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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010can anyone tell me which is correct, thanks?
his family were paid compensation his family was paid compensation > his family were paid compensation > > his family was paid compensation Both. The Aussies tend to get rather hung-up on this one - "Australia *is* 2 for 6", etc. Then they lose the plot - "Australia played badly this morning, 'they are' (somehow never 'it is') having a bad day". It can take a single or plural verb, the only important thing is to be consistent. > his family were paid compensation > > his family was paid compensation "Family" is a collective (I think that's the word) noun. Collective nouns can be taken as either singular or plural depending upon whether you are talking about the group as a whole or about the individuals within the group. "The committee meets on Wednesday nights." "The committee are arguing about the by-law change." In your case: if the family as a whole was paid, use the singular verb. If the individual members of the family were paid, use the plural. And note the verb I used in each sentence. Bill in Kentucky >> his family were paid compensation >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >"The committee meets on Wednesday nights." >"The committee are arguing about the by-law change." They would say "meet" and "are arguing" in England, but I think in America it would be The committee members are arguing about ..... As usual the original poster didn't abide by the rules of my sig. >In your case: if the family as a whole was paid, use the singular verb. > If the individual members of the family were paid, use the plural. >And note the verb I used in each sentence. > >Bill in Kentucky  SignaturePosters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years Indianapolis 7 years Chicago 6 years Brooklyn, NY 12 years Baltimore 26 years In article <0a9b9fc6-75f7-4842-931e-8213cdba86bc@k19g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>, > his family were paid compensation > > his family was paid compensation As "family" is a collective noun and therefore singular, the correct verb would be "was." > In article > <0a9b9fc6-75f7-4842-931e-8213cdba86bc@k19g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > As "family" is a collective noun and therefore singular, the correct > verb would be "was." Not true. Collective nouns can be either singular or plural - it depends whether they are to be considered as a whole or as combined units. > >> his family was paid compensation > >> his family were paid compensation > > As "family" is a collective noun and therefore singular, the correct > > verb would be "was." > Not true. Collective nouns can be either singular or plural - it depends > whether they are to be considered as a whole or as combined units. And in this case the difference would be a lump-sum payment made to the whole family ("was") and individual payments made to individual family members ("were"). Nevertheless it must be acknowledged that "the family were" will sound strange to most Leftpondian ears. SignatureBob http://www.kanyak.com |
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