Former Vs Latter! For some people, it’s always confusing to understand the difference between the former and the latter. Well, both have two confusing meanings: it’s pretty normal. But, if you have searched for this and landed on this guide, we assure you that you won’t get confused in the future.
To clearly understand the difference and to learn an unlimited usage with synonyms of latter vs. former, you need to stick with us till the end.
So, without further ado, let’s get into it.
Meaning of former vs. Latter Respectively:
Here the first comes first; in simple words
- Former indicates something just previously done. It also states previous indications of something or any task.
- Latter indicates something just about to end or a task which you will do after this. It could be a person or anything.
So, you can use these latter vs. former to distinguish between two different things or while comparing both. Yes, it can be used in a single sentence or different sentences. Suppose you have two tasks to do at a time, and to communicate with the next person, you can say the former for the first thing and the latter for the second or the last thing.
Former vs. latter synonyms:
Some people consider these two terms as old-fashioned. This is true to some extent as they are latterly old-fashioned words. If you are also from some of those, you don’t need to worry more as here we have some better alternatives for you.
So, let’s find out about them together.
Synonyms for Latter:
- Utmost
- Ensuring
- Succeeding
- Remotest
- Rearmost
- Eventual
- Lag
- Following
- Last
- Modern
Synonyms for Former:
- Earlier
- Prior
- Old
- Preceding
- Previous
- First
- Long ago
- Once
- Antecedent
- Above
Examples of Latter vs. Former:
Before wrapping up the guide, here are some examples of how you can use them conveniently and for a better understanding of these two confusing terms.
1- Use of the former in a sentence:
- Alexandra was unhappy with her former husband.
- He loves physics and chemistry both but loves the former most.
2- Use of latter in a sentence:
- Latter on, Joe earned a huge profit from his company.
- I can speak both Latin and Spanish but loves the latter language.
3- How to use the former and latter both in a single sentence?
- I got two Homework for Maths and Science – take the former and submit the latter to the principal.
- New York and Australia are both beautiful – I visited the former and now planning the latter.
When to use it?
You rarely find these sentences in daily life, social media posts, or any blog or article. The excessive use could make the reader or listener bored, that’s why
- In daily life, use some synonyms for them because it is possible that the listener also gets confused.
- It’s commonly used in technical writing, but you should avoid using it in a blog or article for a better understanding of the reader.
- In British and American English, the popularity of the words former or latter is decreasing. It’s because they prefer to speak or write in a direct form rather than passively or indirectly, as it creates more clarity among them.
So, whatever and whenever you use, you need to remember that moderation is the key and that the over usage of anything could hesitate or bore the reader.
How to remember the difference?
Well, if you still need clarification and wondering how you can remember the difference. So, here is the trick.
You can memorize it using Former means first, and latter means last, which means former refers to the first item in the list and latter indicates the last or subsequent item in the sequence.
Use the trick of F as first and former and L as last and latter.
Hopefully, you like today’s quick guide and got the answer. That’s why now not going to be confused between them. Did you like the trick? Just let us know your precious thoughts in the comment section.
Till Next!