we

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

US /wi/ UK /wiː/ See IPA manual

Freq #13

Meanings

1

pron
Used by a speaker to refer to themselves and one or more other people.

We are glad you are here.
2

pron
Used to refer to people in general, including the speaker.

We all make mistakes sometimes.
3

pron
Used to refer to a group, organization, or country that the speaker belongs to.

At our school we wear a uniform.

Thesaurus

Word family

Derived forms we-groupwe-uns

Appears in

Tongue twisters (1)

See all

Windmills and the Millwheel
To the windmills said the millwheel: “As the wind wills do you still wheel?” “Yes, we still wheel when the wind wills!” To the millwheel said the windmills.

Wind here means moving air and rhymes with pinned. Contrast the vowel in will with the longer vowel in wheel, keeping the final /l/ in both.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wéyder. Proto-Germanic *wīz Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ Old English wē Middle English we English we 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).

we Middle English wē Old English *wiʀ Proto-West Germanic *wīz Proto-Germanic *wéy Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# we

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** pron
**IPA (US):** /wi/
**IPA (UK):** /wiː/
**Frequency rank:** 13

## Meanings
1. Used by a speaker to refer to themselves and one or more other people.
2. Used to refer to people in general, including the speaker.
3. Used to refer to a group, organization, or country that the speaker belongs to.

## Examples
- We are glad you are here.
- We all make mistakes sometimes.
- At our school we wear a uniform.

## Derived Forms
- we-group
- we-uns

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: we
- Root: wē
- Root: *wiʀ
- Root: *wīz
- Root: *wéy

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wéyder. Proto-Germanic *wīz Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ Old English wē Middle English we English we 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).

## AI Etymology
We: The etymological chain runs Proto-Indo-European *wéy -> Proto-Germanic *wīz -> Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ -> Old English wē -> Middle English we -> English we. 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). In present-day use, it can mean used by a speaker to refer to themselves and one or more other people, or used to refer to people in general, including the speaker.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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