Getting Serious about Series

If you went to the World Series three years in a row, did you go to three serieses or three series? That awkward word serieses is still floating around, but the accepted term for more than one series is just series.

I don’t know about you, but that sure makes it easier for my mouth. I like to talk about the many TV or book series I’m reading, and although it feels odd not to add that es to the end of series, I’m glad for it.

Series can serve as a plural when needed, but the word is usually singular. We say “that series is very popular in the UK.”

But when talking about a series of things, you want to treat the word as a plural:

• There have been a series of such incidents for more than a year now.
• A series of great episodes were shown last weekend.
• A series of fatal accidents have alarmed the public.

You can apply this rule to the word species as well.

If you’re serious about attending all those World Series, don’t bother to drag along a dictionary. Just bring your catcher’s mitt and leave the es behind!