Y'all

 

If you are writing formally, you probably don’t want to use the contraction y’all, but if you are talking or writing informally, you will need the word to communicate the plural sense of the word you, especially if you live in the South and possibly if you live anywhere in the United States. Dictionaries now describe y’all as an informal pronoun in Southern dialect.

Long ago we stopped using the ancient singular forms, thee and thou, of the second person, which means the one we are talking to. The places where we might see these ancient pronouns are in Shakespearean plays and the King James Bible. Some of us pray with these old words, as if we assume that God hears thee and thou better than you. Since the King James Bible verses we know and love contain these words, we may consider them more respectful. Also, we sing hymns using these words, as in thou art.

Were you told in school that you is the plural of the second person pronoun? Did you believe your teacher? We know that you cannot effectively communicate the plural. Depending on where we live, we add something to it. Throughout the South we say y’all, a contraction of you and all. Throughout the life of the United States, the people of the North have laughed at us for saying y’all, but as time passes, they are saying y’all more often because they don’t have a word that sounds quite so natural or conveys the meaning y’all does.

They insist they say you guys, but doing so is more effort. Sometimes folks say you all, but that’s trouble too.

Since I’m from Mississippi, I speak with a drawl. Y’all epitomizes Southern drawl. When we say it, we need to be careful not to draw it out too much. We should speak the word confidently, not with an apology. When we write it, we must never write ya’ll, which is a misspelling of y’all.

Northern people say you guys or youse guys, and British speakers say you lot. Some Australians say youse, which is a substandard word that irritates Australians of culture. You-uns is an Appalachian word.

Relax. Say y’all and don’t feel self-conscious.