 In some dialects of English, an ER at the end of a word is pronounced like a. In American English, it is pronounced er. When you make an agent noun, you change the verb, usually by adding ER to the ending. For example, to make the verb to play an agent noun, you take the word play and add an ER to make the word player. Now you try it. The batter bats the ball, then the runner runs to first base.