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Ry Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

subject/verb agreement

is the word family considered singular or plural
  

Top answer

Hello, ry—and welcome to English Forums. It can be either: My family is going to the shopping mall this afternoon. My family are always arguing about their chores.

  • Hello, ry—and welcome to English Forums.
  • It can be either: My family is going to the shopping mall this afternoon.
  • My family are always arguing about their chores.
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2 Answers
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Hello, ry—and welcome to English Forums.

It can be either:

My family is going to the shopping mall this afternoon.
My family are always arguing about their chores.
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"Family" is called a collective noun, and like many other collective nouns it can take singular or plural verb agreement:

My family is / are coming over on Sunday.

There are quite a few collective nouns, for example: committee, crew, jury, staff, team.

BillJ

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