extra or incorrect word in the sentence

[bart-leby]

In the EL test I was supposed to mark an incorrect or extra word in the sentences. One of them there was:



[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Anyway, my host family are happy for me to have the visitors so if you would like to come and stay for a little while…[/FONT]



I marked ´are´ but the correct answer should be ´the´. I do not understand: My host family are happy… Can somebody explain it to me? Thank you.

 

[SoothingDave]

Do you think it should be "is"?

I would probably use "is" here as well. The way collective nouns are treated as singular or plural differs according to dialect and whether one is thinking of them as one entity or of the individual members.

But people "have visitors." They don't "have the visitors." So that is clearly wrong.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

"My host family are happy for me to have visitors..." This means that visitors in general are allowed, while "the visitors" would be referring to specific visitors.

 

[Tdol]

The way collective nouns are treated as singular or plural differs according to dialect and whether one is thinking of them as one entity or of the individual members.

My family are is very common in BrE.