Structure
前者は + (Comment)
後者は + (Comment)
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About 前者は・後者は
Used in almost exactly the same way as 'the former' and 'the latter' in English, 前者 and 後者 are two nouns that appear frequently in Japanese. The adverbial particle は will appear after these words, to express contrast between the two.
前者 will be used for 'the former', while 後者 will represent 'the latter'. Both 前者 and 後者 appear at the beginning of their own statements, with a specific comment about each being made after は.
Caution
Statements made that use 前者 and 後者 require some sort of relationship in what is being compared. Usually, this will be obvious within the context of the sentence, but is something that you will need to be careful of when making your own sentences.
- こっちの車とこっちの車どっちを買おう。前者は安くて古くて、後者は高くて新しい。 (Natural)This car and this car, which should I buy? The former is cheap and old, and the latter is expensive and new.
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明日動物園に行くか今夜本を読むかで、迷っています。前者は動物がいて空いている、後者は寝る前にゆっくりできる。 (Unnatural)I am undecided on whether to go to the zoo tomorrow, or to read a book tonight. The former has animals and isn't crowded, but the latter is relaxing before bed.
Synonyms
Examples
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A社とB社、どちらに就職するか迷っています。
前者は給料がよく、後者は環境がいいのです。
I am having trouble deciding between company A and company B.
The former's pay is good and the latter has a good working environment.
宿泊場所の候補が二つあります。
前者は温泉があり、後者はご飯がおいしいです。
There are two choices for places to stay.
The first has hot springs, the second has delicious food.
交通の札には切符と整理券の2つがあります。前者は電車に乗るために必要なもので、後者はバスに乗るときに取るものです。
There are two types of transportation tickets: 'kippu' and 'seiriken'. The former is a thing needed for getting on a train, and the latter is taken when boarding on a bus.
どちらのパソコンがいいですか?前者は安いが性能は一般向け、後者は高いが高性能。
Which laptop is better? The former is cheap, but the specifications are average.
The latter is expensive, but has better performance.
どちらの家にするか迷っています。前者は駅から近いが家賃が高い、
後者は駅から遠いが家賃も安く部屋も広い。
I can't decide which house to rent. The former is close to the nearest station, but expensive. The latter is far from the station, but cheap and spacious.
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前者は・後者は – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (6 in total)
mrnoone
Hey! Long time no see!
Sorry!
It was most likely a conversion error that got caught in the translation:移動経路はこのように2つあります。
前者は電車に乗るもので、後者はバスに乗る必要があります。I have fixed the sentence
Thank you for the feedbackJohnathan-Weir
Just a reminder about making those new sentences.
But also, it seems like a lot of the other grammar used seems pretty stiff and formal (like the literary conjunctive). Are these words only used in formal conversations and writing?
mrnoone
@Johnathan-Weir
Hey
後者は・前者は are normally formal written expressions that can also be used in casual conversation when needed.
Cheers
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