Breakdown of Вся семья собралась дома, чтобы отметить его юбилей.
дома
at home
чтобы
in order to
семья
the family
его
his
Questions & Answers about Вся семья собралась дома, чтобы отметить его юбилей.
Why does the verb собралась look feminine and singular if we are talking about the whole family (many people)?
In Russian, verbs agree with the grammatical form of the subject, not with the real number of people involved.
- семья is a feminine singular noun (it ends in -я and is grammatically feminine).
- Therefore, in the past tense the verb must be feminine singular: собралась (she gathered).
Even though in meaning it’s many people, grammatically it’s one unit.
Compare:
- Вся семья собралась. – The whole family gathered. (singular)
- Все члены семьи собрались. – All the family members gathered. (plural собрались)
Why is the verb reflexive собралась and not something like собрала?
Russian has two different verbs:
- собрать (non‑reflexive, transitive) – to gather/collect something or someone.
- Он собрал книги. – He collected the books.
- собраться (reflexive, intransitive) – to gather, to come together.
- Семья собралась. – The family got together.
In your sentence, the family is not collecting something; they are themselves coming together. That is why the reflexive verb собраться is used: семья собралась.
Why do we say вся семья, not все семья or все семьёй?