A mayor is the head of a city or town: the mayor of London, the mayor of our town. It isn't a military rank: the army rank is major. The words sound different too: in British English mayor sounds like mare, while major sounds like MAY-jer.
mayor: will you get the meaning right?
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the mayor + of + city/town; elect + a new mayor; run for mayor; a major in the army (not a mayor)
- The mayor promised to open three new bus routes before the end of the year.
- Our town will elect a new mayor in September, and the debates start next week.
- My aunt decided to run for mayor after twenty years of teaching at the local school.
What changed
First versionMy uncle served in the army for twenty years and retired as a mayor.
RevisionMy uncle served in the army for twenty years and retired as a major.
Mayor and major differ by just one letter, so it's easy to write one for the other. But a mayor runs a city, so the sentence says that the uncle served in the army for twenty years and then stepped down as the head of a town. The rank is spelled major.
Major is more common not as a rank but as an adjective meaning “large, serious or important”: a major city, a major problem. So both words can appear in one sentence: The mayor of a major city has a lot of power.
Your turn
The ___ of Kazan cut the ribbon and officially opened the new metro station.
Show the answer
mayor — Cutting the ribbon at a new metro station is a job for the head of the city, so the answer is mayor. Major is an army rank, and a city doesn't have a major.
Write what you would change in your city if you became its mayor. Name the city and one specific decision.
If I were the mayor of Samara, I would build safe cycle lanes along the whole riverside.
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