Using "We"

This is a short one and it's mainly for our Russian-speaking readers and members. The tips at the end are for everyone though!

“We with Sasha then went to the cafe,” Sveta said to me. 

I wrinkled my nose and looked at her confused, "You and who?"

"Sasha, I said," she responded.

"Yeah, I know, but who else went with you and Sasha?"

It was Sveta's turn to look confused at me. In Russian–and some other languages–the first-person plural pronoun "we" (мы) can directly replace the first-personal singular pronoun. This is not the case in English. So while "We with Sasha then went to the cafe" (“затем мы с Сашей пошли в кафе”) just means "Then I went with Sasha to the cafe” or “Sasha and I then went to the cafe,”* it does not work like this in English. In English, "We with Sasha then went to the cafe" suggests a group of at least three people including the speaker, Sasha, and someone else all went to the cafe together.

This is such a "common trap" for Russian speakers in English that it has become a running joke in our home. It has an easy fix though: Just remember that "we" in English is always plural. Avoiding this common trap will make your speech and writing sound more fluent. It will also avoid confusion! 

While this trap is more colloquial than formal, there are other common traps with using "we," especially among academic and nonfiction writers. Often, even in monographs and single-authored articles, authors will refer to themselves as "we" rather than "I." This is done for multiple reasons from assuming an air of objective or intersubjective agreement to hiding behind authority. And while it does have precedent in formal English writing and speech--like the royal we used by the British monarch--it is always a rhetorical flourish that conceals your meaning more than communicating it. At the Editing Cooperative, we encourage using "I" to refer to yourself.

Have you fallen into these traps? Let us know in the comments and let us know of other traps you would like discussed. And of course, if you have any writing or editing needs just reach out!

*Note: In a list, the personal pronoun "I" always comes last, so it should be "Sasha and I then went to the cafe. As a trick, I think about this one in terms of old-fashioned courtesy. It's like always holding the door open for everyone in the group and coming in last.