Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mmstyle]

My CT has asked me to check his midterm for mistakes. He is asking the students to choose between two options in certain parts of the reading that he has taken from the book. I was reading through the test questions and came across this, which he lifted from the book:

"My family were driving past a farmhouse." The 'were' in the sentence has been turned into a question: choose are/were. Now, of course, I am trying to figure out why both options (are/were) do not match the subject, family. It should be (is/was).

Now, I figured my CT had just made a mistake and checked the book. But, no, in the book it says "My family were driving past a farmhouse."

Should I just leave it be? I'm concerned because I have the best working relationship with this CT in particular and don't want to make things difficult. But his test question is highlighting a mistake in the book.

BTW, who makes these books? I'm sure many people have noticed a number of mistakes. I know 2 of the 3 grades I teach will have new books next year and I wonder if they will be better.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Neither is a mistake. Some "groups" for lack of a better word can be referred to with was or were. Council, team and government are others that come to mind with using the past continuous tense.

There's a section at the back of Murphy "Essential Grammar" (the blue one) that deals with such small differences between Uk and US English. I can't even remember which is which.

[mmstyle]

Thanks, HMHB. So, in that case, this would refer to UK English? That kind of info makes me want to find all the other things I thought were mistakes in the books and reevaluate them, to see if they might be correct under UK English.

I have done some research on collective nouns and have found references that are or were would be correct if the family members were being discussed as individuals, but in this case, the family is referred to as doing something in unison. I've also found some info that says that says there really is no one rule to cover this. That said, to me this sentence sounds completely incorrect. As opposed to something like "Everyone in my family were fighting all the way to the farm." Still sounds weird to me, but technically correct.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

was=US/ were=UK?? Can't remember. I use them interchangeably.

[mmstyle]

I'm from the US and most of my grammatical training was Chicago style (no idea if that is relevant in this case, will have to check). I think "was" is most common in the US. Ran this by my Aussie husband, and would guess that "was" is the most common there as well.

All good. As long as the students are being taught correctly, I'm happy to learn from my mistakes.

[Fishead soup]

How kind you are.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Both are fine. That is what is correct.

[Reise-ohne-Ende]

US English uses collective singular nouns. In the US, "family" is treated as a singular:

"The family was..."

In the UK, "family" and other collective nouns, such as "team" or "government", are treated as plurals:

"The family were..."

[mmstyle]

R-o-E,

Yep, that was a major mistake on my part. I should have written that "My family were..." rather than starting with everyone. Oops.

Was reading a book by Neil Gaiman today and came across a sentence with the same beginning. My family were..... Wish I had seen that a day sooner.

Planning my next lesson...came across a spelling mistake in the same book. Strangely enough, it made me feel better.

[Epicurus]

[Reise-ohne-Ende]

[I'm no Picasso]

Everyone above is correct. It's British English and it's perfectly fine, even though it doesn't sound right to an American. The American counterpart, for example, "The band is playing tonight," makes the British want to tear their eyes out.

I actually learned this as a result of reading British music magazines in high school. Thanks, Q.

[Reise-ohne-Ende]

[mmstyle]

R-o-E

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Written for kids, but I love almost everything of his that I have read. I never could get through American Gods, though.

[Reise-ohne-Ende]