兩者中先提到的那個
一樣是往回指，只是這次的「以前」是在句子裡：先被說出口的那一個，就是前者。
the former · noun · B2
'the former' means the first of two people or things that you have just talked about.
前者
核心畫面
Picture a line running back in time, and you standing at the far end of it: former points at the part behind you — how something was, before it stopped being that way. The word always carries the quiet second half "…but not now". Applied to a list of two, the same backward point picks out the one mentioned first.
可以想成：時間拉成一條線，你站在線的這一頭，former 指的是身後那一段——某樣東西以前的樣子，而且它現在已經不是…更多收起
可以想成：時間拉成一條線，你站在線的這一頭，former 指的是身後那一段——某樣東西以前的樣子，而且它現在已經不是那樣了。這個字永遠自帶一句沒說出口的「但現在不是了」。同樣是往回指，如果指的是剛剛講過的兩件事，它就落在先被提到的那一個上，也就是「前者」。From the picture
英國學制裡的年級學生
這一支跟「以前的」沒有意思上的關聯，它是英式學制的 form（年級）加上 -er，剛好拼成同樣的字。
-former (school-year student) · noun · B2
in some British schools, a student in a certain school year; a sixth former is a student in the sixth form.
（英國）某年級的學生
Also in this word
former (earlier state) · adjective · B1
used before a noun to talk about how something was at an earlier time, when it is not like that now.
以前的；從前的
former (past role) · adjective · B1
used before a noun to say that someone had a job, title, or place in a group in the past, but does not have it now.
前任的；以前的
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
formeradj詞源 1/ˈfɔɹmɚ/
- 1
Previous.
- A former president
- the former East Germany
formernoun詞源 1/ˈfɔɹmɚ/
- 1
First of aforementioned two items.
- The former is a good idea but the latter is not.
- We have two cars, a red one and a blue one. We won the former on a game show.
formernoun詞源 2/ˈfɔɹmɚ/
- 1
Someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.
- Dave was the former of the company.
- 2
An object used to form something, such as a template, gauge, or cutting die.
- The brick arch was built using a wooden former.
- 3
Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).
- Fifth-former.
- Sixth-former.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。