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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
elder/eldest VS older/oldest
Hi,
Sorry if it is sort of a FAQ query.... anyway...
(1) Michael Swan (in his Practical English Usage) just mentions that either form can be used in expressions such as elder/older son/daughter/brother/sister. He says nothing about which form is more common in modern English...
(2) In comparison, my Longman warns the reader that, I quote, It is more usual to say older in such contexts.
I'd like to get some information on that firsthand
Do YOU ever use 'elder/eldest'??
Thank you!
mus-te
Sorry if it is sort of a FAQ query.... anyway...
(1) Michael Swan (in his Practical English Usage) just mentions that either form can be used in expressions such as elder/older son/daughter/brother/sister. He says nothing about which form is more common in modern English...
(2) In comparison, my Longman warns the reader that, I quote, It is more usual to say older in such contexts.
I'd like to get some information on that firsthand
Do YOU ever use 'elder/eldest'??
Thank you!
mus-te
Top answer
Anonymous Do YOU ever use 'elder/eldest'?? Very seldom as an adjective: I've usually already said 'older' before I remember to consider 'elder'.
- Anonymous Do YOU ever use 'elder/eldest'??
- Very seldom as an adjective: I've usually already said 'older' before I remember to consider 'elder'.
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3 Answers
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AnonymousDo YOU ever use 'elder/eldest'??Very seldom as an adjective: I've usually already said 'older' before I remember to consider 'elder'.
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Elder/eldest is still alive and kicking in BrE. The British National Corpus has 394 citations for elder/eldest brother/sister and 190 for older/oldest brother/sister.
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fivejedjonElder/eldest is still alive and kicking in BrE.Long live BrEng!
thank you, fivejed0
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