You Are Not An Alumni

You are not "an alumni" of Boston College, and you never will be (though you can be "an alumnus" if you are male or "an alumna" if you are female). "Alumnus" is one of the few nouns in the English language that has retained its original Latin forms:

 
Singular
Plural
Masculine
alumnus
(one man)
alumni
(group of men, OR a group of men and women - hence, "alumni association")
Feminine
alumna
(one woman)
alumnae
(group of women - pronounced "alum-nee")

For our collective assault on the English language, blame those bumper stickers that declare "(Fill-in-the-blank) College Alumni," implying that the driver is "an alumni."

By the way, "alumnus" (the actual root word) means "foster child" in Latin.

 

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