The English Oracle

Context to distinguish "we" inclusive versus exclusive

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Chapters
00:00 Context To Distinguish &Quot;We&Quot; Inclusive Versus Exclusive
00:19 Accepted Answer Score 1
01:10 Thank you

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Tags
#meaning #pronouns #clusivity

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 1


There is no single trick to do this, but I think that context will get you there the vast majority of the time. Consider these rules:

The context includes a group that the speaker is part of but the listener is not -> exclusive we

The context includes a group that the speaker is part of and the listener is part of -> inclusive we

The context does not include a group -> inclusive we

"You're saying the committee hasn't voted yet?"

"Yeah, we need to meet tomorrow."

vs.

"Is our team going to sit down and do the calculations before Friday?"

"Yeah, we need to meet tomorrow."

vs.

"How are you?"

"Fine, but we need to meet tomorrow."

You can clearly determine if 'we' is inclusive or not.

If all else fails, you can easily be more explicit:

"We need to meet tomorrow. You should be there, too."

Or perhaps less redundantly:

"We need to meet tomorrow. Be here at 8:00."