Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Junkomama]

We need to show our appreciation for our family/families.
If I use "families" in this sentence, is it unacceptable?
I know "family" is a collective noun, but each of us has a family and there are more than one family, which confused me.

Thank you in advance,
Junkomama

[Anuradha Chepur]

[Junkomama]

Thank you so much for your reply, Anuradha-san!!

Regards,
Junkomama

[Lorikeet]

If you say, "We need to show appreciation for our families." I think you mean my family and your family, whether extended or not. If you say, "We need to show appreciation for our family." to me it means that you and I ae in the same family.

[Junkomama]

Thank you for your comment, Lorikeet-san!!

>If you say, "We need to show appreciation for our family." to me it means that you and I ae in the same family.

Then when I mean "I need to show appreciation to my family and you, to your family. Everyone needs to show appliciation to his family."
, should I say"our own family" ?

Regards,
Junkomama

[Anuradha Chepur]

If you are making a general statement, you can use we/our and mean what you want to, without having to use 'own'.

eg. These sound natural:
We must take care of our health.
We must care for our family.
etc.

It would actually sound a bit odd if we put 'own'.
We must take care of our own health.
We must care for our own family.

[Junkomama]

Thank you very much for your further comment, Anuradha-san!!

Regards,
Junkomama