-er

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Table of contents

1 English 1.1 Suffix 1.1.1 Usage notes 1.1.2 See also

English

Suffix

-er

1. Used to form the comparative of some adjectives and of a few adverbs.

   longer, bigger, faster, sooner

2. Used to form agent nouns from verbs.

   reader, cooker, passerby, runner-up, do-gooder

3. Used to form the names of residents or inhabitants of particular places.

   New Yorker

4. Used with numbers, measurements or numbers of things to mean something of ranked by that number, being of that measurement or having that number of things.

   sixer

   six-footer

   four-hander, three-wheeler

Usage notes

1. Final y becomes i when this suffix is added (easy, easier; worry, worrier).
2. This suffix may be used to form the comparative of:

   • adjectives and adverbs that have one syllable(hot, hotter; fast, faster);
   • some, but not all, adjectives that have two syllables (funny, funnier).

3. Most longer adjectives, and adjectives that are participles, form the comparative using more (enormous, more enormous; burnt, more burnt; freezing, more freezing).
4. If in doubt, use more instead (thirsty may become thirstier but more thirsty would also be acceptable).
5. The suffix may be used to form an agent noun of any verb. In compound or phrasal verbs, the suffix usually follows the verb component (as in passerby and runner-up) but is sometimes added at the end, irrespective of the position of the verb component (do-gooder) or is jokingly added to both components (washer-upper).

See also

• -est
• more