we
Americanpronoun
-
us,
objective
-
our,
possessive
-
ours
possessive
-
nominative plural of I.
-
(used to denote oneself and another or others).
We have two children. In this block we all own our own houses.
-
(used to denote people in general).
the marvels of science that we take for granted.
-
(used to indicate a particular profession, nationality, political party, etc., that includes the speaker or writer).
We in the medical profession have moral responsibilities.
-
Also called the royal we. (used by a sovereign, or by other high officials and dignitaries, in place of I in formal speech).
We do not wear this crown without humility.
-
Also called the editorial we. (used by editors, writers, etc., to avoid the too personal or specific I or to represent a collective viewpoint).
As for this column, we will have nothing to do with shady politicians.
-
you (used familiarly, often with mild condescension or sarcasm, as in addressing a child, a patient, etc.).
We know that's naughty, don't we? It's time we took our medicine.
-
(used in the predicate following a copulative verb).
It is we who should thank you.
-
(used in apposition with a noun, especially for emphasis).
We Americans are a sturdy lot.
pronoun
-
refers to the speaker or writer and another person or other people
we should go now
-
refers to all people or people in general
the planet on which we live
-
-
when used by editors or other writers, and formerly by monarchs, a formal word for I 1
-
( as noun )
he uses the royal we in his pompous moods
-
-
informal used instead of you with a tone of persuasiveness, condescension, or sarcasm
how are we today?
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of we
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English wē; cognate with Dutch wij, German wir, Old Norse vēr, Gothic weis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"So that we remember Sir David for all of the work he did for championing people with learning disabilities in Southend, and then obviously across the country, through the Music Man Project's expansion."
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
“We have a friend who needs a house, and we always give a lot to Doctors Without Borders,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
"The truth is out there, the evidence is there, we just need help putting it in front of the right people to get this justice for Toby that's needed," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
White told the BBC: "I won't stop until we get justice for Toby."
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
For the next twenty minutes, we talk and banter, and I decide that Candie might be a chill person.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
"Sometimes we didn't have heating for weeks and the temperature inside the apartment was zero or five degrees," she tells us.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
"These hearing tests give us that baseline and allow us to start asking how noises from ships, boats, aircraft and coastal construction might affect seals and sea lions."
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Faced with exposing people "who rely on us, sometimes in the context of life or death, to surveillance that could be weaponised against them", she says, "we would leave the market".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
The ensuing camera shots—we all know the vocabulary—tell us that the three of them are being surveilled from above and followed at street level into the L.A. crowds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
She tells us we have school and we need to get going.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
"This is our Eiffel Tower. I think without football, the brand value would not be this big," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
He repeated that "it is my job to reassure people and make sure that we bring our party together".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Over a period of days and weeks this can work its way down through the atmosphere influencing our jet stream, causing it to weaken, become more bendy or reverse.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
“They equal only 1% of our U.S. workforce. They are not new arrivals to our country,” the company said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
We were both wearing short-sleeved shirts, and our elbows touched.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
I tracked down two New Jersey record stores whose sites said they’d purchase all types of albums, so we carted ours to them.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
It shows us that ours is the inheritance of great heroes, and that we should be proud—that we should be intensely proud—of where we come from.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
"Just imagine: having to stop right in the middle of the season like that. It's unbearable for a company like ours," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
“I didn’t really know anything about competition reality shows, but now I can see that ours, with the production value and the way it’s shot and the theatricality, is so different to the other ones.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Eddie’s dad sets up his chair away from ours, to “give us a little space.”
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
