This pair of similar sounding words often is confused.

An analyst is someone who examines information or materials – it might be financial trends or chemical solutions – to answer some question. Because of this, an analyst analyses materials and makes an analyses. For example, Aunt Jane used to work as a business analyst for a Los Angeles bank.

An annalist, however, is someone who writes or keeps history records. The records they keep are called annals. To wit, Aunt Dawn wrote annals about important geological expeditions in Utah.

To remember the differences, try this little tongue twister: An analyst might review annals to make an analyses, but an annalist never analyses.