Personal Pronoun WE — How to Talk About Yourself and Others
Quick Answer
Use we as the subject for a group that includes you, the speaker or writer: We live here. We are tired. The group may include the listener, but it does not have to.
Example: We are friends.
WE in Action — See the Pattern
- We are friends. — The group includes the speaker.
- We live near the park. — We is the subject.
- Are we late? — We remains the subject in a question.
When to Use WE
We refers to the speaker plus other people. We can go together may mean you and I. We work at the hospital may mean my colleagues and I, without including the listener.
In an ordinary statement, we normally comes before the verb. In questions, a helping verb or a form of be can come first: Do we need tickets? Are we ready?
In positive present-simple statements, use the base form of most verbs: we work, we live, we have. The verb be has its own form: we are. Other tenses use other forms, such as we worked or we were; the base-form advice does not apply to every tense.
Compare subject we with object us: We invited Sara. Sara invited us. A subject can describe a state too, as in We are happy.
The Rule in One Line: We includes the speaker. Compare we work with we are, and use us as an object.
Real-Life Examples With WE
Read the sentence and notice the job of the highlighted pronoun.
- We live in a small flat. — My family and I.
- We are going to the cinema tonight. — My friends and I.
- We have two cats. — The people I live with and I.
- We are studying English together. — My classmates and I.
- We won the match 2–1. — The past form is won.
Three Mistakes to Avoid With WE
Compare each incorrect full sentence (✗) with its correction (✓).
Use we as the subject
✗ Us live in London.
✓ We live in London.
Us is the object form. Use we as the subject of live.
Distinguish we from our
✗ Our are friends.
✓ We are friends.
Our introduces a noun, such as our friends.
Do not add -s to work with we
✗ We works in the same office.
✓ We work in the same office.
Use work with we in this present-simple statement.
Remember: We includes the speaker. Compare we work with we are, and use us as an object.
Test Yourself: WE
Choose the correct answer for each sentence. Click Check to see if you are right.
1. _______ live in a small village.
2. _______ are friends from school.
3. _______ have a meeting at three.
4. We _______ in the same building.
5. Are _______ ready?
Practise the pattern
Write who you mean by we, then write a statement and a question about that group. Check whether the listener is included.
The next lesson practises us after verbs and prepositions.
Next lesson: Us: The Object Form of We
Further reference: British Council: personal pronouns.
Further reference: British Council: present simple.
I’m Khamis Maiouf. I’m studying Health and Social Care and have completed Functional Skills Level 2 in English and Level 3 Hairdressing. I have taught ESOL in my community and helped students with GCSE English. I run English Teacher Site to help people learn and practise English.