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Help, please. I am at a loss. Which is right and why? - 1) The family who live down the street are from Argentina. 2) The family which live down the street are from Argentina.

Mentee · Accepted Answer

The family which lives down the street is from Argentina.

Milandobrota · Answer

Or shorter, the family living down the street is from Argentina.

Mentee · Answer

CommentBut the problem is that the answer should be; which or who. And I am not to change the other members of the sentence...

If those are the only two options then the first option is the best one.

The family who live down the street are from Argentina.

Why?
The question is related to the use of the relative pronouns 'who' or 'which'.
'Which' is used for groups or things, and 'who' is used for people.
In the given options, the presence of 'are', which is a plural verb, indicates that the term 'family' is not treated as a 'single unit or group', but it means members of a particular family.

The family (members) who live down the street are from Argentina.

References:
If you google 'family who' you will find many references.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/newhomes/8549769/A-family-who-built-their-dream-home.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2085486/As-family-led-life-privilege-face-5m-debt-said-upper-crust-recession-proof.html

Regards · Answer

Anonymous1) The family who live down the street are from Argentina. 2) The family which live down the street are from Argentina.

Hi,
First, I would start by defining the term family. Merriam-Webster defines family as a group of people
who are related to each other. In addition, it mentions that this sense can refer to a group of people
that consists of parents and their children. Now that we are clear on what a family is, we can move on to
discussing the grammatical aspect of this term. Family is a collective noun. Collective nouns have to do
with a group of some kind, and as such can be sometimes either treated as single units or collections of
individuals. That is why collective nouns can govern either a singular or plural verb. Usually, we use a singular
verb when we wish to consider the collective noun a whole, single unit, whereas we use a plural verb when
we consider it a collection of individuals. Interestingly, as a general rule Americans incline to use the singular
verb, as in ‘My family has given me a birthday present’, as opposed to the British who prefer to use the plural
verb, as in ‘My family have given me a birthday present’. But we are not here to discuss this matter, are we?
You wanted to know which version was acceptable—the one with who or the one with which.
The right answer depends on the situation.

If you considered the family a single unit, you would have to say:
‘The family which lives down the street is from Argentina.’
Here, we use the singular verb as well as the relative pronoun which.
This is more likely to be said in American English.

Likewise, if you considered the family a collection of individuals, you would have to say:
‘The family who live down the street are from Argentina.’
Here, we use the plural verb as well as the relative pronoun who.
This is more likely to be said in British English.

In that case, however, I would presume that most people prefer the first version.
Nonetheless, consistency is the key to having a good writing style: your sound understanding
of the subject can come to fruition only if you are consistent with one of the approaches mentioned above.
Be sure not to mix a singular verb with a plural verb in the same sentence.

Regards

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