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Subject-Noun Agreement: examples of "family"
Hello,
My question refers to the verb usage in the following sentence:
"My family is are scattered across North America."
This was presented in a copy editing class, and we were informed that "are" would be the correct usage in this instance; the professor utilized The Least You Should Know About English by Teresa Ferster Glazer as the source for this example. (The sentence should read, according to the professor, "My family are scattered across North America.")
The resources we are instructed to use in this class are Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition and The Chicago Manual of Style, The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers, 15th Edition.
(It is interesting as I am writing this that each book uses a different version to indicate which edition it is, that is, Webster's writes out the edition, while CMS uses the numeric expression of the edition.)
Many thanks for your views on these questions.
Lots of folks use are and other plural verbs with family. The Great Gatsby leaps to mind. Fitzgerald paints the society and time well. I also associate that use of the plural verb with British English.
I use is and other singular verbs with family.
Various collectives behave diffently in this regard -- notably sports teams. No one answer fits all collectives.
Trekkers may recall We are Borg.
Yew in British English it is absolutely normal to use plural verbs for a singular subject that implies several people - the government are passing a bill( they all have to vote on it, etc.), the cabinet are meeting today. But other words, like orchestra, choir, firm, company, association may or may not, it is less firmly estabilshed. What I have read in style guides, though, is that with other terms it will depend if we are talking about the group acting as one entity, or separately. If members of a family are scattered in several places, by definition they are not acting together. But in other cases I can imagine "My family is very close-knit", "my family is from old Loyalist stock".
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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