{"id":6163,"date":"2022-08-15T06:00:43","date_gmt":"2022-08-15T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=6163"},"modified":"2022-08-17T08:26:40","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T13:26:40","slug":"drier-or-dryer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/spelling\/drier-or-dryer\/","title":{"rendered":"Drier<\/em> or Dryer<\/em>: What Is the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you’re working on enhancing your spelling in English, you might sometimes encounter two words that sound alike, with close spellings, pronunciations, and meanings. For example, some people might find themselves confused about whether to use drier<\/em> or dryer<\/em> when they are writing.<\/p>\n

We will distinguish these two words and provide some examples you can follow. So let’s jump in!<\/p>\n

The Meaning of Drier<\/em><\/h2>\n

To start with, drier<\/em> and dryer<\/em> might be pronounced the same way, but they represent different parts of speech.<\/p>\n

Drier<\/em> is a comparative adjective. It means that one thing has less moisture (is more dry) than another. For example, either of the following would be correct:<\/p>\n

This piece of chicken is drier<\/u> than that piece of chicken. <\/em><\/p>\n

Arizona tends to be drier<\/u> than Pennsylvania in the winter.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Both of these statements refer descriptively to physical moisture.<\/p>\n

You could also use the word drier<\/em> to describe a type of wit, tone, or personality. For instance:<\/p>\n

Beth-Anne’s latest novel is drier<\/u> than previous titles were.<\/em><\/p>\n

Arnie has a drier<\/u> sense of humor than I do.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the first sentence, drier <\/em>indicates the current book is less evocative than past ones were. In the second sentence, drier <\/em>suggests that Arnie’s sense of humor is considered flat and emotionless, meaning it could be misinterpreted by some people as not being humor.<\/p>\n

The Meaning of Dryer<\/em><\/h2>\n

The word dryer<\/em>, spelled with a \u201cy\u201d instead of an \u201ci,\u201d is a noun that refers to a device or machine (an object) that removes moisture from something. There are different types of dryers (clothes dryers, hair dryers, etc.), but all of them make things less wet.<\/p>\n

Examples <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I left my socks in the dryer<\/u> for more than an hour.<\/p>\n

Sue’s hair dryer<\/u> stopped working just before her date.<\/p>\n

The home came with a new dryer<\/u> the former owners had recently bought.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Each of these sentences refers to an object, making the noun dryer<\/em> (with a \u201cy\u201d) the right choice.<\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h2>\n

Choose the correct word for each sentence.<\/p>\n

1. The muffins turned out to be [drier \/ dryer] than I would prefer.<\/p>\n

2. You can leave those wet towels in the [drier \/ dryer].<\/p>\n

3. Didn’t the forecast call for [drier \/ dryer] weather?<\/p>\n

4. Is there a washer and [drier \/ dryer] in your building?<\/p>\n

5. Bart’s sense of humor was even [drier \/ dryer] than we had expected.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1. The muffins turned out to be drier<\/strong> than I would prefer.<\/p>\n

2. You can leave those wet towels in the dryer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

3. Didn’t the forecast call for drier<\/strong> weather?<\/p>\n

4. Is there a washer and dryer<\/strong> in your building?<\/p>\n

5. Bart’s sense of humor was even drier<\/strong> than we had expected.<\/p>\n

More Fun and Easy Grammar Tips Are Waiting<\/h2>\n

Some people might think that learning grammar can be an arduous challenge, but it isn’t. It can be fun and informative while also making you a clearer and more effective communicator. Continue browsing our large archive of topics for aspects of grammar that interest you or can help you fine-tune your skills. We also welcome your thoughts and questions about this current post in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you’re working on enhancing your spelling in English, you might sometimes encounter two words that sound alike, with close spellings, pronunciations, and meanings. For example, some people might find themselves confused about whether to use drier or dryer when they are writing. We will distinguish these two words and provide some examples you can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spelling"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6163"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6164,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6163\/revisions\/6164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}