# How do you phrase the 2nd person plural **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672 "2011-12-09T22:09:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/21 "2011-12-10T11:01:08Z")
I don’t understand you people. The lot of you seem to have some difficulty addressing a group of listeners. Those of you in range of my voice (or in sight of this post, as it happens) know that you’re being addressed, don’t you? Was that last terminal “you” ambiguous somehow? I don’t think so, and neither should any of my readers. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/22 "2011-12-10T11:16:21Z")
Having been born in the South of the USA, I have always used “y’all”. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/23 "2011-12-10T11:28:45Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > You. All of you if I want to emphasize. This is my answer also. If I’m goofing, I might say “youse guys” but in the real world, I’ll say “you” to address or refer to the collective. I really hate when people refer to my husband and me when together as “you guys.” First off, I’m not a guy, and secondly, it sounds uneducated to me. Although I suppose it’s better than a waiter coming to our table and asking “Are we ready to order?” _We?_ Are you planning to join us? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/24 "2011-12-10T11:42:08Z")
If there’s no ambiguity, I’ll just say “you.” If I need to make it explicit that I’m talking to more than one person, I’ll say something like “you guys” or “you two” or “you all” or “you people.” ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/25 "2011-12-10T12:36:56Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Scathach > > Oh, and to answer my own poll - I say “ye” > > Art thou a time traveler? Even if that person were a time traveller, they would surely know that YE is made up of the letters E and the pre-printing letter Thorn - which is pronounced as ‘th’ It would be much more accurate in to write it as THEE. ---
**Author:** ![Teufelblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@Teufelblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teufelblitz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/26 "2011-12-10T12:39:34Z")
No option for all of the above? I tend to code switch depending on audience. I suppose it might also depend on whether I speak first. I would use “you” most frequently when I was younger. My family has a neutral accent and a more northern syntax. I was raised in Arkansas and Tennessee from before I could speak, and started switching when I was about nine or ten because people didn’t believe I was a local. It just makes things easier for all involved if we are speaking the same dialect. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/27 "2011-12-10T13:01:20Z")
Marylander chiming in. Use “y’all” all the time. “all y’all” is for used for emphasis. Don’t really consider Maryland to be a southern state but when I hear someone departing with “O.K., bye ya’ll” that does sound a bit hillbilly-ish. Lastly I had a Spanish student learning the subject pronouns who knew that “vosotros” was informal plural and “ustedes” was the formal plural. He therefore translated “ustedes” as “you all” and “vosotros” as “y’all”. Cute and correct. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/28 "2011-12-10T13:52:58Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Even if that person were a time traveller, they would surely know that YE is made up of the letters E and the pre-printing letter Thorn - which is pronounced as ‘th’ > > It would be much more accurate in to write it as THEE. Er, no. You are confusing the word “the”, the definite article, as spelled with a thorn (which, as you say, is often mistaken for a letter **Y** ), with the obsolete plural form of the second person pronoun, [which is correctly\* written “ye,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_%28pronoun%29) with an actual **Y**. (Obsolete, that is, in most English-speaking places, but apparently not Ireland.) “Ye Olde Tea Shoppe” may be the result of a confusion about the thorn, but “Oh come all ye faithful” is not. And, just to make it worse, you also appear to be confusing the plural pronoun “ye” with [“thee”, the oblique/objective form of “thou”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thee), which is the (mostly) obsolete form of the second person _singular_ pronoun. (I do wonder, however, if we got our modern singular “you” from a confusion about “thou” as written with a thorn.) ¬¬¬¬¬ \*Inasmuch as it makes any sense to speak of the “correctness” of spellings from the relevant era. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/29 "2011-12-10T14:11:36Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > “You all” or “y’all” is what hillbillies say. Hillbillies might say “you all” or “y’all”, but not everyone who uses those terms is a hillbilly. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/30 "2011-12-10T14:26:13Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > > [@Ponch8](#): > > > > Usually I just say “you.” When I have to make sure not to be ambiguous, I say “all of you.” “You all” or “y’all” is what hillbillies say. > > Hillbillies might say “you all” or “y’all”, but not everyone who uses those terms is a hillbilly. The results of this poll so far tend to bear out your assessment: ```auto How do you phrase 2nd person plural You 31 46.27% Ye 1 1.49% Y'all 21 31.34% Youse 3 4.48% You guys 11 16.42% Voters: 67 ``` ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/31 "2011-12-10T15:37:02Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > I don’t know what’s wrong with “you guys”. That’s what I say… People perceive it as marked informal register, and somehow they view that as “uneducated.” (On the other hand, they don’t mind admitting to saying _ya’ll_, because it’s regional.) But the fact is that informal speech is the majority of what we engage in, and informal register has become part of a good deal of what was once formal–particularly in the media. On TV news interviews, etc., _ **you guys** _ is used all the time, by interviewers and pundits. And when well-educated presidents use it on national television, you know that it’s a perfectly acceptable form of address. However, most people are not aware of their own speech, and when you ask them how they talk, they will deny that they say _ **you guys** _ because they still hold onto this notion that it’s a sign of “bad education.” However, most people in California–including well-educated people–for example, when addressing their children, will use _you guys_. Teachers also use _ **you guys** _ when they are in natural speech mode. (Though not when they are being “formal.”) I’m certain that the statistics posted by **zeldar** above do NOT represent that true and actual frequency of how many people use _ **you guys** _. People are either not telling the truth or are not even aware of their true speech patterns. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/32 "2011-12-10T15:55:09Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > Should’ve been able to pick multiple options… > > This Northerner uses y’all most of the time, but I’ve been known to use ‘you guys’ and other things too (which aren’t coming to mind at the moment.) You’re a _Westerner_. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/33 "2011-12-10T15:57:07Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Even if that person were a time traveller, they would surely know that YE is made up of the letters E and the pre-printing letter Thorn - which is pronounced as ‘th’ > > It would be much more accurate in to write it as THEE. I wrote out something all cruel to say about this, but I see that \*\*njtt \*\*has already smacked you. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/34 "2011-12-10T19:12:09Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I don’t understand you people. The lot of you seem to have some difficulty addressing a group of listeners. Those of you in range of my voice (or in sight of this post, as it happens) know that you’re being addressed, don’t you? Was that last terminal “you” ambiguous somehow? I don’t think so, and neither should any of my readers. If “you” is such a clear plural, why was “people” needed in that first question? 🙂 And while I am at it, bless your heart, **Ponch8**. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/35 "2011-12-10T19:15:08Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/36 "2011-12-10T22:20:31Z")
If it’s really phrased in a way as to be confusing, I’ll use “you all”… raised in Arizona. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/37 "2011-12-10T22:55:32Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > If “you” is such a clear plural, why was “people” needed in that first question? 🙂 Exactly my point above. Even when someone is claiming to always use only _you_, s/he has to throw in plural marking. People don’t actually always talk the way they’d like to think they talk. _You guys_ is just a less formal way of saying _you people_. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/38 "2011-12-10T23:05:16Z")
\*\*guizot, \*\*preach it. This reminds me of all the folks who say commercials don’t affect them. Sure they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/39 "2011-12-10T23:13:29Z")
Is this “you guys” snobbery actually a common thing? I’ve never heard anything about it before. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672/40 "2011-12-10T23:24:51Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Art thou a time traveler? I once did _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ with a girl from Texas. She did really well with the English accent, only she kept on saying “Thou’all”. It was hilarious, she knew her lines and did them in a reasonable English accent, and then once in a while “thou’all” would pop up! Brilliant 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-phrase-the-2nd-person-plural/605672.md?page=3)