We're Just Passing Through

In Modern English, ''we'' is a plural, first-person pronoun.

Morphology

In Standard Modern English, ''we'' has six distinct shapes for five word forms:

* ''we'': the nominative (subjective) form
* ''us'' and ': the accusative (objective; also called the 'oblique'.) form
* ''our:'' the dependent genitive (possessive) form
*''ours:'' the independent genitive (possessive) form
* ''ourselves'': the reflexive form
There is also a distinct determiner ''we'' as in ''we humans aren't perfect'', which some people consider to be just an extended use of the pronoun.

History

''We'' has been part of English since Old English, having come from Proto-Germanic *''wejes'', from PIE *''we''-. Similarly, ''us'' was used in Old English as the accusative and dative plural of ''we'', from PIE *''nes''-. The following table shows the old English first-person plural and dual pronouns:

By late Middle English, the dual form was lost, and the dative and accusative had merged. The ''ours'' genitive can be seen as early as the 12th century. ''Ourselves'' replaced original construction ''we selfe'', ''us selfum'' in the 15th century, so that, by the century's end, the Middle English forms of ''we'' had solidified into those we use today.

Gender

''We'' is not generally seen as participating in the system of gender. In Old English, it did not. Only third-person pronouns had distinct masculine, feminine, and neuter gender forms. But by the 17th century, that old gender system, which also marked gender on common nouns and adjectives, had disappeared, leaving only pronoun marking. At the same time, a new relative pronoun system was developing that eventually split between personal relative ''who'' and impersonal relative ''which''. This is seen as a new personal / non-personal (or impersonal) gender system. As a result,

Syntax

Functions

''We'' can appear as a subject, object, determiner or predicative complement. The reflexive form also appears as an adjunct.

* Subject: ''We're there; us being there; our being there; we planned for ourselves to be there.''
* Object: ''They saw us''; ''She pointed them to us; We thought about ourselves.''
* Predicative complement: ''They have become us''; ''We eventually felt we had become ourselves.''
* Dependent determiner: ''We reached our goals''; ''We humans aren't perfect''; ''Give it to us students''.
* Independent determiner: ''This is ours.''
* Adjunct: ''We did it ourselves.''

The contracted object form ' is only possible after the special ''let'' of ''let's do that''.

Dependents

Pronouns rarely take dependents, but it is possible for ''we'' to have many of the same kind of dependents as other noun phrases.

* Relative clause modifier: ''we who arrived late''
* Determiner: ''Not a lot of people know the real us.''
* Adjective phrase modifier: ''Not a lot of people know the real us''.
* Adverb phrase external modifier: ''not even us''

Semantics

''We'' referents generally must include the speaker, along with other persons. A few exceptional cases, which include nosism, are presented below. ''We'' is always definite and specific.

Royal ''we''

The royal ''we'', or majestic plural (''pluralis majestatis''), is sometimes used by a person of high office, such as a monarch, earl, or pope. It has singular semantics.

Editorial ''we''

The editorial ''we'' is a similar phenomenon, in which an editorial columnist in a newspaper or a similar commentator in another medium refers to themselves as ''we'' when giving their opinion. Here, the writer casts themselves as spokesperson: either for the media institution who employs them or on behalf of the party or body of citizens who agree with the commentary. The reference is not explicit but is generally consistent with a first-person plural.

Author's ''we''

The author's ''we'', or ''pluralism modesties'', is a practice referring to a generic third person as ''we'' (instead of ''one'' or the informal ''you''):
*'' By adding four and five, we obtain nine.''
*'' We are led also to a definition of "time" in physics.'' — Albert Einstein

''We'' in this sense often refers to "the reader and the author" because the author often assumes that the reader knows and agrees with certain principles or previous theorems for the sake of brevity (or, if not, the reader is prompted to look them up). This practice is discouraged by some academic style guides because it fails to distinguish between sole authorship and co-authorship. Again, the reference is not explicit, but is generally consistent with first-person plural.

Inclusive and exclusive ''we''

Some languages distinguish between inclusive ''we'', which includes both the speaker and the addressee(s), and exclusive ''we'', which excludes the addressee(s). English does not make this distinction grammatically, though ''we'' can have both inclusive and exclusive semantics.

Imperative ''let's'' or ''let us'' allows imperatives to be inclusive. Compare:

* ''Take this outside''. (exclusive, 2nd person)
* ''Let's take this outside.'' (inclusive, 1st person)

Second-person ''we''

''We'' is used sometimes in place of ''you'' to address a second party: A doctor may ask a patient: "And how are we feeling today?". A waiter may ask a client: "What are we in the mood for?"

Membership ''we''

The membership ''we'' is a simultaneous reference to the individual, and to the collective of which the individual is a member. If ants or hive bees could use English, they might use the pronoun ''we'' almost exclusively. Human cultures can be categorized as communal or individualist; the membership ''we'' aligns more with a communal culture. Thus Stephen Cottrell comments on the word "our" in English translations of the Lord's Prayer, ''Our Father'': The speaker, or thinker, expresses ideas with awareness of both themselves and the collective of other members. If language constrains or liberates thinking, then using the membership ''we'' may impact our ability to understand, empathize, and bond with others. The extent of inclusion when using the membership ''we'' is loosely definite; the group may be others of the same village, nation, species, or planet. The following two examples show how meaning changes subtly depending on whether ''I'' or ''we'' is used. When using the membership ''we'', the reader or speaker is automatically drawn into the collective, and the change in viewpoint is significant:
*''If I consume too much, I will run out of resources.'' ''If we consume too much, we will run out of resources.''
*''The more I learn, the more I should question.'' ''The more we learn, the more we should question.''

References

{{Modern English personal pronouns

Middle English personal pronouns
Modern English personal pronouns
Old English personal pronouns