Is It Alum or Alumni?

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.

Can I say alum?

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.

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.