TALKING ABOUT HOT WEATHER & SUFFIX -ER

Here are some more expressions about “hot weather”:

1. It’s nice and warm today.

– We often combine ‘nice’ + ‘warm’ to be very positive.

2. It’s pretty hot, isn’t it?

– To tell when the weather is hot – maybe almost too hot.

3. We’re having a heatwave!

– When the weather has been very hot for a number of days.

4. It’s so hot! It must be over 80.

– It’s almost too hot.

Note: we use Fahrenheit degrees in America and Celsius degrees in most of the part of the world.

5. It’s going to be another scorcher today.

– It’s a very hot day.

6. It’s nice in the sun.

– Useful even for winter days – in the sun it’s nice, but in the shade it may be cold.

7. It’s absolutely boiling!

– It is used when the weather is unusually hot.

8. It’s positively tropical today.

– To tell when the weather is unusually hot.

9. It’s sunny today, isn’t it?

– The most common expression taught in books. It’s particularly common with the tag question.

SUFFIX -ER

Suffix is a morphem added at the end of a root word to form a new word with a new meaning. Suffix -er has a lot of meanings. Take a look at this:

1. as a performer; a person or a thing who/which does something

Suffix -er (also -or) is added to some verbs to form nouns that refer to people or things that do that particular activity.

• a singer = a person who sings

• a swimmer = a person who swims

• a farmer = a person who farms

• a dishwasher = a machine or person that washes dishes

• an actor = a person who acts

2. as a specialist

Suffix -er is added to the names of particular subjects to form nouns that refer to people who have knowledge about or are studying that subject.

• a philosopher = a person who knows about/studies philosophy

• an astronomer = a person who knows about/studies astronomy

3. to mean “from a certain place”

Suffix -er is added to the names of particular places to form nouns referring to people who come from those places.

• a Londoner = a person who comes from London

• a southerner = a person who comes from the south

4. to mean “to be involved with”

Suffix -er is added to nouns or adjectives to form nouns referring to people who are connected or involved with that particular thing.

• a pensioner = a person who receives a pension

• fifth graders = children who are in the fifth grade in a school

5. to mean “more”

Suffix -er is added to adjectives to mean something is more than another thing; it is mostly used in comparative degree.

• taller

• smarter

• colder

• prettier

Now try this exercise: