Second person plural pronoun

[Paul Farquhar]

I don’t really understand the context here. In the sense that I have heard Americans great a group of people with “hi, y’all” I would say “hello everyone”. I would only use “you” as a singular.

 

[FrogReaver]

To be clear, y'all is for a small group; otherwise, the correct grammatical formulation is "all y'all."

Not in my section of southern paradise.

 

[FrogReaver]

I don’t really understand the context here. In the sense that I have heard Americans great a group of people with “hi, y’all” I would say “hello everyone”. I would only use “you” as a singular.

It’s funny. One is a singular. EVERYone is plural. Much like you is a singular. You all is plural.

I get not being used to it, but it’s the same concept.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It’s funny. One is a singular. EVERYone is plural. Much like you is a singular. You all is plural.

I get not being used to it, but it’s the same concept.

I might use “everybody” as a synonym for “everyone”, but If I’m talking to a group of people, and that group has a name, I would typically address them by the group name “good morning 7B”.

 

[Zaukrie]

I have absolutely said hello everyone. That's a good word.

 

[J.Quondam]

For the possessive form, which would you all go with?

• your all seats at the table
• your all's seats at the table
• you all's seats at the table

Well someone who says y'all would likely say y'all's seats, so if you're just looking at you all as that expanded form, then you all's is the possessive. That probably sounds a little odd in speech, though; but might be an option if you're doing this for some sort of language building exercise.

(But as others have noted, the true correct second person plural in modern English really is just you / your, whether formal or informal.)

 

[Chaltab]

Though 'everyone' is still a grammatically singular word.

You say 'everyone is afraid sometimes' not 'everyone are afraid sometimes'.

 

[Aldarc]

You: 2nd Person Singular
Y'all: 2nd Person Plural
All Y'all: Everyone

 

[Bedrockgames]

In a formal American context (contemporary but educated), when it is necessary to routinely distinguish between singular you and plural you, which pronoun sounds least awkward?

• you ones
• you guys
• you folks
• you lot
• yous


So far I have been using "you ones", and it sounds literary enough. However I also naturally use "one" as a gender neutral pronoun for an unspecified referent. ("One must do this in that kind of situation.") And it ends up being an awful lot of "ones".

By far, "you guys" is the most natural, but it is stigmatically informal, and its implication of male can sometimes be awkward.


If you had to use one of these, which would you use?

The formal and correct is 'yous guys'. Don't let anyone tell you different. This is also the most fun way to say it

I don't think this distinction is considered that important in American English actually. I usually would just say you and expect people to understand from context if it is plural. I think when I hear it spoken, when people say 'you folks' or 'you guys' they often drop the 'you' and just say 'folks' or 'guys'. But I have to say all the listed options seem pretty informal to me

 

[Zaukrie]

Though 'everyone' is still a grammatically singular word.

You say 'everyone is afraid sometimes' not 'everyone are afraid sometimes'.

That's because it's a group. What do people think of when you say everyone to a group of people? That it includes all of them.