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According to dictionaries, analysis can be both countable and uncountable.

What is the rule to know if I should use the countable or uncountable form?

For example:

Completing consulting projects for companies does not always demand a painstaking analysis. (countable, with determiner "a")

Completing consulting projects for companies does not always demand painstaking analysis. (uncountable, without determiner "a")

  • Colleagues and I recently had to suffer the results of a project where the consultants clearly felt that painstaking analysis was not demanded. – Michael Harvey Nov 28 '22 at 21:02
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    An analysis is one thing; analysis in general is another. – Michael Harvey Nov 28 '22 at 21:03
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    I would be interested to know your native language. It seems to me that many of the issues we discuss here must exist in other languages. If you were French, for example, you would have the same two possibilities. Le projet ne demande pas toujours une analyse minutieuse versus Le projet ne demande pas toujours d'analyse minutieuse. Do you not have the same distinction between countable and non-countable in your own language? – WS2 Nov 28 '22 at 22:30
  • @WS2 - Korean native. I speak some French though and your two sentences in French seem sort of fine to me, though maybe I am wrong. Would you say that, if both sentences are fine in French, their two equivalents in English are also fine? Consultation projects do not require a painstaking analysis. Consultation projects do not require painstaking analysis. –  Nov 29 '22 at 08:20
  • In this instance, and in this respect English and French parallel one another. (Not surprising since they are both European languages). So how would you translate the two sentences in Korean? (I once spoke a little Japanese, though sadly not Korean, though I've been to Seoul). Could you reflect their different nuance in the form of two different Korean expressions - as you can in French and English? – WS2 Nov 29 '22 at 08:58
  • @WS2 Is this relevant to answering this question, or are you just curious? It happens that Korean has no articles, and almost never distinguishes between definite and indefinite nouns, rarely distinguishes among plural and singular, and has no concept of uncountability. This means these two sentences would likely have the exact same form in Korean. – gotube Nov 29 '22 at 17:20
  • @gotube That is interesting. I can better understand where the questioner is coming from. I hope they will pardon me for presuming them to be European. – WS2 Nov 29 '22 at 18:49

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Liquids, like water, are great examples of uncountable nouns that can also be counted when you quantify them. 'Water' can mean all the water in the world, or it can just mean the water in your glass.

Consider the following:

  • I didn't know you drank a beer.
  • I didn't know you drank beer.

The first refers to a specific beer, so it must also be a specific occasion where someone drank a beer. The second just means beer in general, so it must be an expression of surprise that the other person drinks beer at all.

It's really no different with 'analysis'. Used as a non-countable noun, it means analysis in general - that is the process of analysis. But when you use it with an article then it must be a specific analysis.

Interestingly, your example uses the word 'consulting', which can also be countable or non-countable. 'Consultation' refers to the act of speaking in general, whereas a consultation is a specific instance of it. You are speaking about specific consulting projects, so it makes sense that any analysis attached to them would be countable, too.

  • Consultation projects do not require a painstaking analysis.

If you were speaking more generally, you might say:

  • Consultation does not require painstaking analysis.
Astralbee
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  • Thank you! I infer from your answer that we walk a fine line where both alternatives could be possible? Consultation projects do not require a painstaking analysis. Consultation projects do not require painstaking analysis. Do both seem perfectly fine to native speakers, or does the second option feel awkward? –  Nov 29 '22 at 08:18
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    @jesicaf both are fine and most people wouldn't even stop to consider the difference. But "an analysis" would be a specific, measured instance; "analysis" would mean scrutiny in general. Another example - lets say the education authority sends an inspector to look at a school. He makes "an inspection". But you could also say that "schools require inspection", meaning they all receive it, in general. – Astralbee Nov 29 '22 at 08:29