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What is the proper way to address a light email/message to a small group of 2-or-3 people, where the group includes both sexes? I normally just use the term "guys" as in "Hey guys" or "Good morning guys".

However, I'm wondering if I'm alienating the female(s) in the group. With a larger group, I would just use the term "all" as in "Good morning all", but that seems strange when I'm only writing to a couple of people.

Any alternatives?

AncientSwordRage
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WEFX
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    Related: Is "guy" gender-neutral?. – Dan Bron May 02 '16 at 14:33
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    "all" does not seem strange to me, usually when I write an e-mail that is addressed to several people I use "all" or the name of their team/entity/organization, if it's addressed to one or two and the rest are just in copy I call them by name, e.g. Hello Mark, Elli,. – Mystic Odin May 02 '16 at 14:46
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    I assume you're talking about co-workers, right? – Mystic Odin May 02 '16 at 14:49
  • Define "proper way". POB – Drew May 02 '16 at 18:14
  • Related, possibly duplicate: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/3700/how-do-you-greet-multiple-recipients-in-an-e-mail/3702#3702 – Marthaª May 02 '16 at 21:49
  • It really would be helpful for this question narrow down who the group of 2-3 people are (i.e. are the coworkers, friends, etc?) and probably also where they are, as customs vary from one place to another and one setting to another. – reirab May 03 '16 at 15:55

22 Answers22

61

I have replaced "guys" and "you guys" with "everyone" in my day-to-day speech:

Hey, everyone, how's it going?

What is everyone up to this weekend?

Good morning, everyone. Today we are going to talk about gender-neutral substitutions in our everyday speech.

That's very similar to replacing "guys" with all or you all (or even y'all). If all or everyone seems too "big" for just two people, then you could substitute both.

How are you both doing this morning?

Todd Wilcox
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    Use y'all for small groups, all y'all for large groups. – Umberto P. May 02 '16 at 18:52
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    @UmbertoP. No. Y'all is used to refer to a group, collectively. If "y'all have $100", then regardless how many of y'all there are, there's a total of $100. All (of) y'all refers to a group, individually. If "all y'all have $100" and y'all're five, then there's a total of $500. This is identical to how they/we and all (of) them/us works. – user0721090601 May 03 '16 at 16:10
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    @UmbertoP. "All y'all" is not used simply "for large groups", it is used as Guifa explained. – Kevin May 03 '16 at 16:50
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    @guifa +1. Very nice. – Umberto P. May 03 '16 at 21:54
59

You could try folks

Folks is many a politicians’ favored term for people. It’s class-neutral and gender-neutral. In a country that uses y’all, you guys, youse, and yinz, it is confidently American, but neighborhood-neutral. It is informal. It is cuddly. A politician represents his constituents. He thinks about the people. But he cares for folks — all you folks, including you there in the back.

Barack Obama: "We Tortured Some Folks"

Some people use folks when addressing a group of people in an informal way. This use is more common in American English than in British English.

That's all for tonight, folks.

They saw me drive out of town taking you folks up to McCaslin.

Collins COBUILD English Usage

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Elian
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    'Folks' is used by some, but is not common and sounds very ... folksy. – Mitch May 02 '16 at 17:39
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    @Mitch Yeah, it's perfect for a pandering politician, but I don't think I'd address an e-mail to coworkers that way. – reirab May 02 '16 at 18:11
  • Totally hate folks. The No Agenda Show has shown it to be a synonym for "People we don't like, or at least don't agree with", esp. when used by Democrats to refer to Republicans (or terrorists, as you've shown) – Peter Turner May 02 '16 at 18:39
  • Relevant. – moonwave99 May 02 '16 at 19:05
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    Rumsfeld ruined 'folks' for me in the same way A Clockwork Orange ruined Singing in the Rain. – Spehro Pefhany May 02 '16 at 19:46
  • Woman here. I'd rather be part of a group addressed as "hey, dudes" than "hello, folks". I instinctively recoil from "folks" -- unless the speaker is a genuine rural person, and it is genuinely part of his/her everyday speech. – ab2 May 02 '16 at 19:59
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    I used folks way before it was ruined, and I refuse to let it go. What am I supposed to say? The politicians glommed on to it because it's something warm, friendly Southerners say, and it's harder to make it sound bad, unless you say something stupid like "we tortured some folks". I use folks because I am actually friendly, Southern, and sincere. I hate that my culture has been stolen and used for pandering. @ab2 why are only rural folks allowed to talk like a Southerner? Or is that code for ignorant? – ColleenV May 02 '16 at 20:04
  • @ColleenV If folks is part of your natural vocabulary, OK. I encounter it naturally mostly out West in the mountains. But, as you recognize, folks has been hijacked. – ab2 May 02 '16 at 20:21
  • @ColleenV Wait, southerners say that, for real? None (in my family or friends) that I know of! – Mitch May 02 '16 at 23:12
  • @Mitch Yeah, and some of the girls on Long Island look and talk exactly like you see the movies, and some Canadians actually say aboot. The stereotypes don't materialize out of thin air, sug. – ColleenV May 02 '16 at 23:37
  • I believe the original quote was "Th-th-th-tha-tha-tha-that's all, folks!" I don't know when 'for tonight' was added. –  May 03 '16 at 01:01
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    No offense, but this answer is just ... not very good! Note that the very examples given ("a politician addressing 280 million people") is just totally unrealistic in relation to the question ("I am using email to communicate with three colleagues.") – Fattie May 03 '16 at 14:02
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    I'm also from the South and I would find it rather weird to see an e-mail at work addressed this way. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with the word itself, just that I would find it out of place in that context. – reirab May 03 '16 at 15:59
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    @JoeBlow "They saw me drive out of town taking you folks up to McCaslin." I guess that speaker has a mighty big car to take all those 280 million folks on a drive. – David K May 04 '16 at 02:12
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    Folks is very common here. I use it all the time, as do various folks I work with and speak to. – Rory Alsop May 04 '16 at 09:12
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    I'd say that (evidently) you have to have a native touch to get the subtleties of "folks" right. Don't even mention that it would seem totally different (and perhaps very weird) in non-US English. If this question is along the lines of "what's the best approach for a non-native speaker", then something very subtle and idiomatic (which could easily be used very-wrongly) is a poor approach. – Fattie May 04 '16 at 11:21
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    @reirab I'm from a Western state and hearing "folks" is reasonably common, including in e-mails – often as a way of avoiding formalisms such as 'Ladies and gentlemen' or other potentially-biased terms like 'Guys.' 'Ladies and gentlemen" is heard occasionally but it's often ironic. – Seldom 'Where's Monica' Needy May 04 '16 at 20:18
  • @SeldomNeedy I see in it e-mails at times, but usually only in rather informal contexts, not in the office. Hearing it spoken is somewhat common, though. – reirab May 04 '16 at 21:30
33

Everyone and all work well here for me. I frequently have to write such emails for a weekly social gathering, and both have served me well.

Hey, all!

Good morning all!

Hey everyone!

Good morning, everyone!

(Inconsistent commas slightly intentional: this is informal writing, after all.)

In cases where all seems wrong because of the number of addressees, I've made it extra-informal by altering it to y’all, which makes it slightly humourous when sent to only two people…

Good morning y’all!

… or simply used no word at all, which is particularly justifiable as an informal written greeting:

Hey!

Good morning!

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SevenSidedDie
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Plumbing the arcane depths of the English language, I proffer hello:

Used as a greeting or to begin a telephone conversation

I have studied critical theory at post-graduate level and cannot think of any way that it could offend, marginalise or contribute to ideological constructs of gender oppression, and so could be deployed safely under the given circumstances.

568ml
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According to the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (CALD),

guys [plural] MAINLY US

used to address a group of people of either sex

Alternatively, you can use people to address the group.

Also from the CALD,

people [plural]

used to refer to everyone, or informally to the group that you are speaking to

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    Can you support this answer somehow? (In other words: how do readers know what you're saying is true?). – Dan Bron May 02 '16 at 14:34
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    Cool, please quote and summarize the relevant material from those sources. Links are unfortunately susceptible to link rot, and we're trying to build something for the future here. For more details about quoting sources, see the primary policy described on MSE. – Dan Bron May 02 '16 at 14:38
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    Silly or not, like it or not, it's policy. We require answers not only to be supported, but substantive. Bare assertions don't suffice. We want answers here, not on some other site (or, as the policy phrases it "in another castle"). I'm going to apply a downvote now, and remove it later when you've beefed up the answer or made it more authoritative. – Dan Bron May 02 '16 at 14:42
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    Note that the use of guys for a mixed-gender group can be controversial, and some may find it objectionable. – Nate Eldredge May 02 '16 at 15:56
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    @NateEldredge Some may find it objectionable. Specifically, the people who go around looking for things to find objectionable. Personally, I find those people objectionable. – reirab May 02 '16 at 18:13
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    @reirab: Our respective personal opinions on this usage are neither here nor there. But somebody who's considering using it should, at the very least, be aware of how others may receive it. – Nate Eldredge May 02 '16 at 18:23
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    @NateEldredge True, but my point was more a humorous way of saying that very few people (in the U.S., at least) will actually find that objectionable... and they're mostly the people that will find some reason to be offended no matter what you say. See here and here. – reirab May 02 '16 at 18:43
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    @reirab Short answer: fair use and full accreditation (with link back, so their web traffic and ad revenue increases). Longer answer is just check the tag [tag:single-word-requests] and see how it's usually done. Can't say we're perfectly consistent, but we try. – Dan Bron May 02 '16 at 19:02
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    @reirab You can either stand up for your right to use "guys" in a gender-neutral way or you can communicate effectively with women who don't like to be addressed as "guys". It's your choice but you can't have both. – David Richerby May 02 '16 at 23:46
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    @reirab SE's servers are, I believe, in the US. In the US, a quotation of the kind that's being suggested would absolutely count as fair use. – David Richerby May 02 '16 at 23:49
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    @DavidRicherby Read the other questions I linked. There's a reason 'guys' is the accepted answer with 154 upvotes on one of the questions I linked and 75 on the other. I can't speak for the U.K., but it's completely normal to address mixed-gender groups or even groups of all females as "guys" or "you guys" in the U.S. It's even common for a female to address a group of her all-female friends as such. Very few people will actually find that even the least bit objectionable and those few people will find a reason to be offended regardless of what you say or even if you say nothing at all. – reirab May 03 '16 at 05:51
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    @reirab it might be a cross cultural thing then, to my BrE ear it sounds like a lightly unpleasant thing to say to a mixed group. Certainly not something I'd expect to be said in a professional setting (for example), unless I was an actor trying to portray that setting as intentionally sexist. – Racheet May 03 '16 at 15:45
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    @reirab it's not just that some of us find it objectionable, it's also that for many speakers of English, views of gendered language aside, you guys refers to a group of guys, masculine only. The average US English speaker, upon hearing you Americans will interpret it as referring to a group of people from the US, even if there are Chileans and Canadians in the group and the fact that strictly speaking, they are American too. It's best not to allow for potential ambiguity when the potential for perceived exclusion (and thereby offense) is high. – user0721090601 May 03 '16 at 16:54
  • I'll note that saying "people" – while correct – can come off as a bit pretentious, mostly because it's impersonal. In my experience it has a somewhat commanding, corporate feel to it. – Seldom 'Where's Monica' Needy May 04 '16 at 20:05
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Why do you need any noun at all?

Hi,

Problem solved!

Lightness Races in Orbit
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If you're addressing a group that could benefit from stronger group identity, consider referring to the group as "group", "team", "gang", etc. For example, "Good morning, team!" or "Howdy, gang." If the group has a name, just use that name: "Hey, Jackals!"

This approach is not only gender neutral, it also drives home the point that your message is equally important to every person receiving it, and that each one should consider themselves an acknowledged part of the greater unit.

talrnu
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2

I just tend to say

Hi, you three!

(or two). Four or more I tend to use

Hi all!

Peter K.
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1

The word people works, of course, and can be made informal as peeps.

Hello, people!
Hi peeps!

TRiG
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While probably not my first choice for the workplace, I had to manage a group of students at school that required group e-mails. My go-to salutation for these fine folks was

Hey Gang,

I like it because it's casual, inclusive, and lets me pretend that I am Freddy from Scooby-Doo.

jaichele
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Similar to 568ml 's answer above, I usually avoid the problem by skipping the greeting altogether.

Rather than:

Good morning [fill in something here]. We'll be having a team meeting at 10:00 AM.

I usually just write:

We'll be having a team meeting at 10:00 AM.

I'm sure it makes me come across as stiff and unfriendly, but it seems to beat the alternative.

Michael J.
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I know 'Everyone' was offered by Todd Wilcox but I'd like to offer 'Everybody'.

"Hi everybody!" -Dr. Nick Riviera

"Hey everybody!"

"Hello everybody,"

If the context is an email, then perhaps you should also consider 'whom'

"To whom it may concern,"

"For those whom this affects,"

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user173500
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0

If you're in a formal setting, what about addressing the room "Good morning/afternoon everybody/everyone"?

Charlie Allen
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If you're really just writing to two or three people, why not just greet them by name? For example,

Hello Pat, Chris, and Alex:

I have found this greeting especially helpful when the email is addressed to a few people but is copied to a larger group; it alerts the people who received copies that the email is not actually addressed directly to them.

For a larger group, "people" is a generic word. Alternatively, if the addressees all have some role in common, you could use that:

Hello ABC development team:

(which works even for two people, if that's the entire team) or

Hello fellow accountants:

David K
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'Guys' is not gender-specific unless you have someone in the group who wants to make an issue out of it.

Common terms I see in light-hearted greetings in England include:

  • Hi team
  • Hey gang
  • Hello all
  • Hi everyone
  • Or just "Hello" / "Hi" :)
Mr. Boy
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On the informal side:

  • Campers (in the morning: Good morning campers!)
  • Fellas (in context: Howdy fellas!)
njzk2
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If you are referring to a team, you can refer its members as "friends" (however small it may be and irrespective of it being composed of any number of male or female members), such as:

Hello/Hi friends! How is it going?

Dinesh Kumar Garg
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You can use a simple "you", as a plural.

Example:

  • "Good morning to you."
Michael Richardson
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Just use ye. Ye is still the only word in most English dictionaries across all dialects defined as the standard 2nd person plural.

user173469
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    Being marked as “obsolete” in all but a few rare or ecclesiastical dialects is somewhat incompatible with the assertion that it's standard across all dialects. – SevenSidedDie May 03 '16 at 20:06
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Everyone

For example:

"Good news, Everyone!"

It's used to address to a small group of 2-or-3 people, where the group includes both sexes... and a robot... and a lobster.

redAlchemist
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Ladies and Gentlemen

Be sure to always mention ladies first, not just out of chivalry but because "Gentlemen and Ladies" sounds strange.

Case (pun intended) in point:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury...

-Thousands of examples

So if your audience is between 6 and 12 people of mixed gender who you want to get your point across to, this is not a terrible way to address them; nor is it one without precedent nor successful results.

Maybe this is better in person than in print, but it's still appropriate and timeless.

Peter Turner
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    I'd personally find this usage awkward in an e-mail, unless perhaps it was perhaps for some kind of formal-ish event (e.g. an invitation to something like a wedding or formal party.) – reirab May 02 '16 at 18:40
  • I recommend extending this answer to include similar forms that are more casual, e.g. "guys and gals", "boys and girls". – talrnu May 03 '16 at 02:27
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Happy Monday, (or whatever day of the week it is).

Yeah, you might not actually be happy that it is Monday, but still it sounds good, and not out of place as the start of an email.

aslum
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