What does 私たち imply?


I know that 私たち means "we", but in what sense? Does it simply mean the last
two people talked about? Or does it always mean the speaker and the listener?
So say I'm talking to Shota about Sawako, and I say

> さわこはしんせつですから私たちはともだちです。

Is it clear that I'm talking about Sawako and me when I use 私たち from the
context, or does the word necessarily imply I'm talking about Shota and me?

Please reply in kana or kanji with furigana (私 is fine.)




In your example, you would be talking about just you and Sawako. That said,
depending on context it's possible to use it to refer to everyone in the
conversation, or all people on a given side of a conversation.

Broadening the context of the question a bit, 〜[達]{たち} can be added to
pronouns or names to indicate a group of people associated with someone. For
example:

> [武達]{たけしたち}は[最近]{さいきん}[暴走]{ぼうそう}していました。"Takeshi [and his friends] have been
> causing trouble recently."

We only name Takeshi in the sentence, but adding 〜[達]{たち} to his name includes
anybody who would be naturally grouped with him in the context.




私たち almost always means "we".

私 almost always means "I". It (and other Japanese words usually translated as
personal pronouns in English) can mean "you","him",or "her" in cases where
it's obvious from the context - though it's a bit unusual for the word 私 or
私たち.

A common example of this 1st to 2nd person pronoun switcheroo happens with the
word 僕 （ぼく）. 僕 is usually translated into English as "I", but it's usually
associated with younger males.

It would be quite natural for my Japanese mother-in-law to say something like

僕たちおやつ食べるの。

(Are you guys going to eat a snack?)

to my eight year old son and a visiting friend of his (of either gender).

