者 (zhě): one who; person (suffix)

Meanings

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

Jìzhě zài cǎifǎng.

The journalist is conducting an interview.

Dúzhě duì zhè běn shū píngjià hěn gāo.

Readers rate this book very highly.

Xuézhěmen zhèngzài yánjiū zhège wèntí.

Scholars are researching this problem.

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).

者 zhě