Daily Grammar – Week 13

(As an aggregate noun – an aggregate refers to a whole formed by combining several elements that are typically disparate – “minutes” agrees with a plural verb. “Minutes”, also called protocols, or informally “notes”, means the instant written record of a meeting.)

2a. Do you have a hidden agendum? (No)

Do you have a hidden agenda? (Yes)

2b. The agenda of our meeting are here. (No)

The agenda of our meeting is here. (Yes)

(Originally, “agenda” was the plural of “agendum”, meaning “a thing to be done”. The word has however become applicable to a list of things to be done. Its usual modern sense is indisputably singular with the plural being “agendas”.)

3a. He is an alumni of the University of Ilorin. (No)

He is an alumnus of the University of Ilorin. (Yes)

3b. She is an alumnus of the University of Ilorin. (No)

She is an alumna of the University of Ilorin. (Yes)

3c. Those ladies are alumni of the University of Ilorin. (No)

Those ladies are alumnae of the University of Ilorin. (Yes)

3d. The young men and women there, who are alumnae of the University of Ilorin, have been told to be good ambassadors of their alma mater. (No)

The young men and women there, who are alumni of the University of Ilorin, have been told to be good ambassadors of their alma mater. (Yes)

(The distinctions are clear. The feminine form of “alumnus” is “alumna”, the plural of which is “alumnae”. The general plural is “alumni”. Meanwhile, some simply prefer “alum”, used for both male and female, the plural of which is all-encompassing: “alums”.)

Did You Know?

The English word, “infant”, comes from the Latin word, “infans”, meaning “unable to speak” or “speechless”.