elder vs. older...? interchangable?

Question

in the context of older/elder brother... ie. brother who is older than I... I suddenly just had a blank and I'm not sure which is the right one to use! many thanks in advance xx

Answer 1

Elder isn't used often--it's more like a title--think of it like Dr. Smith (elder brother). You would usually use older, like in your sentence: brother who is older than I. As a rule of thumb, only use elder when it comes just before a name/noun (elder brother, elder sister). In other cases, use older. Elder is also a pretty formal word, so keep that context in mind when using it.

Answer 2

Usually, "elder" would refer to either a position held (such as an Elder in a church or an "elderly" gentleman, etc) which has a connotation attached to it for some sort of status or standing, or "elder" could refer to the older/oldest one being referred to.

You would not say your brother is elder than you are .. you would say he is older than you are.

You could say that your brother is the eldest in the family (again, implying status or standing here).



The word "older" refers to being older than something or someone else ... such as this furniture is older than that piece of furniture, or this person is older than that person, etc. "Older" should be used when there is something you are relating or comparing him/her/it to ... something similar and appropriate, that is. :-)

You do not need a comparison when you use the word elder, like you do with the word older.

Answer 3

They are interchangeable. I would tend to use "elder brother" when referring to a brother who is older than I but not my oldest brother. However, there is little distinction.

Answer 4

Here are the distinctions in use for elder/eldest and older/oldest::



1) "elder/eldest" can be used ONLY of people, but "older/eldest" can be used for anything (people, animals, things)



2) "elder/eldest" may be used to emphasize rank or seniority ("oldest" does not do this), and need not be emphasizing age [related to this is the use of "elder" as a noun for someone with a position as an "elder" (a ruling position) in a church, town, etc]



3) "eldest" is used in comparing a group ("my eldest son"/"the eldest of my three sons"), but "oldest" can be used in a more absolute sense ("the oldest man alive")



So, in the case you mention you could technically use EITHER "elder" or "older" could be used, but "elder" would likely suggest rank/superiority, so if ALL you want to do is speak of AGE, use "older".



http://www.thefreedictionary.com/eldest

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/elder





For what it's worth.. on why we even have TWO forms: the words elder/older and eldest/oldest are from the same root word, but "eld-" follows a pattern common in Germanic languages, where when a suffix with an i-type vowel is added, the vowel in the preceding syllable changes to an e or i to become more like it. (The same sort of change, called "i-umlaut" is easy to see in German "alt" > "aelter/aeltest"; it also explains a whole set of irregular plurals in English, such as geese, mice, men and the archaic 'brehthren'.)



http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/research/rawl/IOE/pronunciation.html#pronounce:imutation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_umlaut



Thus "older/oldest" is, originally, simply a more modernized (younger!) form of "elder/eldest". But as often happens when two forms mean the same thing, one or both of them start to take on specialized uses.

Answer 5

Elder is the oldest of all, older is older than you but not necessarily older than everybody.

Answer 6

If the 15 year old's story isn't too out there, I would see it a possibility yes. But the Bible is more then a 15 year old. The Bible is a 15 year that still believes in Santa Clause and is claiming that he has seen Santa's work shop in the North Pole.

Answer 7

Your brother is older than you, therefore he is the elder of two!

Answer 8

older. elder is a status.