13.13 the former, the latter 1. Only use the former and the latter when it is 100% clear to the reader what the former and the latter refer to. It is not bad style to repeat the keyword, particularly as this will make it easier for the reader to identify exactly what is being referred to. 2. It may not be clear which element the former and the latter refer to. For example, when there are three elements, it may not be clear if the latter refers to the third element alone, or the second and the third. 3. In long sentences the reader may have already forgotten which elements were mentioned earlier. YES NOT 100% CLEAR 1 Lagos and Khartoum are the capital cities of Nigeria and Sudan. Lagos has a population of … Lagos and Khartoum are the capital cities of Nigeria and Sudan. The former has a population of … 2 In this recipe we used potatoes, carrots and beans. This is common practice with this kind of cooking. The beans can, of course, be steamed. In this recipe we used potatoes, carrots and beans. This is common practice with this kind of cooking. The latter can, of course, be steamed. 3 Such an unsolicited bandwidth request can be incremental orb aggregateb . If it is aggregate , the X indicates the whole connection backlog. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. On other hand, if it is incremental , the X indicates the difference between its current backlog and the one carried by its last bandwidth request. Such an unsolicited bandwidth request can be incremental or aggregate. In the latter case, the X indicates the whole connection backlog. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. In the former case, the X indicates the difference between its current backlog and the one carried by its last bandwidth request.
