3

vegetarian: a person who does not eat meat or fish

We can say

I am a doctor

I am a vegetarian

family [countable + singular or plural verb]: a group consisting of one or two parents and their children

All my family enjoy skiing.

In the above definition, "family" is a countable noun & can be followed by a singular or plural verb

But then "family" also has other meaning

family [countable + singular or plural verb, uncountable]: a group consisting of one or two parents, their children and close relations

In the above definition, "family" can be a countable noun (an be followed by a singular or plural verb) or an uncountable noun

Can we say:

My family is vegetarian.

or

My family are vegetarians.

Improve this question
2
  • Do the answers to this question: Family do or does? answer yours?
    – None
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 8:07
  • @Laure No, it won't be able to. This is 'cuz the verb DO does not takes adjectives. The OP's question is about whether to use the noun vegetarian or the adjective.
    – Araucaria - Not here any more.
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 9:15

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
9

Yes. You can use the adjective vegetarian:

  • I am vegetarian.
  • My family is vegetarian.

Or you can use the noun vegetarian:

  • I am a vegetarian.
  • My family are vegetarians.

In both cases the noun family is grammatically singular and countable.

However, in terms of meaning, in the second example we think of a family as a group of individuals. This is why it takes the plural verb are.

Improve this answer
4
  • 6
    I would add that using plural verbs for collections is more common in UK English than American English.
    – Harris
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 13:58
  • 7
    @HarrisWeinstein Agreed. "My family are vegetarians" hurts my American ears. If I wanted to use the noun, I would probably say "Everyone in my family is a vegetarian" or otherwise rewrite to avoid a plural verb with a singular noun.
    – thunderblaster
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 14:02
  • 2
    I'll third that. "My family are..." is basically always wrong to American English speakers. The simplest transformation to make it work would be "My family members are..."
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 14:42
  • 2
    @R.. "My family are vegetarians" sounds perfectly reasonable to me, not at all wrong. I suspect it's regional.
    – barbecue
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 15:23

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .