The difference between "older" and "elder"

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Charmaine_CA

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Hello teacher, I'm Charmaine Alaina. I had some difficulties about the difference between "older" and "elder" Would you please to help me? Thank you very much.
 

RonBee

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Question: I have been having some difficulties telling the difference between elder and older. Would you help me?

Answer: Whether there is any difference between the two depends on the sentence.

Sam is older than Ed. :tick:
Sam is elder than Ed. :cross:

Sam is the older brother. :tick:
Sam is the elder brother. :tick:

~R
 

Scorpion

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I guess, simply put, older is the comparative form of old (old, older, oldest). Elder isn't a comparative, since there isn't a word such as eld (as far as I know).
 
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matilda

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Elder means older but it is used in comp[a]rative form. Although there is no word call[e]d ELD, we use ELDER for comparison especially in written form.
 
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Casiopea

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Additionally,
In comparisons between two persons, elder means “older” but not necessarily “old”:​
My elder sister is sixteen; my younger, twelve.​
Eldest is used when three or more persons are compared:

He is the eldest of four brothers.​
In other contexts elder does denote relatively advanced age but with the added component of respect for a person's achievement, as in an elder statesman. If age alone is to be expressed, one should use older or elderly rather than elder:

A survey of older Americans; an elderly waiter.​
Unlike elder and its related forms, the adjectives old, older, and oldest are applied to things as well as to persons.

elder 1. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
 

iloveu

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RonBee's answer is what I was taught in my school years.

Question: I have been having some difficulties telling the difference between elder and older. Would you help me?

Answer: Whether there is any difference between the two depends on the sentence.

Sam is older than Ed. :tick:
Sam is elder than Ed. :cross:

Sam is the older brother. :tick:
Sam is the elder brother. :tick:

~R
 
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