we
See also: Appendix:Variations of "we"
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English we, from Old English wē (“we”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz (“we”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéy (“we (plural)”). Cognate with Scots wee, we (“we”), North Frisian we (“we”), West Frisian wy (“we”), Low German wi (“we”), Dutch we, wij (“we”), German wir (“we”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian vi (“we”), Icelandic vér, við (“we”), Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬨 (vaēm), Sanskrit वयम् (vayám).
Pronunciation
- enPR: wē, IPA(key): /wiː/
- (General American) IPA(key): /wi/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) Audio (file) - Homophones: oui, wee, whee (in accents with the wine-whine merger), Wii
- Rhymes: -iː
Pronoun
we (first-person plural nominative case, objective case us, possessive determiner our, possessive pronoun ours, reflexive ourselves, reflexive singular ourself)
- (personal) The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person (not the person being addressed). (This is the exclusive we.)
- 2017 February 20, Paul Mason, “Climate scepticism is a far-right badge of honour – even in sweltering Australia”, in the Guardian:
- 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.
-
- (personal) The speaker(s)/writer(s) and the person(s) being addressed. (This is the inclusive we.)
- (personal) The institution upon which the speaker/writer is acting. (This is the editorial we, used by writers and others when speaking with the authority of their publication or organisation.)
- 2021, Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, “Paper No. CMAB C4/9/1”, in Documents of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, 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.
-
- (personal, royal) The sovereign alone in their capacity as monarch. (This is the royal we. The reflexive case of this sense of we is ourself.)
- (personal) The plural form of you, including everyone being addressed.
- 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:
- As we 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.
- How are we all tonight?
-
- (personal, often considered patronising) A second- or third-person pronoun for a person in the speaker's care.
- How are we feeling this morning?
- (proscribed) The speaker or writer, used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences and a group of listeners.
- 2021 January 6, Rally on Electoral College Vote Certification, Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN), spoken by Donald Trump, 3:38:03 from the start:
- 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 June 24, “Far from Home”, in Alone, season 9, episode 4, HISTORY Channel, spoken by Theresa Emmerich Kamper, 3:07 from the start:
- [Today is] not a day to think about fishing so we will get back to working on the shelter. [cut in video] Cool, so I guess the best analogy for this, then, is that we've basically framed the house, and now we get to shingle.
- 2022 October 25, Joseph Camp, director, PBS NewsHour, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), archived from the original on 2022-10-25, retrieved 2022-10-25, spoken by John Fetterman, 32:11 from the start, Vote 2022:
- The elephant in the room, you know, we had a stroke back in May.
- Hey guys, how's it going? Today we are going to be playing a new game.
-
Derived terms
- Houston, we have a problem
Descendants
- Jamaican Creole: wi
- Sranan Tongo: wi
Translations
the speakers, or the speaker(s) and other person(s) not being addressed (exclusive we: he or she or they and I)
|
the speaker(s) and the listener(s) (inclusive we: you and I)
|
the royal we
|
Determiner
we
- The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person.
- We Canadians like to think of ourselves as different.
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wə/
Pronoun
we
- (Tyneside) Us.
- He was a propa gadgie, and always bought we drinks after a long shift.
- And what have you done for we since? Nowt!
Usage notes
Not to be confused with Tyneside us (“me”).
Anagrams
- EW, ew
Abinomn
Noun
we (dual werom, plural wekon)
- tree kangaroo
References
- Newguineaworld, citing Donohue and Musgrave, Abinomn nominal number (2007: 365)
Anguthimri
Noun
we
- (Mpakwithi) owl
References
- Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 189
Caac
Determiner
we
- water
- kô-ny we
- 'my (glass/drink of) water'
- kô-ny we
References
- A Study of Space in Caac, an Oceanic Language
Cameroon Pidgin
Alternative forms
- wi, wu
Etymology
From English we.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wi/
Pronoun
we
- we, us 1st person plural subject and object personal pronoun
See also
Cameroonian Pidgin personal pronouns
| Subject personal pronouns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | ||
| 1st person | I | we, wu | |
| 2nd person | you | wuna | |
| 3rd person | i | dey | |
| Object and topic personal pronouns | |||
| 1st person | me | we | |
| 2nd person | you | wuna | |
| 3rd person | yi, -am | dem, -am | |
Determiner
we
- our, 1st person plural possessive determiner
See also
Cameroonian Pidgin possessive determiners
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | my | we | |
| 2nd person | your | wuna | |
| 3rd person | yi | dia | |
Chuukese
Determiner
we (plural kewe)
- (possessive subject marker) the (singular)
Dadibi
Noun
wẹ
- water
Synonyms
- ạị
References
- Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 67
- Karl James Franklin, Pacific Linguistics (1973, →ISBN, page 130: Polopa so/sou woman, cf. DAR sou female animal but we woman. Several multiple cognate sets appeared in the data. Daribi uses both ạị and wẹ for water; some Polopa speakers gave one term, some another. Both are probably known everywhere.
Dutch
Etymology
See wij.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʋə/
Audio (file)
Pronoun
we (personal pronoun)
- we
Inflection
Dutch personal pronouns
| subject | object | possessive | reflexive | genitive5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | pred. | ||
| 1st person | ik | 'k1 | mij | me | mijn | m'n1 | mijne | me | mijner, mijns |
| 2nd person | jij | je | jou | je | jouw | je | jouwe | je | jouwer, jouws |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person masculine | hij | ie1 | hem | 'm1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| 3rd person feminine | zij | ze | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | hare | zich | harer, haars |
| 3rd person neuter | het | 't1 | het | 't1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| plural | |||||||||
| 1st person | wij | we | ons | – | ons, onze2 | – | onze | ons | onzer, onzes |
| 2nd person | jullie | je | jullie | je | jullie | je | – | je | – |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal6 | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person | zij | ze | hen3, hun4 | ze | hun | – | hunne | zich | hunner, huns |
| 1) Not as common in written language. 2) Inflected as an adjective. 3) In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). 4) In prescriptivist 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 singular gij, and in a similar vein to "you lot" or "you guys" in English, it is common to use gijlui ("you people") or gijlieden ("you people") or one of their contracted variants, and their corresponding objects, possessives and reflexives, in the plural. | ||||||||
Synonyms
- wij
Descendants
- Jersey Dutch: wê
See also
- ons
Fijian
Noun
we
- scar
Fwâi
we
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
we
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
- André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)
Galoli
Noun
we
- (Talur) water
References
- Bryan Hinton, The languages of Wetar, in Spices from the east: Papers in languages of eastern Indonesia (2000), page 121
Haeke
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /we/
Noun
we
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
- Jean Claude Rivierre, Sabine Ehrhart, Raymond Diéla, Le Bwatoo: et les dialectes de la région de Koné (2006)
Haveke
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /we/
Noun
we
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
- Jean Claude Rivierre, Sabine Ehrhart, Raymond Diéla, Le Bwatoo: et les dialectes de la région de Koné (2006)
Hmwaveke
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
we
- water
References
- Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "ʰMoavekɛ" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
Ido
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /we/, /wɛ/
Noun
we (plural we-i)
- The name of the Latin script letter W/w.
See also
- (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze (Category: io:Latin letter names)
Japanese
Romanization
we
- Rōmaji transcription of ゑ
- Rōmaji transcription of ヱ
- Rōmaji transcription of うぇ
- Rōmaji transcription of ウェ
Jawe
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
we
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
- André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)
Kikuyu
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wɛ(ː)/
Pronoun
we (second person singular)
- you, thou
Related terms
- -aku (“your, thy”)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wɛ/
Pronoun
we (third person singular)
- s/he
Related terms
- -ake (“his/her”)
See also
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | niĩ | ithuĩ |
| 2nd person | we /wɛ(ː)/ | inyuĩ |
| 3rd person | we /wɛ/ | o |
References
- “we” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 561. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Laboya
Noun
we
- water
References
- Greenhill, S. J.; Blust. R; Gray, R. D. (2008), “The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics”, in Evolutionary Bioinformatics, issue 4, archived from the original on 2017-04-18, retrieved 27 November 2019, pages 271-283
- Laboya in Austronesian Comparative Dictionary
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wɛ/
Preposition
we (with locative)
- Alternative form of w (especially before labial consonants and consonant clusters)
Mapudungun
Adjective
we (Raguileo spelling)
- new, recent
References
- Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.
Middle English
Etymology 1
from Old English wē (“we”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz (“we”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéy (“we (plural)”). Compare wit (first person dual pronoun).
Alternative forms
- whe, ve, woe, wue, weo, wæ, hwe, vue, huue
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /weː/
Pronoun
we (accusative us, we, genitive oure, possessive determiner oures)
- First-person plural pronoun: we
- First-person plural accusative pronoun: us
Descendants
- English: we
- Jamaican Creole: wi
- Sranan Tongo: wi
- Scots: we, wee, wa
- Yola: wough, wee, we, wu, w'
See also
Middle English personal pronouns
| nominative | accusative | dative | genitive | possessive | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | 1st-person | I, ich, ik | me | min mi1 | min | ||
| 2nd-person | þou | þe | þin þi1 | þin | |||
| 3rd-person | m | he | him hine2 | him | his | his hisen | |
| f | sche, heo | hire heo | hire | hire hires, hiren | |||
| n | hit | hit him2 | his, hit | — | |||
| dual3 | 1st-person | wit | unk | unker | |||
| 2nd-person | ȝit | inc | inker | ||||
| plural | 1st-person | we | us, ous | oure | oure oures, ouren | ||
| 2nd-person4 | ye | yow | your | your youres, youren | |||
| 3rd-person | inh. | he | hem he2 | hem | here | here heres, heren | |
| bor. | þei | þem, þeim | þeir | þeir þeires, þeiren | |||
1Used preconsonantally or before h.
2Early 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.
4Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
References
- “we, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 10 May 2018.
Etymology 2
From Old English wēa, from Proto-Germanic *waiwô. Doublet of wowe.
Alternative forms
- wee, wea, wæ
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wɛː/, /weː/
Noun
we (uncountable)
- woe, grief, sadness
References
- “wẹ̄, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-30.
Middle Low German
Pronunciation
- Certainly: Stem vowel: ê⁴
- (originally) IPA(key): /weː/
Etymology 1
From Old Saxon hwē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz.
Pronoun
wê (accusative wēne or wen, dative wēme or wem, genitive wes)
- (interrogative, masculine, feminine) who
Etymology 2
From Proto-Germanic *wiz.
Pronoun
wê
- (personal, first person, in the plural, nominative) Alternative form of wî.
Nedebang
Noun
we
- blood
References
- Gary Holton and Laura Robinson, The Internal History of the Alor-Pantar language family, in The Alor-Pantar languages: History and Typology, edited by Marian Klamer
- transnewguinea.org (wæ), ASJP 1 (wE i.e. wɛ), ASJP 2 (we)
Nemi
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
we
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
- André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)
North Ambrym
Etymology
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
we
- water
Further reading
- Darrell T. Tryon, New Hebrides languages: an internal classification (1976)
- George William Grace, The position of the Polynesian languages within the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family (1959)
Nyâlayu
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
we
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
- Jim Hollyman, K. J. Hollyman, Études sur les langues du Nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (1991), page 81
Old English
Alternative forms
- wæ
- ƿē
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *wiz, *wīz, from Proto-Indo-European *wéy, plural of *éǵh₂. Cognate with Old Frisian wī (West Frisian wy), Old Saxon wī (Low German wi), Old Dutch wī (Dutch wij), Old High German wir (German wir), Old Norse vér (Danish and Swedish vi), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /weː/
Pronoun
wē (personal pronoun)
- we (nominative plural of iċ)
Descendants
- Middle English: we, whe, ve, woe, wue, weo, wæ, hwe, vue, huue
- English: we
- Jamaican Creole: wi
- Sranan Tongo: wi
- Scots: we, wee, wa
- Yola: wough, wee, we, wu, w'
- English: we
Pije
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
we
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
- André-Georges Haudricourt, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (1982)
Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *vъ(n), from Proto-Indo-European *én.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vɛ/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɛ
- Syllabification: we
Preposition
we (used instead of w mostly before words that begin with consonant clusters)
- (+ locative) in
- (+ accusative) into, in
Further reading
- we in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- we in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Spanish
Etymology
Variant of güey, representing the relaxed pronunciation of the /gw/ sounds and in some cases loss of the /i/ sound.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈwe/ [ˈwe]
- Rhymes: -e
- Syllabification: we
Noun
we m or f (plural wees)
- (colloquial) dude, guy, buddy
- Synonyms: carnal, cuate, tonto, bato
- (Mexico, colloquial slang) chump, punk, dumbass, idiot, jerk
Tocharian A
| Previous: | sas |
|---|---|
| Next: | tre |
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁. Compare Tocharian B wi.
Numeral
we f
- two
Related terms
- wu
Tok Pisin
This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. Tok Pisin is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.
Etymology
From English where.
Adverb
we
- where
- 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 3:9:
- Tasol God, Bikpela i singaut long man na i tok, “Yu stap we?”
- →New International Version translation
-
Turkmen
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Persian وَ (va).
Conjunction
we
- and
Noun
we (definite accusative [[{{{1}}}#Turkmen|?]], plural [[{{{2}}}#Turkmen|?]])
- The name of the Latin-script letter W/w.
Uyghur
Noun
we
- Latin (ULY) transcription of ۋە (we)
Vamale
Noun
we
- water
References
- Greenhill, S.J., Blust. R, & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
Welsh
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /weː/
Noun
we
- Soft mutation of gwe.
Mutation
| Welsh mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
| gwe | we | ngwe | unchanged |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | |||
West Makian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /we/
Noun
we
- leaf
References
- Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours, Pacific linguistics
Yola
Pronoun
we
- Alternative form of wough
- 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, line 8:
- and whilke we canna zei, albeit o' 'Governere,' 'Statesman,' an alike.
- and for which we have no words but of 'Governor,' 'Statesman,' &c.
- 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, line 21:
- Ye pace——yea, we mai zei,
- The peace——yes, we may say
-
References
- Jacob Poole (1867), 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, page 114
Yuaga
Etymology
From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun
we
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
References
- Jim Hollyman, K. J. Hollyman, Études sur les langues du Nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (1999), page 81
Zaghawa
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /we/
Noun
we
- head lice
Numeral
we
- three
References
- Beria-English English-Beria Dictionary [provisional] ADESK, Iriba, Kobe Department, Chad
Zulu
Pronoun
-we
- Combining stem of wena.