Doreen Michele

All y'all is a Southern expression inclusive of myriad groups of peoples. Y'all is just plural to distinguish it from singular you. I'm struggling here to explain it because historically English had thee and thou but that wasn't singular versus plural you. It was intimate versus formal you. Tu in French is a close friend or similar. Vous is someone you don't know well. The word they can be used in singular form as a gender neutral version of he or she if being gender neutral matters more than grammatical agreement on singular versus plural. It's generally less awkward than trying to use the word one  which sounds stiff and formal and folks don't much use that construction. In the South, generally speaking: You = just one person that I'm speaking to. Y'all = a group of folks I'm addressing who likely identify as a group, such as members of the same family or members of the football team. All y'all  = a group of groups, inclusive of many dem...