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ldoceonline.com:
(1) Rodgers was not an opponent of the new airport.
my variant:
(2) Rodgers were not opponents of the new airport.

As far as I understand:
"Rodgers" is a plural noun.
The word "Rodgers" means a family members of which have the surname Rodger.

Am I right that:
— In (1) the family Rodgers is considered as a whole.
— In (2) the family Rodgers is considered as its members individually.
If not, then what is the difference between (1) and (2)?

Also, could you explain to me please the following thing:
Is "Rodgers" a collective noun?
If it is, then why is it so?
If not, then why not?

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    Rogers is a common surname in English. It's not a plural, despite the s at the end. In the example, it's a single person called "Rodgers".
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Sep 8, 2023 at 10:26
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    Note also that there are a few common surnames in English which are similar and which end in s, but are not plural: Matthews, Michaels, Roberts, Daniels, Peters, Phillips, Phelps, Richards, Simms, Williams, Robbins, etc.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Sep 8, 2023 at 11:03

1 Answer 1

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Rodgers is a person's name or the name of a business entity. The person or the business entity is singular, even though the word ends in an s. Rodgers is not a collective noun. as it refers to a single person or entity.

If you want to refer to a family, you must prefix it with the, for example:

  • the Smith family live next door to us
  • the Smiths live next door to us.

If you want to refer to a family whose name ends with an s, you have to add -es, for example "the Rodgerses".

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    "If you want to refer to a family whose name ends with an s, you have to add -es, for example "the Rodgerses"." But this is getting "clunky" and you rarely hear it used. To avoid it, native English speakers would probably use one of the other constructs such as "the Rogers family" or "the family Rogers" . Or just ignore the correct form and say "The Rogers live next door" as everyone would know what they mean! However, on this site we do not encourage the use of incorrect English, so take you pick of the correct forms.
    – Peter Jennings
    Commented Sep 8, 2023 at 11:53
  • It's very acceptable to user the plural when referring to Rodgers the business entity.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Sep 8, 2023 at 15:50
  • @DJClayworth that is sometimes, but not always true. For example, you wouldn't use the plural to refer to John Rodgers Airport in Hawaii.
    – JavaLatte
    Commented Sep 8, 2023 at 23:55
  • I'd use the full name, but I might make it plural if I was talking about the business rather than the actual structure: "John Rodgers Airport are declining to prosecute the protesters that dug up their runway."
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Sep 9, 2023 at 0:00

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