we (first-person pluralpersonal pronoun nominative case,objective caseus,possessive determinerour,possessive pronounours,reflexiveourselves,reflexive singularourself)
Two or more people including or consisting of the speaker(s)/writer(s).
Excluding the person(s) being addressed.(This is theexclusivewe.)
We are here to arrest you.
2017 February 20, Paul Mason, “Climate scepticism is a far-right badge of honour – even in sweltering Australia”, inthe Guardian[1]:
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.
Including the person(s) being addressed.(This is theinclusivewe.)
We need to have a talk, you and me.
The institution which the speaker/writer is acting for.(This is theeditorialwe, 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.
2021, Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, “Paper No. CMAB C4/9/1”, inDocuments of the Hong Kong Legislative Council[2], page 1:
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 public officers.
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.
People in general.
We live and learn.
We still have much to learn about quantum mechanics.
Aswe 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.
(royal) Thesovereign alone in his or her capacity asmonarch.(This is theroyalwe. The reflexive case of this sense ofwe isourself.)
(colloquial; may sometimes seem patronising) 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 thenurse'swe or thedoctor'swe.)
Hello Mrs Miggins. How arewe feeling this morning?
You've been spending all your money boozing when you have a wife and family to support. I thinkwe need to get our priorities straight.
“Well, my dear ma’am, and how arewe?” inquired Wosky in a soothing tone. / “Very ill, doctor—very ill,” said Mrs. Bloss in a whisper.
2008 May 13, Tom Armstrong,Marvin (comic):
Arewe ready to go to bed, sweetie?
(colloquial,uncommon)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 afraidwe aren't too good today."
Used to connect to or include readers or listeners.
(colloquial)Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners.(Compare theplural of modesty.)
Hey guys, in this video I'll show you how I make my upside-down sponge cake. Firstwe take 200 g of butter andwe whisk in 200 g of sugar. Next,we ...
2021 January 6, 3:38:03 from the start, inRally on Electoral College Vote Certification[3] (television broadcast), spoken by Donald Trump, Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN):
All Vice President [Mike] Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify andwe become president and you are the happiest people.
2021 June 24, “Far from Home” (3:07 from the start), inAlone[4], season 9, episode 4 (televison production), spoken by Theresa Emmerich Kamper, via HISTORY Channel:
[Today is] not a day to think about fishing sowe will get back to working on the shelter. [cut in video] Cool, so I guess the best analogy for this, then, is thatwe've basically framed the house, and nowwe get to shingle.
2022 October 25, 32:11 from the start, Vote 2022, in Joseph Camp, director,PBS NewsHour[5] (television production), spoken by John Fetterman, via Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), archived fromthe original on25 October 2022:
The elephant in the room, you know,we had a stroke back in May.
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 inx on one side.
(colloquial)Used when talking to oneself to refer to oneself.
Now then ... let me see ... I hope I'm doing this right ... ifwe just connect these two wires together ...
Karl James Franklin,Pacific Linguistics (1973,→ISBN, page 130: Polopaso/sou woman, cf. DARsou female animal butwe woman. Several multiple cognate sets appeared in the data. Daribi uses bothạị andwẹ for water; some Polopa speakers gave one term, some another. Both are probably known everywhere.
1) Not as common in written language. 2) Inflected as anadjective. 3) Inprescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). 4) Inprescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative). 5) Archaic. Nowadays used for formal, literary or poetic purposes, and in fixed expressions. 6) To differentiate from the singulargij,gelle (object formelle) and variants are commonly used colloquially in Belgium. Archaic forms aregijlieden andgijlui ("you people").
7)Zich is preferred if the reflexive pronoun immediately follows the subject pronounu, e.g.Meldt u zich aan! 'Log in!', and if the subject pronounu is used with a verb form that is identical with the third person singular but different from the informal second person singular, e.g.U heeft zich aangemeld. 'You have logged in.' Onlyu can be used in an imperative if the subject pronoun is not overt, e.g.Meld u aan! 'Log in!', whereu is the reflexive pronoun. Otherwise, bothu andzich are equally possible, e.g.U meldt u/zich aan. 'You log in.' 8) Not officially recognized in standard Dutch. It has gained popularity, especially in mainstream media and queer circles, as a respectful term fornon-binary individuals.
Wen im go iina wan ous, tel di uona fi di ous se, "Di tiicha se fi aks yu se:We di ges ruum dewe mi kyan nyam di Paasuova fuud wid mi speshal falara dem?"
and when he goes into a house, ask the ownerwhere I and my disciples can celebrate the Passover.
Greenhill, S. J.; Blust. R; Gray, R. D. (2008), “The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics”, inEvolutionary Bioinformatics[6], number 4, archived fromthe original on18 April 2017, pages271-283
Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*wahiR”, in the CLDF dataset fromThe Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–),→DOI
Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the criticaltonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
1 Used preconsonantally or beforeh. 2 Early or dialectal. 3Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third person dual forms in Middle English. 4 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd person singular.
Stenroos, Merja (2019), “The Development of Old Englisheo/ēo and the Systematicity of Middle English Spelling”, in Rhona Alcorn, Joanna Kopaczyk,Bettelou Los and Benjamin Molineaux, editors,Historical Dialectology in the Digital Age,Edinburgh:Edinburgh University Press,→DOI,→ISBN, page150.
Gary Holton and Laura Robinson,The Internal History of the Alor-Pantar language family, inThe Alor-Pantar languages: History and Typology, edited by Marian Klamer
The reduced forms with an apostrophe areenclitic; they immediately follow verbs or conjunctions.Dü is deleted altogether in such contexts. Et is not enclitic and can stand in any unstressed position; the full subject formhat is now rarely used. Inreflexive use, only full object forms occur. Dual formswat / unk andjat / junk are obsolete. Attributive and independent possessives are not distinguished in Mooring.
Fæder ūre, þū þe eart in heofenum, sī þīn nama ġehālgod. Tōbecume þīn rīċe. Ġeweorþe þīn willa on eorþan, swā swā on heofenum. Ūrne dæġhwāmlīċan hlāf syleūs tōdæġ. And forġȳfūs ūre ġyltas, swā swāwē forġȳfaþ ūrum ġyltendum. And ne ġelǣde þūūs on costnunge, ac alȳsūs of yfle: sōþlīċe.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on Earth as it is in heaven. Giveus this day our daily bread; and forgiveus our trespasses, aswe forgive those who trespass against us; and leadus not into temptation, but deliverus from evil. Amen.
Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor,A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published1867,page114
