Ya'll vs. Y'all

It's sometimes amusing when dialectical words or slang become spelling conundrums in the English language. 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. Let's take a quick look at the word so that y'all will understand that it functions like all other contractions.

There are many words that are "native" to speakers in the Southern United States. Y'all is a contraction formed from the phrase "you all." Here it is used in several sentences:

Y'all works like other contractions in the English language. A contraction is formed when two words are put together to make one word, leaving out some of the letters of one or both words. An apostrophe is used to show where the letters have been left out.

I am-I'm     You are-you're     She is-She's

You all-y'all

While you may see the spelling ya'll, this spelling makes no sense, as it doesn't follow the conventions of how contractions are formed. When you see this spelling, know that the writer is someone who doesn't understand the phrase "you all" or the contraction y'all.