we
/wiː/
Two or more people including or consisting of the speaker/writer.; Excluding the person being addressed; Including the person being addressed; Any other entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc
Meanings
- 1
Two or more people including or consisting of the speaker(s)/writer(s).; Excluding the person(s) being addressed — This is the exclusive we.
We know you have it.
Tatoeba · CK · CC BY 2.0 FR
We know what to do.
Tatoeba · CK · CC BY 2.0 FR
- 2
Two or more people including or consisting of the speaker(s)/writer(s).; Including the person(s) being addressed — This is the inclusive we.
- 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
- 4
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.rare
- 5
People in generalrare
- 6
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.rare
- 7
Everyone being addressedrare
- 8
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.rare
- 9
Used to refer to a third person, especially someone in the speaker's carerare
- 10
; Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners — Used to connect to or include readers or listeners; Compare the plural of modesty.rare