How would you word this sentence?

Question

Should I use "is" or "are" in the following sentence? I'm not interested in rewording, even if this sentence isn't the best possible way it could be written.

Her family (is/are) the only people who care.

Answer 1

Her family are the only people who care.

As was said, family is plural in this sentence, so the correct word choice is "are".

I would also say that all writers should be willing to rewrite any sentence that needs it. That's what writers do. We make the strongest possible sentence--with the best word choices.

Answer 2

Hi Jordan,

You should write this sentence with "are" in it as follows:

Her family are the only people who care.

Since "people" is written in plural form as a noun, "are" needs to be used because it is written in plural form as a verb.

Answer 3

Hi Jordan!

Simple answer

In this sentence, you will need to use "are."

Why?

In this sentence, the family refers to a group of people. You even say they are the "only people who care." "People" is plural here, so this suggests that the noun "family" is functioning as plural and thus needs a verb that is written in a plural form.

I hope this helps! Good luck!