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Her family eat bread every day

hirashin

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Dear native English speakers,

1. Would the following sentences be used?

(1a) Her family eat bread every day.
(1b) Her family members eat bread every day.


2. Do the following sentences mean the same thing?

(2a) He needs to improve his control when he pitches.
(2b) He has to improve his control when he pitches.


3. Do the following sentences mean the same thing?

(3a) They eat lunch here every day.
(3b) They have lunch here every day.


4. Would the following sentences be used?

(4a) His movies are translated into English.
(4b) His movies are put into English.


5. Do the following sentences mean the same thing?

(5a) We may not get good seats.
(5b) We may not be able to get good seats.


6. Do the following sentences mean the same thing?

(6a) I have a lot of training to do.
(6b) I have to do a lot of training.


Thanks in advance.

Hirashin
 
1. Yes I would use either one. 1a. Eat would be eats.

2. I think need implies that the improvement is more necessary. Might be used if there is a consequence if they do not improve.

3. Yes.

4. 4a. Yes 4b. No

5. I think a may imply that there may be something preventing them from getting good seats. For example, they can't afford to do so. While b may imply that even if there isn't something preventing them from getting good seats they may not be available. Like buying seats for a concert near the actual date.

6. I think so. I think the emphasis is the only thing that is different. I am not certain why or in what way. But it just seems slightly different to me. I would think that you are doing the same thing. It's just what is important in your mind that might change. For example, the reason for training.
 
All of your sentences look good (except 1a), and have the same meaning between a/b.

Regarding 1a, since you are talking about only 1 family, you should use "eats". In 1b, you are talking about multiple members of a family, so you use "eat". For example:

The family eats.
The families eat.
A member of my family eats.
Members of my family eat.
The dog barks.
The dogs bark.
 
1a may be correct in British English.
 
Thanks for your help, Mike, Clark, and Undrentide-san.

Would British people say "how are your family?" as well as "how is your family"?

Hirashin
 
Not sure About British but American English would use 'is'.

Since learning more about British speech it seems 'are' would be more appropriate for British speech.
 
Thanks for the help, Damicci. Does Rieko have big eyes?

Hirashin
 
hirashin said:
Would British people say "how are your family?" as well as "how is your family"?
Click to expand...
Right, in the UK nouns such as "family" may be treated as either singular or plural, so both "How is/are your family?" might be heard, just as "Her family eat/eats...". Some people say that the singular verb should be used when the focus is on the group as a single entity, and the plural verb should be used when the focus is on the individual members. In practice this distinction may not always be very useful though.
 
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