Is or Are?

[differentnameforthis]

I wonder if you can for clear something up for me..

My dd(2) has a book about hippos (fictional!). The first line is

'The Hippo family is bringing home a new baby baby today'

Shouldn't it be

The Hippo family are bringing home a new baby baby today?

Only 1 baby, obviously!

Yes are! I would have thought anyway.

i think 'is' is correct.

the 'family' is 1 unit. the same as the dog 'is'.

whereas the dogs 'are'

iyswim?

It doesn't sound right though does it?

Oh yes i get what you mean booyhoo still seems wrong saying 'is' though.

my vote is for is.

It doesn't sound right at all. I do see what you mean, booyhoo.

should be is.

it is ONE family doing something, so singular not plural.

if in doubt, ask, who is doing it? if the answer is 'the hippo family' the answer is 'is'.

if the answer was 'the hippos' that answer would be 'are'

Definitely is.

kickassangel Thanks for the explanation! Makes sense.

Definitely is - and sounds fine to me?

Definitely is. 'Family' is a singular noun and should therefore be used with a singular verb. It is common practice to use a plural verb with this type of 'group' noun in English - e.g. 'the government are' instead of 'the government is', but not strictly correct. I've never seen this happen in French, German or Italian. Not sure about other languages.