Textual reference pronouns (ersterer, letzterer)

Discussing Ethics and Theories

When debating philosophy or ethics, you will often need to compare two concepts or groups of people.

Instead of awkwardly repeating the nouns, formal German uses textual reference pronouns to point back to them, much like "the former" and "the latter" in English.

Ersterer and Letzterer

To say "the former," German uses ersterer (based on erst-, meaning "first"). To say "the latter," it uses letzterer (based on letzt-, meaning "last").

Because these words replace previously mentioned nouns, they take strong adjective endings to match the gender and case of the noun they represent. When used as standalone noun substitutes, they are capitalized.

Here are their forms in the Nominative case (used when they act as the subject of the sentence):

In our previous example comparing der Egoismus and der Altruismus (both masculine), we use the masculine forms Ersterer and Letzterer to refer back to them.

These reference pronouns also work perfectly for comparing people, such as der Arzt and der Philosoph.

They fit smoothly into complex sentences, including subordinate clauses that start with wenn (if/when).

Judging Moral Dilemmas

When exploring competing theories, you will need vocabulary to evaluate actions and their outcomes. Key verbs in these discussions include beurteilen (to judge or assess) and rechtfertigen (to justify).

Use these tools to debate how different ethical approaches impact das Wohlergehen (the well-being) or reduce das Leid (the suffering).