Korean Job Discussion Forums

[raewon]

Would anyone consider the following sentence correct in American English?

My family get up early in the morning.


I know that singular verbs are usually used with group nouns in American English, but I'm looking for support for the above sentence.

Here are a few sources I've found:

(1) Michael Swan's Practical English Usage

[raewon]

Jane Straus is American (I think). If her logic applies to my sentence in question, then I'm good to go.

My family get up early in the morning.

Can "family" be looked as individuals in this example?

I came across "My family are rich." on the net (meaning all of the members). Personally, I would use "My family is rich." but that example also seems to support my sentence in question, doesn't it?

[Steve_Rogers2008]

If you're into ebonics and other pretend forms of English, it's also good to go!



though 'My family be gettin' up' and 'my family be gotting up' would also be acceptable forms... I'll leave the part about busting a cap in someone for later.

[Thiuda]

I think the answer to your questions depends on which dialect of English you're asking about. Given that you've indicated American English, my take on it is this:

Family is the singular form, in contrast to the plural families. Therefore, I'd treat it as a third person singular noun and ensure that the verb agrees with it, i.e. My family gets up in the morning.

I think that common usage bears this out.

Best wishes.

[Reise-ohne-Ende]

Steve_Rogers2008, that is the most racist piece of crap I've ever heard:

1. 'Ebonics' is not the real name for anything. There are (several) dialects called AAVE (African-American Vernacular English); perhaps that is what you are referring to.
2. There is no such thing as 'pretend English'. If it's spoken by a native speaker (and yes, black people can be native speakers of English! REAL English! Holy crap!), then it's real English. The only reason that the particular dialect you and I speak is considered superior or real is because it's the one spoken by middle-to-upper class people, usually white, who have power and prestige in society. There's nothing inherently superior about any dialect. That's a fact.
3. "My family be gettin' up" doesn't mean the same thing as "My family get up," so no, it wouldn't be an acceptable substitution. And "My family be gotting up" is not correct (i.e., not used by a native speaker) in any dialect of English I'm aware of.
4. "Busting a cap" is both wrong (should be "bustin' a cap") and antiquated (nobody says that anymore unless they're being ironic and/or racist).

Seriously? I'm not trying to attack you or make you defend yourself. You likely did not have any ill intentions when you wrote that post. But it's ignorance like that that perpetuates negative stereotypes and this false sense of entitlement and superiority that certain well-off white people have. You probably don't think of yourself as a racist person, so if you don't want other people to see you that way, I hope the info I've provided will help you be more cognizant of the image you're projecting.

*******

To answer the OP's question!!

It is my understanding that collective nouns (team, family, class, etc.) almost always take the singular verb in SAE (Standard American English):
1. My team is great.
2. My family gets up early.
3. The class was being disruptive.
and so on. As a native SAE speaker, I feel very jarred reading your original example. I think collective nouns being used with the plural verb is standard for many dialects of British English, but not for any academic situation in the States that I'm aware of.

Hope this has helped!

ETA: Ah I see where the confusion crept in. In that guide to English you referred to, the author said "family can have a plural verb". This is true, but only in certain situations, and I would say it's more vernacular than academic. It seems to me like to only occurs with the verb 'to be', although I might certainly be mistaken. Some examples I've heard that come to mind:

1. My family are so annoying!!
2. My whole family are gonna come to the party.
3. I don't know where my family are.

Those still sound awkward to me but I have heard them before.

[raewon]

Thank you Thiuda and Reise-ohne-Ende for your very helpful replies.


Perhaps Reise-ohne-Ende is on to something with the following:

[mmstyle]