I was thinking if English native speakers sometimes confuse the meaning of sentences like "You gotta admit that..."
It can mean both
"You, that I am talking to now gotta admit that..."
and "People in general gotta admit that..." ?
And do people sometimes mistake the intended meaning?
Also it can both be plural and singular.
So wondring if the speakers says like "You need to eat now" while the listener is in a group of people, if the listener would confuse if the talker means only I have to eat or everybody in the group need to eat.
Where I'm from, "you" by itself refers to an individual. The phrase you used would be referring to a single person (even though he may be part of a group).
If we address a group, we tend to employ the infamous "y'all" contraction.
@clousems said in #2:
> Where I'm from, "you" by itself refers to an individual. The phrase you used would be referring to a single person (even though he may be part of a group).
> If we address a group, we tend to employ the infamous "y'all" contraction.
Its nice to have the "'y'all" so you have a plural version.
pikabu.ru/story/kak_v_angliyskom_skazat_vyi_vo_mnozhestvennom_8035032Someone "Polyglot" wrote a whole manual with pictures.
In particular, he believes that clousems from the south of the US.
You is 2nd person. I think you mean "singular" and "plural."
@MrPushwood said in #5:
> You is 2nd person. I think you mean "singular" and "plural."
Oh yeah
Bit like "vous" in french, and plenty of other examples - it depends on the context. Most reliable method of checking who the speaker is referring to is by checking their eye contact. If it is very ambiguous who the sentence is directed to, just inquire. Good luck with learning ;)
I also used to live in the Pittsburgh area, where they are famous for using "yinz" for the plural you. A slang term for someone from Pittsburgh is a Yinzer.
Ya'll are confusing "you" in the sense of "person in general" with plural "you" used for talking to a group. It's the "you" in the sense of person in general that may sometimes be used to basically mean "I". Makes you a bit frustrated when a whole thread is getting this wrong and confusing someone trying to learn. Makes one a bit frustrated when a whole thread is getting this wrong and confusing someone trying to learn. Makes me a bit frustrated when a whole thread is getting this wrong and confusing someone trying to learn.
Im not a native speaker, and I dont confuse them. The only way it can be confusing is when you have the phrase alone without the context. When you have the context, it is easy to determine to which person you are referring.
> "You need to eat now"
Usually, the speaker is clear with the language and uses something like "> "You guys ......." to avoid the confusion.
There could be cases when it is not clear, but honestly, since I learned English some 20 years or so, I have never been confused nor heard/read a statement that leads to confusion.
If you have, just ask, dont waste time with this, it rarely happens and it can be cleared out by asking.
