Science and research

The list for reading a paper rather than writing one. Near the top is l’hypothèse, and English does something to it that French does not. French adds an s and is done: une hypothèse, deux hypothèses, and the sound does not change at all. English kept the Greek plural: one « hypothesis », two « hypotheses », and the ending is spoken differently — /-sis/ against /-seez/. The same set runs through the vocabulary of research: « analysis / analyses », « basis / bases », « thesis / theses », « crisis / crises », « axis / axes ». All of them are words a French reader already owns, and all of them change in the plural in a way no French noun does. It is worth learning as one rule rather than six words, because in a talk the plural is the part people hear first and get wrong.