we

Pronoun (1)

we (first-person plural personal pronoun nominative case, objective case us, possessive determiner our, possessive pronoun ours, reflexive ourselves, reflexive singular ourself)

1. (first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) Excluding the person(s) being addressed. (This is the exclusive we.)
   • 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 badge of honour – even in sweltering Australia”, in the Guardian
2. (first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) Including the person(s) being addressed. (This is the inclusive we.)
   • We need to have a talk, you and me.
3. (first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) 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.
4. (first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) 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.
5. (first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) People in general.
   • We live and learn.
   • We still have much to learn about quantum mechanics.
6. (first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun, royal) 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)
7. (colloquial, first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) Everyone being addressed.
   • Good evening everyone. How are we all tonight?
8. (colloquial, first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) 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.
9. (colloquial, first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) 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."
10. (colloquial, first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners. (Compare the plural of modesty.)
    • 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 Certification (television broadcast), spoken by Donald Trump, Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN)
11. (first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) 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.
12. (colloquial, first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) 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 ...
13. (West-Country, archaic, first-person, nominative, personal, plural) Us.
14. (first-person, nominative, personal, plural, pronoun) The side which is keeping score.

    Antonyms:

    they

Determiner

we

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.

Pronoun (2)

IPA/wə/

we

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

Proper noun capitalized: WE

WE

1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Western Europe.

Noun capitalized: WE

WE (plural WEs)

1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of war establishment.

Pronoun (3) capitalized: We

We

1. (honorific) Honorific alternative letter-case form of of we, sometimes used when speaking as an important figure or figures.
   • “It seems to me that we are losing sight of the fact that we are artists,” said Miss Madder to Mr. Ehrlebach one evening about a week later, during one of his calls. / “We, with a capital ‘W,’” laughed Miss Larkin, mimicking Rose’s conscious air. / “Well, Mr. Ehrlebach is, anyway, and he ought to...[1883 May, Minimum [pseudonym], “A Flying Dutchman”, in The Wheelman: An Illustrated Magazine of Cycling Literature and News, volume II, number 2, Boston, Mass.: The Wheelman Company […], →OCLC...
   • Yet when Diaz talks one would think he had never achieved anything. He never uses the first pronoun singular, always speaking as “we,” but not the “we” with a capital W habitual to Royalty; just simply we, meaning others in preference to himself. That is why it has been so difficult to draw his...[1906, Mrs. Alec Tweedie [i.e., Ethel Brilliana Tweedie], “The Legislature and a Vice-President”, in Porfirio Diaz, Seven Times President of Mexico, London: Hurst and Blackett, […], →OCLC, page 390