意思不同:
older在强调年龄,然而elder强调次第。
用法不同:
elder表示“前辈的”、“年纪较长的”,主要是用于同一家庭成员的比较;older就不能作比较。
就比如说:My younger sonis five and my elder sonis nine。意思是我的小儿子5岁,大儿子9岁。 Tom is two years older than I.汤姆比我年长两岁。
elder在在句子当中只可以作定语,不可以作表语;older两者皆可。
就比如说: My elder sister does her homework all by herself. 我的姐姐独自做作业。 Hiselder songot married last week. 他的长子是上星期结婚的。 I think hismother is older. 我认为他的母亲年龄大引起。
elder只能用来指人;older当然也可以修饰人,也可修饰修物。例如: My elder brother joined the army when he was only fifteen.我哥哥年仅15负就参了军。 Thisdog is older than any other dogs here.这条狗在这里是最老的一条。 I have a sister older than myself.我有位比我大的姐姐。 It is said MrChenis over ten years older than Mrs Li.据说陈先生比李女士大10多岁。