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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Is "Hi all" grammatically correct?
Hello. Is "Hi, all", "Hi all", "Hello, everyone" and all their derivatives correct grammar? I see many people start their emails/forum posts with this, and for some reason, it irks me. (It could just be me.)
I feel that "all" is implied. Why else are you receiving the email if it isn't meant for everyone to whom it was sent to? If "hi all" is correct, does that mean that "hi not all" or "hi to Mark and John, but not to Matt" (even though Matt is receiving the email) is also correct? By implicitly specifying "all", I get the feeling that just this once, the "hi" is meant for everyone, but maybe on another occasion, it may not be for everyone.
I'm not sure if I'm conveying my thoughts properly.
If you are communicating with only one person (either in speech or in writing) do you say "hi you" or just "hi" ?
I feel that "all" is implied. Why else are you receiving the email if it isn't meant for everyone to whom it was sent to? If "hi all" is correct, does that mean that "hi not all" or "hi to Mark and John, but not to Matt" (even though Matt is receiving the email) is also correct? By implicitly specifying "all", I get the feeling that just this once, the "hi" is meant for everyone, but maybe on another occasion, it may not be for everyone.
I'm not sure if I'm conveying my thoughts properly.
If you are communicating with only one person (either in speech or in writing) do you say "hi you" or just "hi" ?
Top answer
Saying 'Hi all' isn't improper English, but it's not commonly heard either. I've heard it when people are being silly (very informal) and are among friends. I usually only address 'all' in a forum post if I'm also writing specific lines to specific people, like this: Hello all, here's something that pertains to everybody!
- Saying 'Hi all' isn't improper English, but it's not commonly heard either.
- I've heard it when people are being silly (very informal) and are among friends.
- I usually only address 'all' in a forum post if I'm also writing specific lines to specific people, like this: Hello all, here's something that pertains to everybody!
- @person: here's something that's just for you @otherperson: Here's something different for you Now, when you say 'Hello' or 'Hi', unless you specify who it is going to, it IS aimed at everybody who can hear/read it.
- ' Now, if Matt was right there and could hear/read you saying that and you purposely left him out it would be offensive (you chose not to say hello to him) but if you walked into a room full of people and greet two friends it's far less offensive because you're not excluding just one or two people.
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5 Answers
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Saying 'Hi all' isn't improper English, but it's not commonly heard either. I've heard it when people are being silly (very informal) and are among friends. I usually only address 'all' in a forum post if I'm also writing specific lines to specific people, like this:
Hello all, here's something that pertains to everybody!
@person: here's something that's just for you
@ot
Hello all, here's something that pertains to everybody!
@person: here's something that's just for you
@ot
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Thank you for the answer. My question was mainly in regards to emails, and to a lesser extent, forums like here. I do not think I've ever heard anyone say "hi, all" out loud.
So "hi all" is correct, but you wouldn't personally use it? It still sounds very weird to me, I guess I'll just have to live with it.
So "hi all" is correct, but you wouldn't personally use it? It still sounds very weird to me, I guess I'll just have to live with it.
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Is "Hi Bilbo" or "Hi, Bilbo" both correct when starting an email, or is one correct/preferred? For example:
Hi, Bilbo.
Hi Bilbo
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