Thread: Она или они?

Как обыно отвечают на вопрос: «Где живёт Ваша семья?»

Она живёт в Москве.
Они живут в Москве.

"В Москве".

+1 Just "В Москве". No one in his right mind would go all the way for "Она живет в Москве" - it's too long and you can use much shorter forms of sentences - it's perfectly legal even from the point of view of official grammar.

To answer the question about which particular pronoun to use with the family I will be so mean and ask a counter question - which pronoun should I use in English - it or they regarding family?

Methinks, both pronouns would be ok. But you don't need to say "Она/они живут в Москве" - just "В Москве" will do.

Originally Posted by doninphxaz

Как обычно отвечают на вопрос: «Где живёт Ваша семья?»

Она живёт в Москве.
Они живут в Москве.

Но. Если так сложилось, что человек, которого спрашивают, и его семья временно живут в разных местах (т.е. городах, странах), то второй вариант покатит. Первый мне нравится меньше.))

А если все живут вместе, то и спросят скорее "Где вы живёте?", а не "Где живёт Ваша семья?", но это по контексту, конечно, лучше определять.)

Мы живём в Москве.

а я живу в Саннивейл!

Если отвечать в полной форме, то я бы выбрал первый вариант.

Зая, мы с тобой разошлись во мнениях.

Originally Posted by Ramil

To answer the question about which particular pronoun to use with the family I will be so mean and ask a counter question - which pronoun should I use in English - it or they regarding family?

Methinks, both pronouns would be ok.

No, in English if the question is "Where does your family live?", we say, "They live in Moscow." We would never say, "It lives in Moscow."

а я живу в Саннивейл!

а я думал, ты живешь в Клаудимаунт!

I guess I wrote rubbish originally. Now I've corrected it.

Господа, не вводите других в заблуждение. Единственный верный вариант это "Она живет в Москве". "Они живут в Москве" - не верно.

Единственно верный с точки зрения грамматики и логики - да, но так же почти что никогда не говорят!

Я за заин ответ: "В Москве".

Либо: "Моя семья живёт в Москве."

Originally Posted by doninphxaz

Originally Posted by Ramil

To answer the question about which particular pronoun to use with the family I will be so mean and ask a counter question - which pronoun should I use in English - it or they regarding family?

Methinks, both pronouns would be ok.

No, in English if the question is "Where does your family live?", we say, "They live in Moscow." We would never say, "It lives in Moscow."

But you can say: "My family is from Moscow"

Originally Posted by TATY

But you can say: "My family is from Moscow"

I was wondering what a person from the UK would say. I know that typical American and British English differs on this point sometimes. Collective nouns, I mean. I'm a bit surprised, though, because I expected you to say, "My family are from Moscow." Is "family" an exception?

Personally, I think British English has it right. If you would use the pronoun 'they' in place of the noun, it must be treated as plural, and if you use "it", then it ought to be singular.

In Russian, though, since each noun has a gender, collective nouns are still "he/she/it" regardless. That's how I understand it, anyway.

"Они.." if a full sentence is required for any reason.

Originally Posted by Mihail_K

Господа, не вводите других в заблуждение. Единственный верный вариант это "Она живет в Москве". "Они живут в Москве" - не верно.

Вполне может быть. Если расспрашивают человека о его жене, детях, а потом задают вопрос: "Где живёт Ваша семья?" Поскольку ясно, кто подразумевается под словом "семья", "они" - самое оно.)
Так что не надо так категорично.)

И вообще, все эти "она" да "они" подразумевают, что человек отделяет себя от семьи, не является с ней одним целым. Если это так - то пожалуйста. Но вообще я посоветую не заморачиваться и говорить просто "в Москве". Общение - не урок, так что не нужно давать полный вариант ответа. А зачастую так и вовсе нежелательно.

Еще вариант. Если вся его семья - он да жена, то и спросят не "Где живёт ваша семья?", а "Где вы (он + жена) живёте?" или, опять-таки, если он какое-то время проводит вне дома, а до этого они с женой жили попеременно в двух странах, могут спросить "Где [сейчас] живёт Ваша жена?" (т.е. в какой из этих стран она осталась).

У творческих людей всякое бывает.)

Originally Posted by Matroskin Kot

Originally Posted by TATY

But you can say: "My family is from Moscow"

I was wondering what a person from the UK would say. I know that typical American and British English differs on this point sometimes. Collective nouns, I mean. I'm a bit surprised, though, because I expected you to say, "My family are from Moscow." Is "family" an exception?

Personally, I think British English has it right. If you would use the pronoun 'they' in place of the noun, it must be treated as plural, and if you use "it", then it ought to be singular.

In Russian, though, since each noun has a gender, collective nouns are still "he/she/it" regardless. That's how I understand it, anyway.

Yes there is a general difference in British and American usage. For example,
Chelsea is the best football team in London.
Chelsea are the best football team in London.

I can't remember which one would be more American and which more British. In Britain you can hear both, I don't think it makes much difference.

'Majority', a singular noun usually takes the plural form of verbs:
"The majority of people in Britain live [not lives] in urban areas."

Originally Posted by TATY

But you can say: "My family is from Moscow"

Точно. "My family is from Moscow, but they are in Greece this month." That's perfectly normal American English. Grammatically, at least, if not situationally.

A Brit might say, "My family are Moscow, but they are in Greece now."

I can't imagine either a Brit or an American saying, "My family is/are in Greece, but it is in Greece now."

Originally Posted by doninphxaz

Originally Posted by TATY

But you can say: "My family is from Moscow"

Точно. "My family is from Moscow, but they are in Greece this month." That's perfectly normal American English. Grammatically, at least, if not situationally.

A Brit might say, "My family are Moscow, but they are in Greece now."

I can't imagine either a Brit or an American saying, "My family is/are in Greece, but it is in Greece now."

I think the reason is, in English 'it' is an innanimate pronoun, therefore using it with 'family', a noun which denotes a group of animates, doesn't sound good. In Russian, the pronoun used, ona, is feminine because it agrees with the gender of the noun sem'ya.

In English in most cases we can't use 'he' or 'she' to refer to a innanimate nouns. 'They', as well as meaning more than one person, is also like a neutral gender singular pronoun meaning he/she. E.g. when you are talking about a hyperthetical situation and don't want to say 'he' or 'she' you can use they.

The new employee will have lots of work to do, he/she will have to work very hard.
Or in normal, everday speech:
The new employee will have lots of work to do, they will have to work very hard.

So I think the choice of 'they' over 'it' for 'family' is due to the fact that 'it' is innanimate, 'he' and 'she' are gender specific and therefore don't work, so since a family is more than one person, 'they' is used.

Originally Posted by TATY

Yes there is a general difference in British and American usage. For example,
Chelsea is the best football team in London.
Chelsea are the best football team in London.

I can't remember which one would be more American and which more British. In Britain you can hear both, I don't think it makes much difference.

You can hear both in the States, too, but an American is much more inclined to think of a team as "it" even though he will often say "they" in regard to the group collectively. Unless the team name is plural, that is. For example:

My team is lousy! They can't win a game!
The LA Lakers are lousy! They can't win a game!

Whereas in Britain you might hear:
England are a great football side.
England is a country of great diversity.

One is a team made up of players, and the other is a political entity. I believe this is correct, and have adjusted my speech accordingly, with only occasional lapses.