Former latter which

What to Know Former refers to something that is first in the order of two or more things. More Words At Play. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct.

Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Nov. Time Traveler. Love words? Need even more definitions? Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". As you can see, they are very different. In order to not confuse ladder and latter when you write, remember that latter is related to later. You might be tempted to use former and latter with more than just two items, and although this tendency comes to the surface every now and then—even in respectable sources—it should be avoided.

Additionally, When you use latter and former in your writing, be sure that they are in close proximity to their antecedents the people or items to which they are referring. It is undesirable for the reader to go back and reread a passage because he forgot which one was the former and which one was the latter.

Anterior, antecedent, bygone, departed, earlier, erstwhile, ex-, first, forgoing, late, old, past, proceeding, previous, prior. The term latter is an adjective used to describe a subsequential noun that exists last or the noun most recently mentioned in the order of occurrence.

Shaun had to choose between Yale and Harvard and chose the latter. Amy is the former Governor of New York, although she was mentored by Jessica, who served before her.

The latter of the two had a reputation for bad politics. In this example, how do we know which is the latter and the former? Which person does the word latter act as a pronoun for? Bottommost, closing, concluding, final, hindmost, last, latest, rearmost, terminal, terminating. Beginning, earliest, first, foremost, initial, maiden, opening, original, pioneer, primary. You may have noticed how the word latter has a similar meaning to the terms later and late. English grammar also takes a lot of practice, so we encourage you to practice using these examples for your own writing , as well.

To describe something that occurred before the present time, or to relate to something of the past. Adults look toward the youth to recognize their former selves.

The actor is obsessed with achieving his former beach bod. She was a humpback whale in her former life. Of the two papers, the former essay reads more fluently.

Of the two employees, the former assistant performed the best. The former MMA heavy-weight champion of the world. The former preschool teacher is now an engineer. Students complete their capstones during the latter point of their education. To reference either the second mentioned of two or the last item mentioned in a sequence.

Between serving and bartending, the latter is more difficult. We enjoyed Astoria, Spokane, Seattle, and Portland, but the latter has more character. Learning how to use former and latter correctly are basic grammar lessons in creating great prose, but common language can leave a lackluster impression for points we intend to emphasize.

Madonna is the ci-devant queen of pop music. The term whilom is an archaic adjective used in place of former or formerly. Mary is happy to choose love over the whilom boyfriends who left. She was a whilom ice cream fanatic. Before you leave to write on your own, here is an easy-to-remember grammar tip for using former vs. The word former describes the first item mentioned or the first item occurring in the past. The term latter refers to the last item mentioned, or the last event occurring from the past.

When it comes to The Associated Press Stylebook for latter vs. Any additional reference of the former figure is mentioned using their last name or shortened name for historical people i.

Do you know the difference between former and latter? Test your grammar know-how with the following multiple-choice questions.