者 (zhě): one who; person (suffix)

Meanings

1 one who; person (suffix)
2 -er; -or; -ist (agent noun suffix)

Characters

者

zhě

-er; one who (suffix)

An extremely common suffix that turns verbs into agent nouns: 读者 (reader), 记者 (journalist), 学者 (scholar).

Examples

HSK 3

读者对这本书评价很高。

Dúzhě duì zhè běn shū píngjià hěn gāo.

Readers rate this book very highly.

HSK 4

记者在采访。

Jìzhě zài cǎifǎng.

The journalist is conducting an interview.

HSK 4

学者们正在研究这个问题。

Xuézhě men zhèngzài yánjiū zhège wèntí.

Scholars are researching this problem.

Tips

grammar

者 is a classical/formal suffix meaning 'person who does X': 记者 (journalist), 读者 (reader), 作者 (author), 学者 (scholar), 患者 (patient), 消费者 (consumer).

usage

者 is productive - you can recognize new words by knowing it means '-er/-or': 志愿者 (volunteer), 旁观者 (bystander).

Components

radical

耂 lǎo

elder (top form of 老)

Top 耂 is the elder radical, the top of 老 used as a component, originally an old person leaning on a stick. It sets the visual frame of 'someone of standing who acts' - the 'one who...' nominaliser grew out of describing a person. Same cap on 考, 老.

semantic

日 rì

sun; day

Bottom 日 looks like the sun but is historically a stylised speech element - early 者 showed an elder with words coming out, marking 'the one who speaks'. The modern 日 shape is graphic residue; reading it as 'sun under elder' is a useful mnemonic, not the etymology.