I understand that "family" is usually followed by a singular verb in American English, but how about the sentence in the title? Is it ok to say "My family is all doctors." in AE?
Answer
The subject-verb agreement in English is not consistent. There is virtually no hard-and-fast rule governing it unless the number of a subject is very clear such as he, she, we, they, etc. When a collective noun is used, it is as much subjective as it can be and it entirely depends on how you perceive the word.
If you think of "family" as individual family members, you should use "are".
If you think "family" as a single unit, you should use "is.
One more thing to consider is the subject complement. If it is plural as in your example (all doctors), it is better to use "are". If it is singular, it is better to use "is".
As the first answer to this ELU question, Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular? suggests, there is difference between American English and British English.
I like @BarrieEngland's answer to the question, My family is or My family are?:
It would again depend on how the family was viewed. It could be ‘His family were abducted one by one’ or it could be ‘His entire family was abducted while he was away.’
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