If you have a latter, you have to have a former, as they refer to comparisons of pairs of items. It doesn’t matter what the pairs are, just that there are two. And only two!
Once you have three or more, it becomes a matter of the superlative (you may want to explore the adverbial comparative / superlative or the adjectival comparative and superlative).
Of the two movies, I’d prefer to watch the former . . . and I’m sure you’d prefer to watch the latter.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Former | Latter |
|---|---|
 — |
 — |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective 1; Noun 2
Plural for the noun: formers |
Adjective, attributive |
| Adjective: [the former] The first-mentioned of two people or things 1 Preceding in time
Past, long past, or ancient Preceding in order
Having once, or previously, been
Noun:
[In combination; chiefly British] A person in a particular school year |
[the latter] The second-mentioned of two people or things
Situated or occurring nearer to the end of something than to the beginning
|
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: He continued to bask in his former glory. Yeah, he’s a former student of mine. It was mentioned during a former stage in the proceedings. Oh, aye, in former times we milked the cows by hand. Our former manufacturing process was too costly. The former suggestion was preferred to the latter. Bill Clinton is a former president. Noun: “Where the tail plane and the fin are fitted in, there are two transverse formers in thicker wood” (New). I can’t tell them the fifth-formers did the damage! |
It took place in the latter half of 1989.
Heart disease dogged his latter years. The project had low cash flows in its latter years. The Russians could advance into either Germany or Austria — they chose the latter option. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adverb: formerly | Adjective: latter-day Adverb: latterly |
| History of the Word: | |
|
Old English lætra meaning slower and comparative of læt. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Former versus Latter
Apple Dictionary.com
“The New Albatros de Chasse.” Aerial Ace Weekly. Gutenberg.com. 30 April 1917. Web. n.d. 223. <https://bit.ly/3QGbsOO>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
President Bush Remarks Over Georgia is a White House photo by Luke Sharrett and is in the public domain while Barack Obama on the Primary was photographed by Steve Jurvetson and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license; both are via Wikimedia Commons.
Revised as of 12 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie