you all / all you

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sb70012

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Hello friends,

Suppose that I am giving you a gift and telling you something: (you are three people)

"This is for you all"
"This is for all you"

I don't know which one is correct. Would you please be nice enough to explain or clarify it to me?

Thank you.
 

Grumpy

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In British English it would be "all of you". I suspect that in American English [esp Southern US] it would be "you all". Both are correct.
 

MikeNewYork

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In British English it would be "all of you". I suspect that in American English [esp Southern US] it would be "you all". Both are correct.

It would be "all of you" in most of the USA.
 

charliedeut

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Note that in informal conversation, you might hear it sounds like "yall" (incidentally, "y'all" is a non-standard AmE (I believe) variation).
 

MikeNewYork

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Note that in informal conversation, you might hear it sounds like "yall" (incidentally, "y'all" is a non-standard AmE (I believe) variation).

Yes, it is non-standard.
 

Rover_KE

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It's not used in BE.
 

Barb_D

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I wish it weren't used here. :roll:

Clearly you don't live in (or have close relatives from) the South.

You wouldn't hear them say it's "non-standard" there. When 99% of the local native speakers use it, I think you have to admit it's "regional dialect" and not non-standard within that dialect. :)
 

MikeNewYork

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Clearly you don't live in (or have close relatives from) the South.

You wouldn't hear them say it's "non-standard" there. When 99% of the local native speakers use it, I think you have to admit it's "regional dialect" and not non-standard within that dialect. :)

I do not. But I am equally as critical of non-standard English in New York. One of my pet peeves is when a New Yorker wants to ax you a question.
 

SoothingDave

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I have been told by southerners that "y'all" is not necessarily plural. If the plural is meant, you might hear "all y'all."
 
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