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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary

WHich is correct? Former or Previous?

In these sentences: The sky is blue. The sky is red. The previous sentence is correct. Should it be previous or former? I want to use it sort of like you would use the word latter, only before not after in context.

Another example:

Or it can be simple (which is what I would normally do) and just change it to this, "He kept me informed while searching his computer for information."


If we don't have specifics, just be very generic. If we wanted to, we could say something like, "By keeping me informed of his actions, he did not leave any long pauses while he searched his computer."

However, something shorter like the former is fine.

  

Top answer

In the first case, use 'former'. In the second case, you can use neither, since the two sentences are too far apart and the text too involved for the reader to realize that they are being compared-- in the second case, you will have to reorganize the text.

  • In the first case, use 'former'.
  • In the second case, you can use neither, since the two sentences are too far apart and the text too involved for the reader to realize that they are being compared-- in the second case, you will have to reorganize the text.
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1 Answers
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In the first case, use 'former'.

In the second case, you can use neither, since the two sentences are too far apart and the text too involved for the reader to realize that they are being compared-- in the second case, you will have to reorganize the text.

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