pronouns - How to ask a mixed-gender group for their participation?


This question deals with the use of y’all in written vs. spoken English, gender neutrality and group dynamics.


I often find myself writing emails to a group of both men and women asking if they would like to participate in some event, as in:



Would y’all like to join me for a hike this weekend?



A lot of my peers would ask:



Would you guys like to join me for a hike this weekend?



Despite “guys” being somewhat accepted as applying to men and women, it really isn’t gender-neutral in my head and truly annoys some of my friends.


I spent some time in Texas as a kid and picked up “y’all” which I have no qualms about using in speech. However, in writing it irks me.


Other possible options include:



Would anyone like to join me for a hike this weekend?



But “anyone” seems to have a defeated and/or annoyed connotation, as in:



Would anyone like to do the dishes tonight?



“Everyone” doesn’t work because a subset of the group would be perfectly acceptable, if not preferred. There's also “who of you” and “would any of you” but they sound too formal and again defeated, respectively.


Thus, I’m looking for suggestions on how you would ask a group of your friends if they wanted to go hiking with you this weekend.


I feel the need to add that I’m in my 20s and thus do need to be using younger/more hip vocabulary. If I were 70 and inviting my retired friends to tea, I believe the answer would be slightly different.



Answer



In my office, emails addressed to groups commonly begin with “Hi all”. That seems like a fine way to establish the audience as the whole group.


After that, you could say “would you like to join me for a hike?”


“You”, after all, isn’t necessarily singular.


Even if people feel like interpreting “you” as singular, they can see that you are addressing the whole group and could interpret this “you” as addressed to each person as an individual.


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