Former

Question

I want to know the tense relative to "former" is the speaking time or the verbal time.

For example, I met my former girlfriend.

When I met, she was still my girlfriend or not?

I also read the former Berlin Wall, former IBM,....

We could say Lenovo is former IBM.

If he said he worked in former IBM, could we know he worked in Lenovo or IBM?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Wei-Tsung LiFor example, I met my former girlfriend.
When we met, she was still my girlfriend or not?

This is more natural English:

Did you go to Lee's party last night? I met my former girlfriend Mae there. We hadn't seen each other in more than a year since she had moved to another city.

"Former" means that the relationship is in the past. e.g Former President Obama. (He is no longer president.)
In this case, you and Mae had a romantic relationship in the past, but it was over when you both met at the party.

Wei-Tsung LiWe could say Lenovo is former IBM.

That is not correct.

IBM's PC manufacturing division was sold to Lenovo, a Chinese company, in 2005. Lenovo was in the business of manufacturing computers, and bought a division of its competitor, IBM. It merged these two businesses together. IBM got out of the PC manufacturing business.

Wei-Tsung LiIf he said he worked in former IBM, could we know he worked in Lenovo or IBM?

If he claims that he worked for IBM in 2005, you can say this:

He formerly worked for IBM, but the division he worked for was bought by Lenovo. He used to work for IBM but he works for Lenovo now. He does not work for IBM any more.

Former

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