Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Rapacious Mr. Batstove]

Salutations

I'm currently puzzling over this grammar question in a textbook.

Do / Does

Q: ________ your family eat dinner together?

A: Yes, they/we do.


Now, I understand the present simple usage for Do Did Done Doing for (I / you / we / they) is do not does.

But 'Do your family eat dinner together?' sounds wrong, but appears to be the correct answer.

I would say, 'Does your family eat together?' and so do most people I have asked.

Is this an example of incorrect grammar usage becoming commonplace or have I just been mis-educated?

Cheers

[MarionG]

No, you're not miseducated but the singular changes to the plural between the question and the answer:

Does your family eat dinner together? (singular, as family is singular)
Yes, we do. (Plural, as we is plural)

[Rapacious Mr. Batstove]

[ernie]

simple:
if your answer is "yes, WE do", then the form of do changes because the pronoun changes, and if your answer is "yes, IT does", then the form of do doesn't change because the pronoun stays the same... i guess it all depends upon whether you're included in family events or not!

[MarionG]

Yes, the previous poster mentions the key...the form of the pronoun determines the form of the verb.

Also, it would be perfectly acceptable to answer the question in the singular, "Yes, it (the family) does." By including yourself, it becomes "Yes, we do."
Although the past tense is the same (it did, we did) if the question had been "Did your family eat dinner together?" Most people would respond "Yes, it did." because the family under consideration is assumedly the family of origin, and the answerer is no longer a meal time member of that family.