Suffixes That Name People: -ER, -OR, -IST, -IAN

Recognize suffixes that turn a word into a person who does or studies something.

Several suffixes mean 'a person who'. -er and -or are the most common: a teacher teaches, an inventor invents, a sailor sails. -ist often names someone who practices an art or science or holds a belief: a scientist, a cyclist, a novelist, an optimist. -ian often names someone skilled in a field or connected to a place: a musician, a librarian, a historian, a Canadian. -ant and -ent can also name people: an assistant, a resident, a participant. Knowing these lets you turn unknown words into understandable roles.

Read: 'The archaeologist, the botanist, and the statistician all joined the expedition. ' Archaeologist: one who studies the ancient past (the 'logist' is a person who studies). Botanist: one who studies plants (botany). Statistician: one skilled in statistics. You may not know every field, but the suffix tells you each word names a person and their specialty, and the base points to the subject.

• 1-ER and -OR mean a person who does something.
• 2-IST and -IAN often name a specialist or a believer.
• 3The base word tells you the field or activity.