The expression is almost always used in the singular form, but the Latin plural is almae matres. Alma mater is not a generally used term in Britain as it is in the United States, the terms "school" and "university" being preferred. For this reason, if in Britain you are asked "where did you go to school" you are not being asked which university you went to, but which school, e.g. Eton, you went to. At Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the main student government is known as the Alma Mater Society.