FranzKafkaOverrated

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

a handy guide to the use of "we"

Posted on 13:05 by Unknown
Writing is complicated! In the scrum of trying to express your inner thoughts in print, it's easy to lose sight of details like "am I one person or more than one person?" These days, I often see writers using "we" or "us" to refer to themselves, which is problematic, on account of there is only one of them and all. To prevent this all-too-understandable error, I've prepared a handy guide for when you can use "we" to refer to yourself.

1. Is more than one of you writing the sentence in question? Is it a collaborative work, authored by more than one person? Are you in some sense speaking for a group which was involved in the production of that text, or the project which that text describes?
2. Is your text a narrative or story, written in first person, in which events occurred to both the narrator and others?
3. Are you a monarch, regent, or similar figure of aristocratic leadership in a tradition where the ruler is understood to embody the state?
4. Are you an insufferable twat?

If the answer to any of the above is "yes," congratulations! You may refer to yourself with "we." If the answer is no, stick to "I." Alright, che?
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • addendum
    If I was unclear about this, my point yesterday was not to say "everything in our culture is so trivial, man." I don't know w...
  • If yule excuse me...
    Well, the holiday season is upon us, and like a lot of you I'll be traveling and merrymaking and cavorting and such for the next couple ...
  • do Muslims deserve human rights?
    From today's big speech: When a U.S. citizen goes abroad to wage war against America – and is actively plotting to kill U.S. citizens; a...
  • a little additional info
    A few people have asked for a bit more about the situation with Moi-- not Muy, as I incorrectly put it in the original post. We had stopped ...
  • drones and election 2012
    I would never ever ever ever ever vote for Gary Johnson, being a socialist and all. But I do have to point out that if you're trying to ...
  • In greatest travesty of the 21st century, a pretty white lady is denied a golden trophy
    I'm glad the world has people like Scott Mendelson , to tell us who the real victims of the post-9/11 world are: millionaire Hollywood i...
  • structural change requires new structures
    As I've said, it's hard to think of any academics or scholars I know who are opposed in principle to open access of scholarly resear...
  • actual fascism
    It seems to me-- just spitballing here-- that enforcing a regime of joblessness and national humiliation, as is happening with austerity mea...
  • the forest for the trees
    Hamilton Nolan's work for Gawker, from the past several years, is a truly mixed bag. Nolan has always been a talented and perceptive wri...
  • the perfect piece for our times
    I think this Tim Parks piece is an absolutely perfect encapsulation of what it means to be a writer of commentary today. Your job is simple...

Categories

  • I'm mostly kidding (1)

Blog Archive

  • ▼  2013 (218)
    • ►  June (22)
    • ►  May (42)
    • ►  April (39)
    • ►  March (37)
    • ►  February (35)
    • ▼  January (43)
      • couple of bros, chattin' about stuff
      • wat
      • actually, Matt Lewis is full of poop
      • the UBI and socializing finance
      • slippery things
      • stuffed up
      • ah, consistency
      • high school is nearly everybody
      • I need to tame this wild tongue if I'm to touch th...
      • stuff
      • norms of control
      • the quiet insistence of the real
      • a reason to care about those high definition screens
      • you probably don't have an opinion on poetry
      • oh savage hearts
      • I am at your disposal
      • MLK and Stonewall are the rejection of gradualism
      • and now it's time to pay these guys
      • I just fucked up in trying to prove that I didn't ...
      • narrative delusions
      • in trouble again
      • Alexis Madrigal is peddling bullshit once again (a...
      • some links and such
      • they seem to know where they are going, the ones w...
      • what are the rights of the disfavored?
      • "liberal interventionists" care about establishmen...
      • I hate to play to my image, but...
      • a handy guide to the use of "we"
      • due credit
      • singular "their" and the grammar wars
      • Reactionary Minds in antiquity
      • so strange
      • academics want their work to be available
      • against critical shorthand
      • house cleaning
      • In greatest travesty of the 21st century, a pretty...
      • more reporting, less generalism, more beats, less ...
      • not what you think but what you are
      • well this is odd
      • crappiness and its acceptance
      • Merry Christmas indeed
      • good luck to Sully, and to all
      • #thosesavageislams
  • ►  2012 (139)
    • ►  December (26)
    • ►  November (26)
    • ►  October (15)
    • ►  September (5)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  June (13)
    • ►  May (19)
    • ►  April (2)
    • ►  March (7)
    • ►  February (11)
    • ►  January (14)
  • ►  2011 (143)
    • ►  December (9)
    • ►  November (12)
    • ►  October (18)
    • ►  September (11)
    • ►  August (23)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (12)
    • ►  May (21)
    • ►  April (27)
    • ►  March (7)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile