Para ser sinceros

Question

"Su familia la quiere mucho y, para ser sinceros, ha hecho muchos sacrificios por sus hijos." quote from cloze exercise

I do not understand to whom 'para ser sinceros' refers to. Does it refer to 'su familia' or Eva, the daughter who made the sacrifices?

Why is 'sinceros' plural since it refers to a singular noun, either su familia or Eva?

This sentence doesn't make much sense to me.

I understand the need for para in para ser sinceros to mean in order to be sincere, but I am confused as to why sinceros is plural and to whom it refers.

Thank you.

Using para (and not por) for purpose, goal or objective

Accepted Answer

Hola Lynda
I can't see the actual exercise where you found this sentence, but this use of "sinceros" in plural is a "general use" as if referring to us all - it is pretty much as a set expression. A similar example could be:

Para ser sinceros, la crisis va a durar algunos años más.
To be honest, the crisis is going to last a few more years.

This "to be honest" is also taken, I think, as a general expression; it doesn't necessarily refer to just the speaker, but it is more of a set expression meaning "if we all are honest". It is the same effect that "para ser sinceros" has in Spanish.
I hope this clarified it.
Saludos
Inma

Answer

Thank you Inma!

I suspected "para ser sinceros" might be a formulaic expression.

In English we would say, "If we are being honest". But the use of this 'para ser sinceros' sounds awkward and stilted to me in this context.

Thank you. I had never heard this expression in plural before.