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Elder or Older

What is the Difference Between Elder and Older ?

Broadly speaking, these two words have the same meanings and can be used interchangeably in most settings. For example,

He is my elder brother.
He is my older brother.
She is the elder of the two.
She is the older of the two.

In cases like those above, elder is simply a more formal version of the word older, and when comparing two persons, elder has no implication of advanced age, just more advanced than its comparison.

So, the elder brother in the first example isn’t necessarily old in the sense of the later years of his life; he is just older than his comparison.

When to Use Elder

While these words can broadly be used to mean the same things, there are some circumstances that call for one over the other, depending on the context of your sentence.

Elder can be used to denote relatively old age, and when it does, it adds a component of respect for a person’s position or achievement.

He is an elder member of the Supreme Court.
Senator Smith is an elder statesman, having served over 30 years.
The elder officer was honored by his younger counterparts.

As you can see, elder, in all of the above cases, signals a level of respect that is not signaled when usingolder.

And, of course, you cannot forget the age-old saying, “Respect your elders.”

Elder, Eldest Refer to People, Not Objects

The two words elder and eldest are used only when referring to people. They are not used when writing about animals or inanimate objects, such as clothing, furniture, etc.

The adjective elderly, however, is sometimes applied to other living things and, on rare occasions, to inanimate objects.

An elderly cat.
An elderly ship.

When to Use Older

If the main point of your sentence is simply to showcase the fact of advanced age, then older is usually a better word choice. For example,

The public opinion poll was a survey of older Americans.
Older voters tend to show up at the polls more so than younger voters.

Elderly can also be used in such circumstances, although some say this word has acquired a negative connotation and should be substituted with words like senior citizen.

Older can be used to refer to people, animals, objects, etc. There are no restrictions when using older to make comparisons.

Older also has one additional use that does not belong to elder.

John is older than Steve.

This type of construction, for whatever reason, is not permitted when using the word elder. For example,

Steve has an elder brother. (Correct)
John is the elder of the two. (Correct)
John is elder than Steve. (Wrong)

Conversely, all of these forms are acceptable when using older.

Steve has an older brother. (Correct)
John is the older of the two. (Correct)
John is older than Steve. (Correct)

Summary

Since both words can broadly mean the same thing, you just need to remember the limitations of each word. Here are the main points of the older vs. elder confusion.

Elder adds a level of respect that older does not. Elder also cannot be used when referring to animals or objects.

Older is the better word choice in most situations. It’s used simply to refer to people or things far advanced in years of life.

Who or Whom

When to Use Who

When do you use who? When who is used in a sentence, it takes the nominative form. That simply means that it acts as the subject of the sentence. For instance,

Who ate the pizza?
He ate the pizza.

In this example, who is acting as the subject of the sentence in the same way that he is.

When to Use Whom

When do you use whom? When whom is used in a sentence, it takes the objective form. That simply means that it acts as an object, either of a verb or preposition. For example,

You called whom?
You called him?
I deliver the pizza to whom?
I delivered the pizza to him.

In both of these examples, the word whom is acting as an object.

In the first set, the word whom is acting as the object of the verb “call.” Whom did you call? I called him. It describes the person you called.

In the second set, the word whom is acting as the object of the preposition “to.” To whom did you deliver the pizza? I delivered the pizza to him. It describes the person to whom you delivered the pizza (to him).

Problem Sentences

Now, determining the case (nominative or objective) of these words can sometimes be tricky because who and whom so often find themselves in the form of a question.

This makes their true function within the sentence hard to see unless you sort the words into a standard subject-verb-object sentence. To help with this, I suggest changing sentences like the following ones into “I should say who is calling?” to make them easier.

Wrong: Whom should I say is calling?
Correct: Who should I say is calling?

By changing these sentences into the form “I should say who is calling?” you can more clearly see identify the subject, verb, and object.

Another problem that arises when determining the proper case is when the pronoun serves a function (for example, nominative) in a clause that itself serves a different function (for example, objective) in the main clause.

In situations like these, the pronoun’s function within its own clause determines its case. For example,

WRONG: Give it to whomever wants it.
CORRECT: Give it to whoever wants it.
WRONG: Whoever you choose is fine by me.
CORRECT: Whomever you choose is fine by me.

In the first example above, the entire clause “whoever wants it” is the object of the preposition “to.” But, in the clause itself, “whoever” serves as the subject, and that function determines the case.

Similarly, in the second sentence “whomever” is the object of “choose” in the clause, so it must be in the objective case even though the clause itself serves as the subject of the sentence.

Tricks to Remember

Now that you know the functions of whom vs. who within a sentence, I can show you an easy trick that can speed up the process of determining their cases.

If you still don’t know when to use who or whom, try simply substituting the words he/him in the clause where the whom or who appears. If “him” sounds better than “he” in the clause, use “whom” because “him” and “whom” both end in and “m” For our above examples,

Wrong: I should say him is calling.
Correct: I should say he is calling.

“Him” does not work in this sentence which means that “he” or “who” is the correct choice.

Summary

In short, who and whom have specific functions in a sentence, and it’s important to use each word correctly.

The word “who” acts as the subject of a sentence.
- Who ate my pizza?
The word “whom” acts as the object of a verb or preposition.
- Whom are you calling?
- To whom are you talking?
You can substitute he/him for who/whom if you are having difficulties in determining their function within a sentence.
Here is a link you can watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ3ZzOq5JEc

Elder or Older

What is the Difference Between Elder and Older ?

When to Use Elder

Elder, Eldest Refer to People, Not Objects

When to Use Older

Summary

Who or Whom

When to Use Who

When to Use Whom

Problem Sentences

Tricks to Remember

Summary

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