The correct use of:
Older, oldest; elder, eldest.
Elder and eldest are used only when you are referring to people, and most frequently to related people. They cannot be used to refer to animals or things.
Elder must not be followed by “than”
Examples;
Lisa is my elder sister. She is three years older than me.
Happy is the eldest/oldest of five sisters.
Francis is my elder brother.
Samuel is older than me.
NB:
The expression “elder statesman” is used to refer to a politician who is respected for three reasons connected with time;
He is old in years.
He has a long experience of the politics of his country.
He has given long years of wises and useful services.
Later, latter; latest, last
Later refers to time. It gives position in time.
Eg.
She got to the market later than I did.
We arrived later than you.
Latter refers to order and means the second of two things just mentioned. It is used to refer to whatever was mentioned last in a written or spoken statement. It is often used to contrast with the “former” which is used to refer to something mentioned earlier in the statement. the opposite of “latter” is “former”
Examples;
Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens are both excellent writers, but I prefer the latter.
Dickson and Hosea both went to the same school. The former (Dickson) is now a lawyer and the latter (Hosea) a doctor.
Last refers to a series of more than two. it is used to refer to the final one. It is found in many expressions of time: last week, last year, last month…
Eg.
Z is the last letter of the alphabet.
We had a football match last week.
Latest is used mainly in the sense of most recent. It is the last up to the present.
Eg.
What is the latest news from the Palace?
His wife spends a lot of money trying to keep up with the latest fashions China.
Have you read his latest book?
Posted by , Published at January 24, 2018 and have
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