earlier
PronouncedER-lee-er
adverbBefore the time expected or usual.
adverbAt a time closer to the start of a day, week, year or other period.
adverbAt some point before now or before another time.
nounA surname.
Syllables
3 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: EAR says “er” (earth)
Sound“er”·/ɜːr/
EAR can make the “er” sound (like 'er' in 'her'), as in 'earth' and 'learn'.
EAR sometimes says “er” (the same sound as ER, IR, UR): earth, early, learn, earn, heard, search, pearl.
Tip
Learn about the earth — earth, early, learn!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter L
Sound“l”·/l/
The letter L makes the /l/ sound, like in 'lamp', 'leg', and 'lip'. The tongue tip touches behind the upper teeth.
L is a voiced lateral approximant — the tongue tip touches the ridge behind the upper teeth while air flows around the sides. Double L (ll) makes the same /l/ sound.
Tip
L is for lamp — light it up with /l/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Open Syllable E (Long E)
Sound“ee”·/iː/
When E is the last letter of a syllable, the syllable is open and the E says its name “ee” — like in 'he' and 'me'.
This is the open-syllable pattern: a syllable that ends in a vowel leaves it 'open', so it says its long name. Here, a lone E at the end of a syllable says “ee” (he, me, we, be). The long E sound is also spelled other ways, each its own rule — vowel teams (ee in tree, ea in read) — but those are not open syllables.
Tip
Long E says its name — E!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Suffix -ER
Sound“er”·/ɜːr/
Adding -ER can mean 'more' (bigger) or 'a person who' (teacher).
The suffix -er has two main uses: comparative ('big' → 'bigger' = more big) and agent ('teach' → 'teacher' = a person who teaches).
Examples
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