youngest,eldest and oldest

youngest(smallest in relative)
Sana is youngest of three sister.
if I want to say
Sana is youngest in my family or Sana is youngest of/in siblings.
Are these correct to say like this?
Same problem I am having with eldest(oldest in relatives) and oldest (old in age )If there is any mistake to get the meaning of them ,Please tell me regarding?

Interestingly, 'eldest', whether as an adjective or as an adjectival noun, is rather more common than 'oldest' in BrE (as is 'elder' vis-a-vis 'older') but refers exclusively to family members/relations. Thus we can say

His eldest sister died ten years ago.
My eldest (=eldest child) lives in Wales.
She's the eldest (=eldest person) in her family.

but not

*This is the eldest tree in England.

or

*He is the eldest man in the world.

(both of the above requiring 'oldest').

Gillnetter said:

Gil

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hello...i would like to ask about the below..
as i know, the word "small" also means "very young & not matured"
so how about if i say "he is the smallest pianist in the world" (meaning he is the youngest pianist in the world), is it correct? thank you!

fangyunying said:

hello...i would like to ask about the below..
as i know, the word "small" also means "very young & not matured"
so how about if i say "he is the smallest pianist in the world" (meaning he is the youngest pianist in the world), is it correct? thank you!

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Welcome to the forums.

Please try to use proper English in here, including correct capitalization.

Your understanding of "small" does not match my understanding. My daughter had a friend who was very, very small due to a heart condition, but she was not particularly young despite being small, and she was as mature as any other child of her age. Small does NOT equal immature or not mature.

Gillnetter said:

So, you could say that your sister is the eldest in your family but not that she is the eldest member of her church?
That is correct.

Do you have church elders in your church?
Some churches have elders - who may be comparatively young.

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5

Gillnetter said:

No. It means that he is shorter than any other pianist. A is the tallest pianist at seven feet and B is the smallest at two feet.

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thanks. it's kinda confusing. as small can be defined as "very young, not matured", but thenwhen i add "est" (superlative) become "smallest" and the meaning of "smallest" is different after i add "est":-(

fangyunying said:

[STRIKE]t[/STRIKE]Thanks. it's kind[STRIKE]a[/STRIKE] of confusing. as "small" can be defined as "very young, not matured", but thenwhen [STRIKE]i[/STRIKE] I add "est" (superlative) it become "smallest" and the meaning of "smallest" is different after [STRIKE]i[/STRIKE] I add "est":-(

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'Small' does not normally mean 'very young, not matured' unless the context makes it very clear. See Barb_D's post.

When we say, 'travelling with small children can be a pain', we are probably thinking as much of the size as the age. It is always safer to use 'young' if you are thinking of the age.

Please try to use capital letters where appropriate.

Barb_D said:

Welcome to the forums.

Please try to use proper English in here, including correct capitalization.

Your understanding of "small" does not match my understanding. My daughter had a friend who was very, very small due to a heart condition, but she was not particularly young despite being small, and she was as mature as any other child of her age. Small does NOT equal immature or not mature.

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Thanks for the reminder. I search online and it gives me the definition of "small" as above. And may i know which part of my English that is seemed to be "improper"? Sorry,i am a learner here.

fangyunying said:

Thanks for the reminder. I search online and it gives me the definition of "small" as above.

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'Small' can be used with this meaning in certain contexts, but it is generally used to refer to size. Please read posts # 7 and #10 again.

Gillnetter said:

So, you could say that your sister is the eldest in your family but not that she is the eldest member of her church? Do you have church elders in your church?

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We in Britain would not normally speak of being the 'eldest member' of a church (although that is probably just as much for cultural as for linguistic reasons!) That said, however, the collocation is perfectly comprehensible.

fangyunying,
You CAN use "small" to mean "young" when it comes right before the noun "children."

This movie may be too frightening for small children. When travelling with small children, it's important to maintain their regular dinner time and bed time.

It does not work with the comparative. You would not say "Bigger children can see this movie, but smaller children cannot." You would use "older" and "younger."

You would never say "He is a smaller piano player than she is" to mean that he is younger. That sentence would say to any native speaker I know that he is shorter than she is.

To avoid causing any confusion, I would suggest you use "young children" instead of "small children" and most definitely use "younger" and "youngest" instead of "smaller" and "smallest" when referring to anything other than size.