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When a family name (a proper noun) is pluralized, we almost always simply add an "s." So we go to visit the Smiths, the Kennedys, the Grays, etc.When a family name ends in s, x, ch, sh, or z, however, we form the plural by added -es, as in the Marches, the Joneses, the Maddoxes, the Bushes, the Rodriguezes.
When 'family' is a noun, you can treat it as singular or plural depending on context. If you are talking about the family as a whole unit, treat it as singular, e.g. my family is strange, if you are talking about your family members, treat it as plural, e.g. my family are all doctors.
Frequently when I refer to or address a family, I do so by pluralizing their last name, e.g., The Smiths, or The Ramones. But suppose I want to address a family whose last name ends in a "y", e.g.,
The question of whether you need the singular is or the plural are rest on whether the NPs the rest of the staff and the rest of my family are singular or plural. First step: note that rest is a number-transparent noun (CGEL, p. 350). Consider the following examples with another number-transparent noun, lot: [1] a. [A lot of work] was done. b.
Most collective nouns can be treated as singular or plural, with either a singular or plural verb: The whole family was at the table. [singular verb] The whole family were at the table. [plural verb] But there are a few collective nouns, such as police, which are always used with a plural verb: She's happy with the way the police have handled ...
@RegDwigĐ˝t This question is about spelling, not naming. The family already has a name, and the question is about how to spell the plural form of that name. Spelling questions are expressly on topic. –
Family in this case is a noun that is being possessed (in the linguistic sense) by the victim, and since a victim only has one family, then family is singular. On the other hand, in the victims' families , families is plural because there is more than one victim (note the position of the possessive apostrophe, after the s).
Her whole family is not “singular”: it is either. Both these are grammatical: 1) “Only one family is left.” 2) “Her entire family are crazy.” So either can work, but it only has to do with family. That’s because the only thing that matters is that a verb must agree with its subject, not with its predicate. –
The word family forms a normal possessive family's(apostrophe S added to group noun).The plural possessive is families' (apostrophe added to the plural)Examples:That is the family's picture.All of ...
That earlier question concerned the plural of a surname which is a homonym of a noun whose plural is irregular (the Foots/*the Feet) whereas this question concerns the plural of a surname which ends in a sibilant sound. –