Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite

On many occasions after we complete a speech, we often consider thanking our audience. In this scenario, I am not sure if "Thank you all" is the right English. Should it be "Thanking you all" instead to make it sound correct?

share|improve this question
Would it be okay to just say "I thank all of you"? – xenon Mar 12 '12 at 14:09
Well this is perfect, but I am curious if above mentioned statement is correct, as subconsciously I tend to use "Thank you all", and I did that recently so.. – samridhi Mar 12 '12 at 14:11
I was actually wondering about thanks very much which I have often heard from British people. Many thanks looks far more grammatically correct than thanks very much because much does not go with countable nouns. – user32480 Jan 11 at 3:39

3 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

"(I) thank you all" is correct English, and a complete sentence.

share|improve this answer
Hey, thanks for the quick response. Can you also quote some resource(related link), need to forward it. – samridhi Mar 12 '12 at 14:14
1  
We Are the Champions, line 22, Freddy Mercury, 1977. – cornbread ninja 麵包忍者 Mar 12 '12 at 23:28
@cornbreadninja : thanks for the link! – samridhi Mar 13 '12 at 10:09
up vote 2 down vote

"Thank you all" is correct because the "I" is implied. The verb "to thank" is correctly conjugated as "thank" for the subject "I." Correct as is!

The word "you", in English, can be singular or plural. This is different than in some other languages such as French where there is a distinction between "tu" and "vous" that can either be the formality of the situation or if the addressed are plural or singular.

So "you all" is correct just as much as using "you" to refer to a single person. As one commenter said it is compulsory in southern US dialects where they commonly run the two words together as in "y'all."

share|improve this answer
But can you and all go together? – samridhi Mar 13 '12 at 10:10
1  
@samridhi: In the Southern USA, it's practically compulsory ;) But seriously, you can be singular or plural; all of you is a common phrase; where do you see a problem? – TimLymington Mar 13 '12 at 10:49
@TimLymington Thanks for clarifying, I was just digging logically so got a bit confused. I have been using this phrase since long, but suddenly, a thought baffled me. – samridhi Mar 13 '12 at 16:09
up vote -1 down vote

Thank you all sounds ok colloquially, but in correct written English a noun or pronoun must always be present, not merely implied.

I thank you all or I thank all of you would be my first picks.

share|improve this answer
4  
Under what authority must the subject in correct written English always be present and not merly implied? Implied "You" is used very frequently and I've never had any reason to consider it incorrect. – TecBrat Jul 10 '12 at 15:43
And a Happy New Year. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 7 at 19:56
1  
There is nothing ungrammatical about the phrase "thank you." It is an idiom. Someone who forces themselves to always write "I thank you" would sound overly stilted in the same way as if they never used contractions like "didn't" or "won't". – ghoppe Jan 7 at 20:16
The British comedian Arthur Askey used 'I thank you!' as a catchphrase, I believe - though it sounded more like 'Aathaangeoo!' Overly stilted is right. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 7 at 23:03

protected by RegDwighт♦ Dec 10 '12 at 16:22

This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 10 reputation on this site.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.