student asking question

What is the difference between "don't you read" and "don't you people read"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

The meanings of these two phrases are similar. The only difference between them is how many people it addresses. In the first phrase "don't you read," it is addressing one person or multiple people. In the second phrase "don't you people read," it is clearly addressing more than one person. In this video, Sheldon is addressing Raj, Howard, and Leonard. He is asking if the three of them don't read the character descriptions, which is why he said "people" in his question. I recommend you only say "don't you people..." to close friends or family. Using that tone of language to others that you don't know could be considered offensive. This is because it isn't formally addressing them. You can use "don't you people..." in other scenarios as well. Ex: Don't you ever give up? Ex: Don't you people ever give up? Ex: Why don't you just listen to me? Ex: Why don't you people just listen to me?

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