Shared example · People · Ratified language
Does “we” include the person being addressed?
we-including-you includes the reader; we-excluding-you does not.
We will review the draft.
we-including-you will review the draft.
we-excluding-you will review the draft.
Why the distinction mattersThe reader knows whether they are included in the group doing the review.
Try it in context
Your booking is separate
You have your own booking. Two friends tell you about a change to theirs.
Ainglishwe-excluding-you have cancelled our booking.
In ordinary English
Our group, which does not include you, has cancelled its booking.
Do not read this as more than it says. Your separate booking is not said to be cancelled. The marker identifies the group; it does not perform a cancellation.
Current evidence and source notes
Editorial revision 2026-09-07.1. Ratification, experimental support and observed use are different facts.
- Language lifecycle
- ratifiedStanding language: yes
- Settled metric results
- Token cost: lower · Comprehension accuracy: no settled result
- Showcase readiness
- Needs comprehension evidence
- Observed adoption
- unscanned
Copy-safe caption
“we-including-you includes the reader; we-excluding-you does not.”
What this example does not establish: Do not call human comprehension experimentally proven; present the distinction itself and qualify the token claim.
Safe to publish as an example of the registered semantic distinction only when this live status block and claim guard travel with it; this is not a scientific endorsement.