English Grammar

Suffix -er meaning and examples

April 11, 2022

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The most common use of suffix -er is: a person or object that does a specified action.

For example: reader, creator, interpreter, inventor, collaborator, teacher

A suffix is one or a set of letters that you add to the end of a word that changes its meaning. In the case suffix –er, which has several meanings.

1. Added to the end of a verb to show a person’s occupation or job.

For example: Painter, runner, dancer, driver, teacher, manager, videographer, etc. (These all show occupations)

2. Added to the end of a place (which can either be a proper noun name or a generic place) to show where someone is from or where they live.

Suffix -er example: Villager, a southerner, New Yorker, Icelander, etc. (These all show where someone comes from)

3. Added to the end of an adjective to describe something about that person.

Suffix -er examples: Six footer, fiver, kung fu master, tenner, etc. (These all tell something about the person)

-er and -ee suffixes

The suffixes -er and -ee are used for noun phrases, and are especially useful for describing people and their positions. The suffixes -er and -ee are usually two synonymous terms, showing that these words are connected and describe two different types of jobs.

A person or thing that works or provides an action is known by the suffix -er. The suffix -ee specifies the person or thing who or which is the recipient of the action.

Example of suffixes -er and -ee:

employer: is a person or a company who gives you a job
employee: does the job and hired by employer
trainer – a person who gives you training lessons
trainee – a person who trains

Which words are not using suffix -er?

master is not a word with an -er suffix; it comes from the Latin magister.

six footer, fiver, tenner are not (generally) used to refer to people. In this case, -er is a suffix added to words formed from a number or measurement to denote that the word is based on that number.
For example, the fairly common (in American English) grader (grade + er) meaning “student in a particular grade”, such as “first-grader“.

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