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As we know, the word analysis is a noun, and can be used as both a countable noun and an uncountable noun; the word analyze is a verb. As I have known this word analyse can be used as a verb, but for its another use as a noun, I have a blurry understanding.

Can it be used as a noun, and if so, as a countable noun or an uncountable noun？

psmears
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Joy Jo
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    Can you give an example of how it could be used as a noun? I can't think of one. Maybe you're thinking of analysis. – Mike Harris Aug 17 '17 at 01:56
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    A dictionary can tell you these things – Jim Aug 17 '17 at 01:57
  • The plural form of the word analysis is analyse. All that I know about this word analyse is that it can be used as a verb. But I do not know whether it can be used as a noun. If yes, can it be a countable noun or an uncountable noun? – Joy Jo Aug 17 '17 at 02:05
  • I cannot think of an example for the word ananlyse when used as a noun. – Joy Jo Aug 17 '17 at 02:07
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    @MikeHarris: Well, in French the word for analysis is "analyse", and Google Books shows some examples of people using "the analyse" as a noun in English to mean "the analysis". But I would think of this as a error due to interference from knowledge of another language. – herisson Aug 17 '17 at 02:07
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    JoyJo, the plural of analysis is analyses (note the final "s"). It is also the plural for the French singular that @sumelic mentioned. – vpn Aug 17 '17 at 02:17

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I know why you’re confused.

  1. The plural of the noun analysis /əˈnæləsɪs/ is analyses /əˈnæləsiːz/. Since the noun has a plural form, it is a count noun not an uncountable one.

  2. The singular of the verb analyse /ˈænəˌlaɪz/ is also spelled analyses — but now that spelling is suddenly pronounced /ˈænəˌlaɪzəz/, which is quite different from the plural noun’s pronunciation.

You may spell the verbs analyze and analyzes if you wish; it changes nothing in the pronunciation. Just make sure to be consistent and stick to one or the other.

It’s quite normal in English to have a noun and verb spelled the same way but pronounced differently.

The OED attests that historically the noun analyse did once upon a time exist in English, but says that that usage is now considered obsolete today. In our day, analyse “can” only be a verb in new writing, never a noun. Sometimes the OED is a bit overzealous with obsolescing words that you can still find in rare usage, but I’d advise against using this one if I were you.

tchrist
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  • So in English, the word analyse is just a verb, and cannot be used as a noun. The word analyses is the plural of the noun analysis and singular of the verb analyse. Is that right? – Joy Jo Aug 17 '17 at 02:26
  • @JoyJo In today's English, yes, you are correct. However, the OED attests that historically the noun ˈanalyse did once upon a time exist in English, but says that that is now obsolete today. – tchrist Aug 17 '17 at 02:28
  • Thank you so much for your perfect answer. I have confused about these words for a long time and the answers vary from person to person. Your answer just cleared my confusion. – Joy Jo Aug 17 '17 at 02:33
  • This answer should probably be edited to clarify that "analyze" is American (etc.) English and "analyse" is British (etc.) English. Americans don't write "analyse", and Brits don't write "analyze". But we both write "analysis" (and its plural "analyses"). See also: paralyse vs. paralyze vs. paralysis; and presumably other technical terms such as autolysis and catalysis. – Quuxplusone Aug 17 '17 at 06:43
  • @Quux, can you confirm that the -yse/-yze split is not the same as the -ise/-ize split (where US always prefers -ize, and Britain accepts either, and notably Oxford Dictionaries prefers -ize)? Thanks. – Toby Speight Aug 17 '17 at 10:22
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    @Toby I can do that. OED uses -ize for words of Greek origin where the Greek used the letter zeta in a -zein suffix. Analysis comes ultimately from ἀνάλυσις which uses sigma and so the -yse spelling is standard. AmE appears to have standardised on -ize everywhere, and this has transferred to -yze for this verb. – Andrew Leach Aug 17 '17 at 11:30
  • Is the term singular verb correctly used here? Should not it rather read verb not in 3rd person singular? The plural verb analyse is written the same. – rexkogitans Aug 17 '17 at 12:42