we

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we

(wē)

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 wē; see we- in Indo-European roots.]

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.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

we

(wiː)

pron (subjective)

1. refers to the speaker or writer and another person or other people: we should go now.

2. refers to all people or people in general: the planet on which we live.

a. when used by editors or other writers, and formerly by monarchs, a formal word for I¹

b. (as noun): he uses the royal we in his pompous moods.

4. informal used instead of you with a tone of persuasiveness, condescension, or sarcasm: how are we today?.

[Old English wē, related to Old Saxon wī, Old High German wir, Old Norse vēr, Danish, Swedish vi, Sanskrit vayam]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

we

(wi)

pron.pl., poss. our or ours,

1. nominative plural of I.

2. (used to denote oneself and another or others, specifically or generally): We have two children. We often take good health for granted.

3. (used in the predicate following a copulative verb): It is we who should thank you.

4. Also called the royal we. (used by a sovereign or other high officials and dignitaries in place of I in formal speech.)

5. Also called the editorial we . (used by editors, writers, etc., to avoid the personal I or to represent a collective viewpoint.)

6. you (used familiarly, often with mild condescension or sarcasm): We know we've been naughty, don't we?

[before 900; Middle English; Old English wē, c. Old Saxon wī, wē, Old High German wir, Old Norse vēr, Gothic weis]

one

– you – we – they

1. 'one'

One is sometimes an impersonal pronoun, showing that something is generally done or should generally be done.

One doesn't talk about politics at parties.

You can also use the possessive determiner one's and the reflexive pronoun oneself.

Naturally, one wants only the best for one's children.

We all understood the fear of making a fool of oneself.

One, one's, and oneself are fairly formal. Here are some other ways in which you can say that something is generally done or should be done:

2. 'you'

You can use you, your, yours and yourself, as we usually do in this book.

There are things that have to be done and you do them and you never talk about them.

Ignoring your neighbours is rude.

3. 'we'

You can use we, us, our, ours, and ourselves to say that something is generally done by a group of people that includes yourself.

We say things in the heat of an argument that we don't really mean.

There are things we can all do to make ourselves and our children happier.

4. 'they'

They can sometimes mean people in general, or a group of people whose identity is not actually stated.

They found the body in the river.

Some people use they when they are mentioning a saying or repeating a piece of gossip.

They say that the camera never lies – but it doesn't always show the full picture.

He made a fortune, they say.

They, them, their, theirs, and themselves are also used to refer to words such as everyone and anyone, person, child, and student.

See he - she - they

5. 'people'

You can use people. This is also a fairly common use.

People shouldn't leave jobs unfinished.

I don't think people should make promises they don't mean to keep.

6. the passive

Instead of using one of these words and an active verb, you can sometimes use a passive verb. This is a fairly common use in formal writing.

If there is increasing pain, medical advice should be taken.

Bookings must be made before the end of December.

we

You use we to refer to yourself together with one or more other people. We is the subject of a verb.

We could hear the birds singing.

We both sat down.

You can use we to include the person or people you are speaking or writing to.

If you like, we could have dinner together.

Be Careful!
Don't say 'you and we' or 'we and you'. Instead of saying 'You and we must go', you say 'We must go'.

You can also use we to refer to people in general, including yourself.

We need to stop polluting the planet.

Nowadays we like to think of ourselves as rational and scientific.

See one - you - we - they

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

Translations

نَحْنُنحن

sjá tilviðviî

私たちは

우리

nos

mes

mēs

wij we

nós

noi

мы

sisi

พวกเรา

biz

chúng ta

我们

we

[wiː] PRON (for emphasis, to avoid ambiguity) → nosotros/as
you've got kids but we haven't → vosotros tenéis hijos pero nosotros no
we English → nosotros los ingleses
it's we who → somos nosotros quienes ...
they work harder than we do → trabajan más que nosotros

Don't translate the subject pronoun when not emphasizing or clarifying:

we were in a hurry → teníamos prisa
we were dissatisfied with the service → estábamos insatisfechos con el servicio

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

we

[ˈwiː](STRONG) [wi] pron pl → nous
We're staying here for a week → Nous restons une semaine ici.
We all make mistakes → Nous faisons tous des erreurs.
We spoke to him. You didn't → Nous lui avons parlé. Pas vous.

we

pron → wir; the royal we → der Pluralis Majestatis, der Majestätsplural; the editorial we → der Autorenplural; (in narrative) → das Wir des Erzählers; how are we this morning? (inf) → wie geht es uns (denn) heute Morgen? (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

we

[wiː] pers pron pl → noi
we understand → abbiamo capito (stressed) → noi sì che abbiamo capito
here we are → eccoci
we Italians → noi or noialtri italiani
as we say in Florence ... → come si dice a Firenze...
we all make mistakes → tutti possiamo sbagliare

we

(wiː) pronoun

(used only as the subject of a verb) the word used by a speaker or writer in mentioning himself or herself together with other people. We are going home tomorrow.

we

→ نَحْنُ my vi wir εμείς nosotros me nous mi noi 私たちは 우리 wij vi my nós мы vi พวกเรา biz chúng ta 我们