Breakdown of Ersterer akzeptiert das Leid, Letzterer vermeidet es.
es
it
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
vermeiden
to avoid
akzeptieren
to accept
ersterer
the former
das Leid
the suffering
letzterer
the latter
Questions & Answers about Ersterer akzeptiert das Leid, Letzterer vermeidet es.
Why do Ersterer and Letzterer end in -er in this sentence?
These words behave like adjectives acting as pronouns. Since they stand alone here without an article like der, they take strong adjective endings. The -er ending shows they refer to masculine nouns in the nominative case. If they referred to feminine nouns, they would be Erstere and Letztere.
Why is Letzterer capitalized?
When adjectives are used as stand-alone nouns (nominalized), they are capitalized in German. Here, Letzterer functions completely as a noun meaning "the latter," so it gets a capital letter. Ersterer is also nominalized, though it would be capitalized anyway because it starts the sentence.
Why is the word order after the comma Letzterer vermeidet es instead of verb-first?
This sentence consists of two independent main clauses separated by a comma, which is a common way to sharply contrast two ideas in German. Because the second half is a fresh main clause rather than a subordinate clause, it uses normal Subject-Verb-Object word order.
What does the pronoun es refer to at the end of the sentence?
It refers back to das Leid (the suffering). Because Leid is a neuter noun, it must be replaced by the neuter pronoun es.
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