![]() ![]() The plural form of the Latin noun memorandum so derived is properly memoranda, but if the word is deemed to have become a word of the English language, the plural memorandums, abbreviated to memos, may be used. The origins of the term “briefing” lie in legal “briefs” and the derivative “military briefings”. Typically, a briefing note may be denoted as either “for information” or “for decision”. Policy briefing note Ī specific type of memorandum is the policy briefing note (alternatively referred to in various jurisdictions and governing traditions as policy issues paper, policy memoranda, or cabinet submission amongst other terms), a document for transmitting policy analysis into the political decision making sphere. If the recipient is a colleague, the formatting requirements are usually more flexible. For example, if the intended recipient is a cabinet minister or a senior executive, the format might be rigidly defined and limited to one or two pages. Memorandum formatting may vary by office or institution. Other memorandum formats include briefing notes, reports, letters, and binders. In business, a memo is typically used by firms for internal communication, while letters are typically for external communication. In law, a memorandum is a record of the terms of a transaction or contract, such as a policy memo, memorandum of understanding, memorandum of agreement, or memorandum of association. ![]() Memos can thus communicate important information efficiently in order to make dynamic and effective changes. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and are designed to be easily and quickly understood. We’ll look at those in another episode of Everyday Grammar.Memo written by a White House staff member during the tenure of Jimmy Carter as US president.Ī memorandum ( PL: memoranda abbr: memo from the Latin memorandum, "(that) which is to be remembered") or a briefing note is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. There are many more irregular plural forms in English. Use the Germanic pattern for these words: ![]() The Dow Jones index is down.ĭon’t worry, there are other indices, like employment, going up.Īre you ready to try making plurals with some English words? This results in index – indices and matrix – matrices. When a word from Latin ends in –-ex or – ix, the plural ending is –ices. Yeah, I’m glad to be working in mass media.īut newspapers are a dying medium, aren’t they? I heard you got a job at the New York Times. Listen to how the words medium and media appear in this conversation. These two words are more common in their plural forms than the singular forms in our digital life. There are a lot of different fungi in this forest.įor words that end in –um, the ending changes to –a, as in the words datum – data and medium – media. Words that end in –us drop that ending and add –i to become plural, as in fungus – fungi and cactus – cacti. Let’s look at the plural of some words from Latin. Many technical words in English came from Latin. With words that come from foreign languages, there are some patterns that may help you remember the plural. These are words that come from Old English. We see this in the words brother – brethren child - children and ox - oxen. We have autumn leaves and sharp knives.Īnother way to make plurals in English is to add the suffix – en. The voiceless sound f takes on a voiced quality, or v, and an s sound is added to the word. Sometimes a consonant changes, as with words that end in an f sound, such as leaf. Man – men and woman – women are examples of different vowel sounds in plural words. There are other plurals where the vowel changes like in the German pattern. The vowel with two dots over it is called an umlaut. The plural form of the German word for goose, Gans is Gänse. German grammar changes the vowel sound in the middle of the word to show it is plural. What happened to our neat rule for making words plural? That doesn’t follow the “add an –s” rule. Put them together and what have you got? Two feet. Let’s look at some other things we can make plural. ![]() When you have one sheep, you can also call it a ram or a ewe, and make those nouns plural by adding an –s: rams and ewes. After all, they are almost always in a group. It’s easy to understand that farmers would not worry about making plurals when they talk about sheep. Why isn’t it two fishes? You may think, “Ok, it’s hard to count fish so we group them all together. One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, goes the Dr. ![]()
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