We're is a contraction, which means it's a shortened way of saying two words: “we are.” The apostrophe shows where letters have been left out. When you write we're going to the park, you're saying the same thing as we are going to the park, just more quickly and naturally.

People use contractions like this all the time in everyday speech and informal writing. You might say we're excited about the field trip or we're learning about fractions. It sounds more relaxed and conversational than always saying “we are.”

The tricky part is not confusing we're with other similar-sounding words. We're (we are) sounds exactly like were (the past tense of “are”), and it looks similar to where (a question about location). If you're not sure which one to use, try expanding it: if “we are” makes sense in the sentence, then we're is correct. If not, you probably need were or where instead.