| Former-Teacher | Date: Wednesday, 30.03.2011, 09:49 | Message # 1 |
 Dean
Group: Admins
Messages: 504
Status: Offline
| Hi, everyone! I always admire the English language that can play jokes on everyone who wants to conquer it. The case with the two words 'cook' and 'cooker' can make one laugh.
The word 'cook' means a person who does the cooking.
The word 'cooker' means a home appliance/device/machine that we use to cook on.
The root of the problem is in the misleading suffix -er that is often used to nominate a doer of the action rendered by the related verb. For example:
- to read - reader
- to write - writer
- to speak - speaker
- to drive - driver
- to skate - skater
- to ski - skier
- to view - viewer
- to heal - healer
- to present - presenter
- to admir - admirer
But oftentimes, the same suffix is used to denote a tool/instrument/device/appliance that performs the action. For example:
- to cook - cooker (плита для приготовления пищи)
- to point - pointer (указка)
- to compute - computer
- to cut - cutter (резак)
- to copy - copier
Sometimes, the same suffix gives two meanings to the same word. For example:
- to speak - speaker (выступающий; громкоговоритель)
- to read - reader (читатель; сборник текстов для чтения)
Well, it really takes time to get used to such word-building tricks.
So, please, stay awake when you decide to conquer the English Vocabulary. It sometimes attacks like it has done in this sentence.
'Julie became a famous writer, cooker and TV show host...'
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