Test your knowledge with "Do You Speak Southern Mama?" Garner’s Modern American Usage Dictionary estimates that y’all appears in print ten times more than does ya’ll.. Like how all soda is called Coke and all tea is sweet unless otherwise noted, "y'all" is a key piece of Southern verbiage that's deeply engrained in our culture. These Sunday dinner ideas are crowd-pleasers and make for hearty leftovers, Whether fried, pickled, or grilled, no other vegetable tastes quite like okra.

There is a correct—and incorrect—way to spell this fond colloquialism, however. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. For example: Note, though, that there is some debate on the spelling of the possessive form of "y'all." "Ya'll" is just dead wrong. It's as Southern as eating cornbread, sipping sweet tea, and swatting mosquitoes on a porch in the summertime: using the word "y'all" is a quintessential southern trait. Southern Living is a registered trademark of, 70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends, 20 Easy and Delicious Sunday Dinner Recipes, 33 Things to Write in a Wedding Card If You’re Not Sure What’s Appropriate, 12 Trees You Shouldn't Plant in Your Yard. Although "y'all" is not generally considered appropriate for formal writing, it's not an improper or incorrect term, nor does it indicate a failure to grasp grammar or the English language. "Ya'll" is just dead wrong. In informal German, it's ihr. Used when addressing a group of 3 or more. How to Say Frequently Mispronounced Places in Spain, The 10 Best Electronic Translators of 2020, 7 Classic Car Games for Road Trip With Kids, The Real Meaning of the Greeting "Yasou" in Greece, 15 True (and False) Stereotypes About India, Deciphering the Terms Dutch, the Netherlands, and Holland, Indonesian Greetings: How to Say Hello in Indonesia, 7 Common but Often Misunderstood Hindi Words, When speaking to two or three people: "Are y'all going to the movies?

'Y'all' vs. 'Ya'll': Is There Really a Difference? The answer is yes. Just like "cannot" becomes "can't" and "do not" becomes "don't."

There are other ways to make "you" plural in other parts of the English-speaking world, such as just saying "you guys" (common in most of the Northern United States), "you lot" (Great Britain), or even "youse" (Australia), but even two out of three of these simply add a word to "you.". Put together you-all, and you get "y'all." In Spanish, the second-personal plural pronoun is ustedes or vosotros. Check out more familiar Southern slang terms to see which ones you use most in everyday conversation. "Ya'll" is incorrect and a misspelling of the word, so don't use it. Y'all is a dialectical contraction used by Southerners in the United States, some of whom are very passionate about how it should be spelled. Not to be confused with all y'alls, the plural non possesive form. Learn how to season this Southern kitchen staple in five easy steps.

So there you have it, y'all. Some will spell it "y'all's" whereas others will spell it "y'alls."

Think about the term in this sense, and you'll be less likely to misspell it. There is only one correct way to spell or use "y'all," so whatever you do, don't use the dreaded "ya'll." The apostrophe after the "y" represents the lost "ooo" sound from the letters O and U.

Though "y'all" is inherently plural, in the instance of addressing a larger group of people, "all y'all" is more of a casual, slang phrase that's sometimes used. "All y'all" (or "all of y'all") on the other hand, is an occasional variation some use to mean a group of people (as opposed to just two or three).