Different Areas in America, Different Second-person Plural Pronouns

 

In a recent Everyday Grammar, we briefly¹ talked about a video that makes fun of the difference between two terms: y'all and you guys.

It goes like this:

"Hey you guys, what are you all looking at?"

In today's report, we will explore this issue in more detail. You will learn a little about different areas of America, and how speakers in these areas sometimes use different pronouns³ in everyday speech. You can think of today's report as a tour of the United States. But first, let's explore some important ideas and terms.

Second-person plural⁴ pronouns

In English grammar, we often describe pronouns in terms of person and number.

The person can be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. The number can be singular⁵ or plural.

Second-person pronouns are a little unusual. The second-person singular pronoun² is the same as the second-person plural pronoun. They are both you.

So, a person could say "How are you?" to one person or to a group of people.

In everyday speech, Americans sometimes use second-person plural pronouns that are not standard. These pronouns let the speaker show that they are speaking to several people.

Now, let's start with our trip.

Different kinds of pronouns

Yinz

Pennsylvania is the first stop on our tour of the United States. Let's listen to a man from the city of Pittsburgh. He is giving an example of how some people near there speak.

"Like if I was explaining to yinz like what I do on Sundays, what my dad does..."

Note that the speaker used the term yinz. It is a second-person plural pronoun that is used mainly in Western Pennsylvania.

Yinz is not standard American English. But it does play an important part in the sentence. It lets speakers show they are speaking to more than one person.

Youse

New York is the second stop on our trip around the U.S.

Consider these lines from A Bronx Tale, a crime movie about an Italian-American boy growing up in the Bronx, New York.

The speaker is telling a group of men that they cannot leave his business. They have insulted⁶ him, and he wants to fight them.

"Now youse can't leave."

"I will never forget the look on their faces, all eight of them. Their faces dropped."

Speakers in other parts the U.S. use the word youse as well, but such usage⁷ is growing rarer.

A story in the Chicago Tribune suggests that youse is mainly used among older people in some parts of large cities – Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, and Boston, among others. The story also notes that it is sometimes heard in the mining communities of Michigan.

You guys

Our third stop is Washington, DC. Let's listen to former President Barack Obama say the following words to reporters:

"Part of the challenge here is that, this town, let's face it, you guys are pretty impatient⁸."

You guys is the second-person plural pronoun that Obama used. You guys is quite common throughout the country, but mostly in the North, West, and Midwest. It is also probably more common in cities.

Y'all

Our fourth and final stop is Texas. Let's listen to comedian⁹ Jerry Corley talk about language differences in the United States.

"There are certain parts of the country, you'll have pockets of the population that will say "y'all." But in Texas, everybody says "y'all."

Y'all is popular in Texas, and many other places across America, mainly in the South. It is probably more common in rural¹⁰ areas, too.

Y'all vs. you guys

Y'all and you guys are the two most commonly used second-person plural pronouns in the United States. They are acceptable¹¹ in many kinds of everyday speech.

Y'all and you guys are also used in everyday kinds of writing – emails between friends, text messages, and so on. They are generally not used in official or formal writing – business agreements, legal documents, academic papers, and so on.

Closing thoughts

At the beginning of this report, we suggested that this video made fun of the difference between y'all and you guys.

"Hey you guys, what are you all looking at?"

Now you know that the video is making fun of differences between people in the U.S. In areas where many people use y'all as a second-person plural pronoun, you guys sounds out of place.

Understanding how different second-person pronouns are used in the U.S. can be useful for you. You can have an idea of what Americans mean when they are speaking. And if you hear you guys, y'all, youse, or yinz, you might have an idea of where the speaker comes from within the United States.

Words in This Story

tour – n. a trip through different parts of a country

singular – adj. grammar : relating to a form of a word that refers to one person or thing

plural – adj. grammar : relating to a form of a word that refers to more than one person or thing

standard – adj. an example of something that is normal, usual, official or generally considered the correct way

comedian – n. a person who performs in front of an audience and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories or by acting¹² in a way that is funny : an actor who plays roles that make people laugh

pocket – n. a small area or group that is different from the larger area or group it is in or near — usually + of

1 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 pronoun   

n.代词

参考例句：

• The relative pronoun is often dropped if it is the subject.关系代名词做受词时常被省略。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

3 pronouns   

n.代词( pronoun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "I", "you"and "he" are all personal pronouns. I，you和he都是人称代词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

5 singular   

adj.个人的，单数的，独一的，唯一的，非凡的；n.单数

参考例句：

• The young man has a singular ear for music.这个年轻人对音乐有非凡的欣赏力。
• The noun is in the singular.这个名词是单数形式。

6 insulted   

侮辱，冒犯( insult的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I have never been so insulted in my life! 我一生中从未被如此侮辱过！
• These boys insulted a girl by spitting at her. 这几个男孩向一个女孩吐口水侮辱她。

7 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

8 impatient   

adj.不耐烦的，急躁的；热切的，急切的

参考例句：

• He was so impatient that I could hardly hold him back.他是那样急躁，我简直拉不住他。
• With an impatient gesture he thrust the food away from him.他不耐烦地把吃的东西猛地推开。

9 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

10 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

11 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。