Elder v Older

[bumbar144]

"My sis' is elder than me""
''I'm older than XYZC"

Am i right?

 

[5jj]

Am [STRIKE]i [/STRIKE] I right?

No.

My sister is older than me.
I'm older than XYZC.

 

[emsr2d2]

Although we use "Sis" sometimes when speaking directly to our sisters (it's like a term of endearment), we don't use it in standard written English. Use "sister".

 

[Tdol]

My elder sister :tick:
I am elder than Xyzc :cross:

My older sister :tick:
I am older than Xyzc :tick:

 

[5jj]

Note to other readers. If you give your thread a relevant title, as bumbar did, this helps the system search out Similar Threads. If there are any, they will automatically appear at the bottom of the page. Once you have posted your question, it's always worth scrolling down to see if there are any.

 

[bumbar144]

Thanks m8s

 

[BrunaBC]

Let me check if my understanding is ok.

Older is the comparative of old, and elder is an adjective which means older.

So I can say:

My sister is older than me.
I have an older sister.
I have an elder sister.

I believe older is more commonly used, isn't it?

Thank you.

 

[5jj]

My sister is older than me. :tick:
I have an older sister. :tick:
I have an elder sister. :tick:

I believe older is more commonly used, isn't it?No

The BNC has 440 citations for elder/eldest brother/sister and 192 for older/oldest brother/sister.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks m8s

A little reminder - we don't use textspeak/netspeak on the forum. If you wish to refer to us as "mates", then please use the word in full. It can be very confusing for learners to see things like "m8s" - they might think it's acceptable English.

 

[Barb_D]

Thanks, ems. I had no clue what m8ts was!

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks, ems. I had no clue what m8ts was!

You're welcome. One of my more eloquent and intelligent friends has taken to using all these textspeak horrors in her text messages: m8 = mate, gr8 = great, thx = thanks etc. I can't fathom why! She is a on a mobile phone tariff which allows unlimited text messages of unlimited length so there is no reason to abbreviate anything, other than sheer laziness, something she is certainly not guilty of in other aspects of her life.

 

[bumbar144]

Understood