For an individual graduate, an alumnus is a single male, an alumna is a single female, and an alum is the gender neutral term. For the plurals, alumni refers to multiple male or gender neutral graduates, alumnae is for multiple female grads, and alums is the gender neutral plural.
Is alum grammatically correct?
Alum. The word “alum” is an informal reference to either a male or female graduate. “Alums” refers to a group of graduates that can be all male, all female or mixed. While this slang is fine for casual conversation, most grammar experts recommend using the proper Latin names in professional settings.
Can you say alum?
You can shorten the words alumnus, alumna, alumnae, or alumni to alum. Just keep in mind that alum is pretty informal. There’s no problem using it in everyday conversation, but use it with caution in more formal settings.
Are you an alum when you graduate?
Collectively, you and everyone you graduated with from your institution are alumni. Alumni is the Latin plural form of a word that originally meant foster son or pupil. Everyone who graduated from your school is a former pupil or “foster son” (or daughter) of that institution.
How do I use alumni?
Alumni is the plural noun for a group of male graduates or male and female graduates. An alumnus is one male graduate. An alumna is one female graduate. And for a group of female graduates, you can use the plural alumnae.
Do you capitalize alumni?
Alumni and alumnus are the preferred plural and singular terms of alumni of any gender. … Capitalize alumni as part of a full official name; lowercase otherwise.
How do I say I am an alumni?
For a male, “I am an alumnus” is correct, and “I am an alum” would be an acceptable short alternative. A male is an alumnus; a female is an alumna; two or more males a combination of males and females are alumni; and two or more females are alumnae. “She said proudly that she was a Smith College alumna.”
Is alum singular or plural?
A little over a hundred years ago the shortened form of alum began to be used to describe a graduate or past attendee of either gender. Although many people feel that alum is informal, it is in increasing use, and we appear to be moving toward a greater acceptance of the word. The plural of alum is alums.
How do you write an alumni year?
- Alumnus. …
- Alumni names are expressed with an apostrophe and the last two digits of the graduation year (e.g., Jane Doe ’96).
- Note the direction of the apostrophe.
Who are alumni?
An alumnus (masculine, plural alumni) or alumna (feminine, plural alumnae) is a former student or pupil of a school, college, or university. Commonly, but not always, the word refers to a graduate of the educational institution in question.
What is alumni student?
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university an alumnus of Columbia University —usually used of a man in the singular but often of men and women in the plural. 2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate a Saturday Night Live alumnus.
Are dropouts considered alumni?
The term alumnus/alumna refers to anyone who attended a particular university (Merriam-Webster definition). Use graduate or dropout (or non-graduate alumnus) to specify whether or not someone completed a degree. Many tech company founders dropped out of college, but are still considered alumni.
How do you use alum in a sentence?
- Large deposits of alum occur close to the village of Bulladelah, 30 m. …
- Alum and blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) are manufactured from decomposed schists at Khetri in Shaikhawati. …
- Potash alum is the common alum of commerce, although both soda alum and ammonium alum are manufactured.
Is alumni a plural noun?
Traditionally, alumnus refers specifically to a singular male graduate and alumni is the plural form for a group of male graduates and for a group of male and female graduates. Meanwhile, the term for singular female graduates is the lesser spotted alumna, and alumnae refers to a group of female-only graduates.
What does fellow alumni mean?
People who went to the same school as you, even during a different year, are often described as fellow alumni.
How do you write alumni in a sentence?
Using Alumni in a Sentence
When to use alumni: Alumni is the plural form of alumnus or for a mixed gender group. For example: Both my mother and father are alumni of the University of Virginia. Boston University has a very active alumni community.
Are you an alumni if you didn’t graduate?
Originally Answered: Am I an alumnus of a college/university if I studied but did not graduate from there? Yes, you are. Alumnus by definition is former student or pupil of a school, college, or university. An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate, as well as a former student.
Is it better to say graduate or alumni?
After your graduation ceremony concludes, you and your fellow graduates become alumni of your school. But you, by yourself, will never be “an alumni.” A male graduate is an alumnus; a female graduate is an alumna. Collectively the group of student graduates is usually referenced in the male plural as alumni.
How do you abbreviate alumni?
Alumnus becomes alumni and alumna becomes alumnae. You can thank Latin for that. Now, when we first asked you what you call a former student, some of you may have immediately thought of alum. The beauty of this abbreviation is that it’s a catch-all and lets you avoid making a gender distinction.
How do you apostrophe a year?
- 2009 becomes ’09 (not ’09)
- 2010 becomes ’10 (not ’10)
- 2525 becomes ’25 (if we’re still alive)
What does it mean class of 2024?
For clarity, “Class of 2024” refers to those who graduated high school in 2020; “Class of 2025” refers to those who will graduate high school in 2021.
Does the apostrophe go after the year?
Similar to making contractions, an apostrophe should be used with years when omitting numbers. … If you choose to write out the entire year, just remember that you shouldn’t add an apostrophe between the year and the letter s. This isn’t grammatically correct, unless the year is possessing something.
What does alumni status mean?
Alumni status means that you are a bonafide student of that institute. In simple terms, you are not an external student i.e. you are no different than any other student who has done a graduation course from that institute.
What is alma mater vs alumni?
A lone male graduate is called an alumnus. Alumnus means foster son, pupil, or to nourish in Latin. The Latin term for a former school is alma mater, meaning nourishing mother; therefore, an alumnus can be seen as the foster son (pupil) of the nourishing mother (the school). Nice, huh?
Can alumni be an adjective?
Alumna – feminine singular… can be used as a noun or an adjective (modifier). … Notice that even though alumna is modifying a plural noun it remains in singular form because in this case it is used as adjective. Alumnae – feminine plural – can only be used as a noun.
What are Oxford alumni called?
Oxonians (a term for members, students or alumni of the university derived from its Latin name, Academia Oxoniensis) have included two British kings and at least twelve monarchs of ten other sovereign states, twenty-eight British prime ministers, and thirty-five presidents and prime ministers of nineteen other …
Should I include an unfinished degree on my resume?
If you’re taking a break from college
List your unfinished degree on your resume the same as you would if you were still attending college. Just remember, it’s important to be upfront with your potential employers about resuming your studies.