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One can sure write “east to you” or “more to the east”, but if I'm located in London and you're in Berlin, can I say that you're “easter” than me?

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One might write "east of you", but not "east to you" – Matt Эллен Mar 2 '12 at 10:20
Normally we do not append the comparative suffix -er in a routine manner. If the -er form of the word exists, we use it, else we have to use a modifier like more before it. It will be necessary to check a dictionary in case of doubt than to form an -er word in a matter of fact way. Easter exists as a different word by itself. – Kris Mar 4 '12 at 12:45
The word easter has a long tradition in the north of Britain as a regional synonym for eastern; it is not used in the comparitive degree. Besides easterly, see also westerly, westering, and to wester; northerly, northing, nothering; southron, southerling, southernly, southing. – tchrist Mar 4 '12 at 16:16
@tchrist, southron is not a directional-orientation word, so it doesn't fit with those other words (easterly, westerly, northerly) which are. Southron means "someone from the south". – jwpat7 Jul 7 '12 at 1:44

3 Answers

up vote 9 down vote

You'd say that one is farther east than you. Works for all directions, therefore:

  • farther north
  • farther east
  • farther west
  • farther south

Example usage in the Wikipedia article about the extreme points of Earth:

This is a list of extreme points of Earth, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other locations on the landmasses, continents or countries.

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That works, but that's no fun at all :) – F'x Mar 2 '12 at 10:14
Does this also work for up, down, left, and right? – Armen Ծիրունյան Mar 2 '12 at 10:18
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@ArmenTsirunyan: why not use higher, lower, more to the left and more to the right? I think they're pretty common. – Richard Rodriguez Mar 2 '12 at 10:21
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The term more easterly is acceptable, too. From a Google Lit search: "A plank sidewalk will be built on the east side of the tracks, at a point a safe distance away from the more easterly rail of its most easterly track." Still, in most cases, I think "farther east" is better than "more easterly," particularly when referring to cities or locations of people (unless, of course, you can't remember whether you should use "farther" or "further;" in that case, you could use "more easterly" as a cop out). – J.R. Mar 2 '12 at 10:55
up vote 1 down vote

East is a direction. Something that is less East or more East has a completely different meaning than what you imply here.

In your case, it is the distance in the direction of East that varies in magnitude. To indicate a greater distance, you use further (I am not sure if @Rimmer meant further, not farther, though even that seems to work). Expressions such as further east and further north are common.

Strictly speaking, East of Northeast is what may be understood to be 'more East' than Northeast, because of the 'degrees East of' increases. In your case this would not apply.

Furthermore, as a general rule, we do not append the comparative suffix -er in a routine manner. If the -er form of the word exists, we use it, else we have to use a modifier like more before it. It will be necessary to check a dictionary in case of doubt than to form an -er word in a matter of fact way. Easter exists as a different word by itself.

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up vote 1 down vote

In a more Easterly direction?

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Easterly has meanings like "Facing the east; directed towards the east", "Located towards the east", and "Coming from the east." "A is more easterly than B" does not mean A is farther east than B, it means A is at a compass angle closer to due east than is B. For example, Athens (38°N, 24°E) is farther east from Halifax (45°N, 64°W) than is Milan (45°N, 9°E), but Milan is more easterly from Halifax than is Athens. – jwpat7 Jul 7 '12 at 2:02

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