What's the plural of 'media'?

Whenever I need to use a word that has more than one correct form, say for example past-tense forms like dreamed vs. dreamt or plural forms like fungi vs. funguses, I check the dictionary. For every word with multiple correct options, dictionaries always have a preference. And they indicate it by listing their preferred form first.

For example, in Webster’s New World College Dictionary under fungus, the first thing you see is “fungi or funguses,” meaning the dictionary prefers fungi.

 So you can imagine my shock when I looked up the noun medium and saw that the dictionary’s first choice for a plural was not media but mediums. Had I stopped there, I would have forever believed that this Webster’s — the dictionary I have to follow in most of my work — would have me say, “Print is one news medium, digital is another, and together they’re two different types of mediums.”

 That’s completely counter to conventional wisdom. Most people who pay attention to this stuff will tell you without hesitation that one news medium and another news medium together form two news media. (Which is different from a fortune-teller type “spiritual medium,” which in the plural is “mediums.”) Yet, in the very place that this dictionary indicates its preferred forms, it seemed to be saying that I should opt for mediums over media.

 Good thing I kept reading. Under its third definition for the noun medium, Webster’s says: "3. pl. usually media: any means, agency, or instrumentality, specif., a means of communication that reaches the general public and carries advertising.”

 In other words, the preferred plural indicated at the beginning of the listing wasn't the same as the preferred plural for one specific definition of the word. So, yes, if you consult two fortune tellers you talked to two spiritual mediums. But if you read a newspaper and a magazine, you consulted two types of media.

 As for whether media is necessarily plural, that depends on its use. Media is sometimes treated as a plural, News media are covering this thoroughly, and sometimes treated as a singular, The media is going to have a field day.

Pence, interrupted: How a comma undercut the then-VP's message to Trump

“You know, I don’t think I have the authority to change the outcome.” That single line from former Vice President Mike Pence’s book “So Help Me God” contains what Pence reportedly told investigators is a serious punctuation error: the comma.

Pence was talking with Donald Trump on Christmas Day 2020 when he told the then-president either “You know, I don’t think I have the authority” or “You know I don’t think I have the authority.” According to ABC News, Pence told investigators looking into the Jan. 6 insurrection that what he really said was the no-comma version: that Trump knew that Pence didn’t believe he had the authority to change the outcome of the presidential election. But either Pence or one of his editors stuck a comma in there, changing the meaning of the sentence and offering a perfect example of just how important commas can be.

Commas have a number of jobs. They can separate coordinate nouns, like “We have a cat, a dog and a hamster.” They can separate coordinate adjectives, like “Our cat is cute, cuddly and playful.” They can separate whole clauses that are connected with a conjunction, like “Our cat is cute, but our dog is cuter.” They can set off a direct address, meaning when you call someone by a name, which is why “Let’s eat, Grandma” means something quite different from “Let’s eat Grandma.” They can separate nonrestrictive information, which means clauses that don’t influence the meaning of the noun: “The man, who was driving, was drunk” means there was just one man, but “The man who was driving was drunk” means you’re singling out the guy behind the wheel from some other guys.

In Pence’s book, the comma is doing yet another job: setting off an introductory clause. Here’s my recent column examining how that works.

Happy holidays from the Smith's? How not to mess up names on holiday greetings

Every year, people writing holiday greetings repeat the same mistakes: Merry Christmas from the Smith’s! Happy Holidays from the Wilson’s. We look forward to seeing you this year at Joe Gomez’ house. And on and on. So here’s my 2023 edition of how to make names plural, possessive and plural possessive in your holiday greetings.

Don’t use an apostrophe to form the plural of a family name. Clay and DeeDee Smith are the Smiths, not the Smith’s.

Don’t use an apostrophe to form the plural of a family name even if it ends in a vowel. Just because the plural name Mancinis looks like the last syllable should be pronounced “iss,” that’s no excuse for using an apostrophe. Ignore your ear and follow the rule: Add just an S to make plurals of last names ending in vowels. One Mancini, two Mancinis. One Popescu, a whole family of Popescus. One Cho, all the Chos.

Use and ES and no apostrophe to form the plural of a family name that ends in S, Ch, Sh, X or Z. “We’re visiting the Walshes this Christmas” is correct. Not “the Walsh’s.” “We’re traveling with the Williamses” is correct. Not “the Williams’s” or “the Williams’.” For these, it’s especially important to remember whether you want to make the name plural, possessive or both, because these names in possessive form get tricky. But to simply make plural a name ending in S or another of these letters, just add the ES: We love spending time with the Basses, the Gomezes and the Maddoxes.

Don’t change the spelling of a name that ends in Y. Berrys aren’t berries. They’re people whose last name is made plural the same way most names are: with just an S. The Quincys. The Murphys. The Zelenskys.

Don’t insert an apostrophe in front of an S that’s part of the name. If you’re writing a card to people with the last name of Williams, don’t talk about them as “the William’s.” Two people named James are never “the Jame’s.”

Form possessives of singular and plural names the same way you form possessives of singular and plural generic nouns. You already know to add an apostrophe plus an S to make most singular nouns possessive: the cat’s tail. You also know that if the noun is plural, you usually make it possessive with just an apostrophe placed after the plural S: the cats’ tails. Keep that in mind when writing possessives of proper names on holiday greetings. The house owned by the Smiths is the Smiths’ house. The party thrown by the Mangiones is the Mangiones’ party. Of course, if just one person named Mangione is throwing the party, it’s Bob Mangione’s party. But it’s those plural possessives that you have to watch out for.

Don’t make exceptions for names ending in X or Z. Outdated style books used to say that names ending in X or Z had their own set of rules for forming possessives. Not so. For singular possessives ending in X or Z, add apostrophe plus S: Donna Cox’s party. Paul Martinez’s house. For plural possessives ending in X or Z, first make plural by adding ES, then add the apostrophe on the end as you do for all plural possessives. The Coxes’ party. The Martinezes’ house.

Pick your style for forming possessives of singular proper names ending in S. Some rule-makers say that singular proper names that end in S form the possessive just like every other word: by adding an apostrophe and S: Mr. Jones’s hat. Others say to add just an apostrophe: Mr. Jones’ hat. Either way is fine. Just remember this applies only to singular names.

Gift books for word lovers

For certain nerdy types (you know the ones), language books make great gifts. Unlike mysteries and memoirs that are quickly devoured in e-book form — then forgotten — informative, fun grammar and writing guides double as reference books. You can wrap one up and put it under the tree knowing your recipient will reach for it again and again for years to come.

Here’s my 2023 language book gift guide for every type of word nerd.

For the rule follower: Most people, even grammar savvy types, don’t know about usage guides. These reference books look like dictionaries, with alphabetized entries for words and language concepts. But instead of listing definitions, they offer expert insights on usage matters. Look under E to find a discussion of when “everyone” takes a singular or plural verb. Look under D to learn that a “double genitive” like “a friend of Joe’s” is not an error even though it doubles up on the possessives. Look under C to learn about “compose” and “comprise.” Two great usage guides for the grammar buff on your list: Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage and Garner’s Modern English Usage.

For the Grammar Girl fan: The most beloved grammar podcaster of all time, Mignon Fogarty has a new book out just in time for Secret Santas. In The Grammar Daily: 365 Quick Tips for Successful Writing from Grammar Girl, Fogarty delivers one easy, practical writing tip per day, every day for a year. On Day One, you’ll learn that the possessive of McDonald’s is McDonald’s. A few weeks later, you’ll learn that even though “anxious” usually carries a negative connotation, you can use it to mean “eager.”

Read about my other picks — Dreyer's English, Rebel With a Clause, the Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier and Nine Nasty Words — here in my recent column.