Intransitive verb: Live

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Moe Glick

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In this sentence: My host family, the Browns, lives/live in a big house. Can I use either?
 
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5jj

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'Family' can be followed by a singular or plural verb. A singular verb is used if you see it as a whole unit, and a plural verb if you see it as a collection on individuals. The same applies to a number of other words.
Verona is right.
However, I think that in your particular utterance, 'the Browns' would make it more likely that the following verb is 'live'. The speaker is implying that he sees the family as a collection of individuals.
 
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