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Some my friends usually use "Hi alls!" for greeting a group of people.

I don't think it's right, we cannot use "all" with "s" suffix.

We are from Vietnam and are not native English speakers. Is this right in native English standard?

  • Is "Hi alls" wrong?
Mari-Lou A
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An Tran T.
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  • Please state the nationality of your friends, thanks. This could be a regional thing. – Mari-Lou A Aug 10 '17 at 04:51
  • @Mari-LouA: We are from Vietnam and are not native English speaker. Is this right in native English standard? – An Tran T. Aug 10 '17 at 05:36
  • The expression Y'all with variations is the archetypal address for You all of the American South. Even Shalom, Y'all. In Brooklyn, we said Youz. English otherwise has no way to differentiate the singular you from the plural. – Yosef Baskin Aug 10 '17 at 05:38
  • Short answer, no. But maybe in some dialects across the US, it might be heard and used. My first thought was also directed to Y'all and its spelling variants and use. In fact, there is a question on EL&U asking about its plural form When is “all y'allses” used? – Mari-Lou A Aug 10 '17 at 05:54
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    The pronoun "all" incorporates a plural meaning. Just saying "Hi all" or "Hello all" or Good morning all! is sufficient, there is no need to add the suffix "s". In emails it's common to address the recipients as "all" as in *Dear all*. The "s' in "alls" is redundant. – Mari-Lou A Aug 10 '17 at 06:15
  • @Mari-LouA: Yes, I think it is redundant too. Thanks for answering. – An Tran T. Aug 10 '17 at 08:24
  • As a casual, personalized greeting there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Many people have idiosyncratic greetings they use in casual situations. – Hot Licks Aug 10 '17 at 12:06
  • Slang/informal: 45,200 results on Google for "Hi alls!" (Not all may be valid or relevant). – Kris Aug 11 '17 at 05:30

1 Answers1

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Agreed, 'Hi alls' doesn't sound great to my ears. But, you can have an 's' after the word all, albiet with an apostrophe('). For example,

'All's well that ends well'

Here, the 's' doesn't try to make it plural, but is a contraction of "all" and "is". So it literally translates to

'All is well that ends well'

Ayush Agrawal
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