: 20°55′0″S 167°15′55″E / 20.916667°S 167.26528°E / -20.916667; 167.26528

Lifou courthouse, in Wé

(French pronunciation: [we]) is a small town in the commune of Lifou, in the Loyalty Islands Province, New Caledonia. It is located on the east coast of Lifou Island. Wé is the administrative centre of the commune of Lifou as well as the location of the provincial assembly of the Loyalty Islands.



Top

Dansk (Danish)
pron. - vi

Nederlands (Dutch)
we, wij

Français (French)
pron. - nous

Deutsch (German)
pron. - wir

Ελληνική (Greek)
pron. - εμείς

Italiano (Italian)
noi

Português (Portuguese)
pron. - nós

Русский (Russian)
мы

Español (Spanish)
pron. - nosotros, nosotras

Svenska (Swedish)
pron. - vi

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
我们

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
pron. - 我們

한국어 (Korean)
pron. - 우리, 나, 짐(군주의 자칭)

日本語 (Japanese)
pron. - 私たちは, 私たち, 我々, 筆者は, 人は, 余は

idioms:

  • as we know it    それについて我々の知る限りの
  • we shall see    会う予定である

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(ضمير) نحن‏

עברית (Hebrew)
pron. - ‮אנו, אנחנו, אני‬


Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights: