y'all

Formsy'alls, y'alling, y'alled

1. 1
   pronoundialectalAppalachiaCaribbeanSingaporeSouthern US

   More than one person being spoken to; the plural form of 'you'.

   Y'all are welcome to stay as long as you like.

   Did y'all finish the project before the deadline?

   Similaryou

   Note

   A new plural built from a pronoun that was already plural: a contraction of you all, perhaps helped along by Scots ye aw. Dutch did the same, turning jij lui, "you people", into jullie. The form is old. William Lisle writes "this y'all know is true" in The Faire Æthiopian (1631). It is now chiefly heard in the Southern US, Appalachia, the Caribbean and Singapore, and it serves as subject and object alike.

2. 2
   pronoundialectalSouthern US

   Everyone or everybody, used as a form of address when greeting a group of people.

   Good evening, y'all, and welcome to the Friday night fish fry.

   Howdy, y'all! Grab a plate before the brisket runs out.

   Similareveryone, everybody

   Note

   The greeting form: hey y'all, howdy y'all, a call to everyone within earshot. It belongs to Southern US and African American speech and sits where hello, everybody would sit, after the greeting word and usually set off by a comma. Unlike the everyday plural you, it does no work inside a clause. It simply hails the room.

3. 3
   determiner

   Used before a noun to indicate the group of people being spoken or written to.

   Y'all students should register before Friday's deadline.

   Y'all neighbors have always been kind to our family.

   Similaryou

4. 4
   determiner

   Belonging to or associated with the group being addressed; the plural form of 'your'.

   We borrowed y'all's ladder over the weekend to fix the roof.

   Y'all's directions got us here without a single wrong turn.

   Similaryour

   Note

   Possession can be marked two ways here: with the ending, as in y'all's, or with plain y'all and no ending at all, as in I need y'all help for a minute. The bare form is especially common in African American Vernacular English and works just as your does. Keep it apart from the addressing determiner in y'all ladies, where the noun names the people themselves, not what they own.

5. 5
   pronoundialectalSouthern US

   A single person being addressed, in the occasional use where the plural form refers to just one.

   I was talking to y'all, Maria, not anyone else in line.

   You alla sudden gettin’ human with yo’ N-word and now a US Grant. Y’all becomin’ a rare white boy, ain’t ya?

   2023, Argent Amos, “Job One”

   Similaryou

   Note

   Here the plural pronoun narrows to a single listener. This is a rare use, heard chiefly in the Southern US. Context gives it away when only one person is left: I made this for both y'all and your wife works only if y'all means one person. Argent Amos's California Roll (2023) aims it at one man. Treat it as regional speech, and keep the ordinary plural as the default reading.

6. 6
   verbcolloquialtransitive or intransitive

   To address someone by using the pronoun 'y'all'.

   He tends to y'all strangers as easily as old friends.

   The waiter y'alled the whole table and took their orders.

   Note

   A playful verb made from the pronoun itself, usually seen as y'alled and often set in quotation marks as borrowed speech. It works with or without an object: someone can y'all her way out of a tight spot, or a visitor can feel y'alled to death by friendly staff. The forms are regular (y'alls, y'alling, y'alled), and the tone is usually wry. It describes Southern warmth from a slight distance.

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