An analysis is a “detailed study or examination of something in order to understand more about it; the result of the study”. Its meaning is similar to ‘assess‘ or ‘evaluate‘.
What’s the plural of “analysis”?
Following Greek pluralization conventions,
- Analysis is singular.
- Analyses (pronounced uh-nal-uh-seeze) is plural.
Forms of analysis
- To analyze (or analyse in UK English) is the verb form of analysis.
- Analytic and analytical are adjective forms.
Most plural nouns in English end in ‘-s’ or ‘-es’. Nouns that end in s/es are regular and simple to form: all you have to do is add ‘s’ or ‘es’! We see this with most nouns: ‘dog’ plural is ‘dogs’, cat turns to cats, book is books, ‘table’/ ‘tables’, and so forth. Plural nouns ending in anything other than ‘s’ or ‘es’ are irregular. To learn more about irregular plurals, check our deep dive here.
Greek pluralization rules
Despite Greek nouns ending with ‘-es’ as plurals, they are still irregular, since, instead of adding ‘-es’ to the word’s ending, the ‘-es’ is swapped with ‘-is’ from its singular case. Because ‘-es‘ replaces the suffix of its singular noun form (the -is), this changes how we spell and pronounce ‘analyses‘ as a plural and other Greek words.
Analysis/analyses share singular/plural noun patterns with many Greek words: diagnosis, crisis, synopsis, oasis, synthesis, thesis, and nemesis all end in -sis as singular nouns. Each similarly mimics the same plural form; i.e., substitutes the -sis with -ses: diagnoses, crises, oases, syntheses, theses, nemeses, (bases, hypotheses, paralyses, axes, the Greek nouns list goes on).
| singular | plural |
| crisis | crises |
| diagnosis | diagnoses |
| oasis | oases |
| synopsis | synopses |
| thesis | theses |
Apart from being irregular plural nouns, these words have another thing in common: they’re all Greek. Greek occupies roughly 5% of the English language. Most English words come from the Germanic languages, which include Dutch, German, Old Norse, Old Frisian, and a few others.
Practice using the verb in different tenses with example sentences to memorize the correct forms.
Analysis/analyses example sentences
| Sentences with “analysis” singular | Sentences with “analyses” plural |
| She gave a thorough analysis of the main character’s motives.
That’s not a bad analysis of the situation. Oregon ranked fifth worst for reading loss in the analysis and eighth worst in math, the researchers concluded. (Oregonlive, 28 Oct. 2022) |
The lab’s analyses of the compound revealed that the key element is potassium.
After several analyses of the blood sample, the coroner was able to identify the toxin that killed the wealthy widow. Because the analyses were not performed in a sterile environment, the results of the chemical breakdowns were tainted. |
Quotes from the media
As a result, only the city should determine where the statue would be moved, the judge explained in the court order analysis. (Simrin Singh, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2022)
The scale of the disruption to American education is evident in a district-by-district analysis of test scores. (Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2022)
During analyses of future weather patterns, a meteorological team has detected climate changes that may produce a category five hurricane.
The factory owner made several budget analyses to decide which departments could be reduced in size.
Synonyms of analysis
- inquiry
- inquiry
- investigation
- search
- study
- test
- assessment
- evaluation
- dissection
- examination
Read about other topics
- What are personal pronouns?
- What’s the difference between they’re, their, and there?
- Whose vs who’s?
Worksheet
What is the plural of ‘analysi’?
What is the plural of ‘i’?
What is the plural of ‘it’?
Which is grammatically correct?
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