Versus

“Alumnus” vs. “Alumna” vs. “Alumni” vs. “Alumnae”

Common English Blunders, Foreign Languages, Nouns, Plurals, Versus

I thought about these nouns after seeing what I considered to be a misuse of one of them the other day.

Problem:
Many people are confused about which noun to use for which group of people.

Explanation:
My wife received in the mail two days ago a publication by her undergraduate and graduate-school alma mater.

The publication had a page devoted to one of its graduates.

The graduate was a woman, and the title on the page was “Alumni Profile” followed by her name.

I consider “Alumni” in the title to be inappropriate. I would have used “Alumna” instead. Here is the explanation.

The noun “alumnus” means a male graduate or former student of a particular university, college, or school.

The noun “alumna” means a female graduate or former student of a particular university, college, or school.

The noun “alumni” means male graduates or former students of a particular university, college, or school.

The noun “alumnae” means female graduates or former students of a particular university, college, or school.

Many colleges and universities use “alumni” to refer to males and females. This is analogous to the use of the masculine plural form in Spanish when referring to a group of only males or to a group of males and females.

Historically female colleges and universities that now accept males take a different tack: they use “alumnae and alumni” or “alumnae/i” to refer to their collective group of female and male graduates.

Solution:
Use “alumna” for a woman. Use “alumnae” for a group of women. Use “alumnus” for a man. Use “alumni” for a group of men or for a group of men and women. Never call an individual “an alumni” of a school, college, or university.

“Preventative” vs. “Preventive”

Adjectives, Nouns, Versus

I often hear these words used interchangeably.

Problem:
It was not clear — at least not to me, anyway — which word is correct.

Explanation:
The word “preventive” as an adjective means serving to hinder or prevent.

The word “preventive” as a noun means a preventive measure or agent.

The word “preventive” dates back to 1630-1640.

The word “preventative” is noted by some dictionaries as being a synonym of the word “preventive” — whether as an adjective or as a noun.

However, at least one dictionary — Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary — says that “preventative” is incorrectly used instead of “preventive”.

Solution:
Given these facts, use “preventive” instead of “preventative” — as either an adjective or a noun.

Ampersand vs. “And”

Conjunctions, Versus

I sometimes see an ampersand used where the word “and” is required.

Problem:
These two conjunctions are not quite synonyms.

Explanation:
Wikipedia has an excellent overview of the ampersand.

As Wikipedia notes, “The word ampersand is a corruption of the phrase ‘and per se and’, meaning ‘and [the symbol which] by itself [is] and‘.”

The ampersand symbol — & — comes from a ligature of the letters “e” and “t” in the Latin word et, which means “and”.

Although the rise in popularity of SMS text messaging — with its 140-characters-per-message limit — has spurred the increasing use of the one-character “&” as a substitute for the three-character “and”, it is NOT appropriate to use the ampersand absolutely everywhere as a substitute for “and”.

Here is a summary of where the ampersand is appropriate:

  • In the name of a business (e.g., “Smith & Jones”);
  • When addressing an envelope to a couple (e.g., “Dr. & Mrs. Johnson”);
  • In book and movie titles (e.g., “Harry & Tonto”);
  • When giving credit for close collaboration on a screenplay (e.g., “William Benson & Mary Gallagher”);
  • When citing sources in text, per the APA style guide (e.g., “(Watson & Crick, 1955)”).

An ampersand is also used in many computer languages.

Otherwise, an ampersand should NOT be used as a substitute for the conjunction “and”.

Solution:
Reserve the use of the ampersand (&) as a substitute for the conjunction “and” in business names, movie and book titles, names of couples on envelopes, and some other special situations.