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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

using is and are in a family

Hello, i'm confused.. i came upon this sentence in a book.. The family is having dinner.. which sounds correct to me.. and The family are having dinner which i thinik is completely wrong because FAMILY in the sentence is more of singular right? can someone help me out? thank you so much!
  

Top answer

There are many collective nouns which allow you to refer to the group as a group or as several individuals. " It's your choice, according to how you think if it/them.

  • There are many collective nouns which allow you to refer to the group as a group or as several individuals.
  • " It's your choice, according to how you think if it/them.
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2 Answers
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There are many collective nouns which allow you to refer to the group as a group or as several individuals.
I believe the concept is called "notional concord."
It's your choice, according to how you think if it/them.
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You can use a group noun to refer to several people,it depends on your point of view however in Amercia English a single verb is typically used after a group noun.'The family is having dinner'.

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