Ik vind het vorige beter.

Because the verb is vinden and with ik in the present tense, it becomes vind.

Present tense of vinden:

• ik vind
• jij vindt
• hij/zij/het vindt
• wij vinden
• jullie vinden
• zij vinden

So ik vind is the correct form for I think / I find.

In this sentence, vinden means something like to think, to find, or to consider in the sense of giving your opinion.

So Ik vind het vorige beter means:

• I think the previous one is better
• I like the previous one better

Dutch often uses vinden where English uses think or like better when expressing an opinion.

Because vorige is being used like a noun here: the previous one.

Dutch often uses het + adjective to mean the ... one / the ... thing:

• het goede = the good one / what is good
• het mooie = the beautiful one
• het vorige = the previous one

So het vorige does not literally mean just the previous in an incomplete way; it is a normal Dutch structure meaning the previous one.

Here, het is not necessarily the article of a specific noun like het boek. It is part of a structure where Dutch turns an adjective into a noun-like expression.

So:

• het vorige = the previous one
• de vorige can also exist, but it usually refers to a specific implied de-word person or thing, depending on context.

Very roughly:

• het vorige is a more neutral the previous one / the previous thing
• de vorige often refers to a person or to a noun that would normally take de

Examples:

• Ik neem het vorige. = I’ll take the previous one.
• De vorige was duurder. = The previous one was more expensive.
  (Here the context may make the omitted noun a de-word.)

In your sentence, het vorige is a very natural general way to say the previous one.

Yes, you can think of there being an omitted noun, but Dutch does this very naturally.

For example, depending on context:

• het vorige boek = the previous book
• het vorige antwoord = the previous answer
• het vorige idee = the previous idea

If the noun is obvious, Dutch often leaves it out:

• Ik vind het vorige beter.

So literally, it is like saying:

• I find the previous one better.

English does the same thing with one, but Dutch often uses het/de + adjective instead.

Because Dutch adjectives usually take -e when they come after de or het in this kind of nominalized structure.

Compare:

• het vorige boek
• de vorige auto
• het vorige

So the -e in vorige is normal here.

This is not the bare form vorig. In front of a noun or when used as a noun-like adjective, vorige is the expected form.

Because beter is the comparative form of goed, just like better is the comparative of good in English.

Forms:

• goed = good
• beter = better
• best = best

So:

• goed = good
• meer goed is not the normal way to say better
• beter is the correct comparative

In this sentence, beter means better.

Because the thing being compared is already understood from the context.

Dutch often leaves out dan ... when the comparison is implicit.

Examples:

• Deze is beter. = This one is better.
• Ik vind het vorige beter. = I think the previous one is better.

If you want to make the comparison explicit, you can add it:

• Ik vind het vorige beter dan dit. = I think the previous one is better than this.

So the sentence is complete without dan.

The structure is:

• Ik = subject
• vind = verb
• het vorige = object / the thing being judged
• beter = complement describing that object in comparison

So the sentence works like:

• I find the previous one better

This is similar to English structures like:

• I find this useful
• I consider that strange
• I think the previous one is better

Dutch word order here is very straightforward: subject + verb + object + description/opinion.

Yes, in many contexts that is a very natural translation.

Depending on tone and situation, Ik vind het vorige beter could be understood as:

• I think the previous one is better
• I like the previous one better
• I prefer the previous one

The exact English wording depends on context, but the Dutch sentence expresses a preference for the previous option.

Usually vorige means previous, last, or the one before in a sequence.

Examples:

• de vorige keer = last time / the previous time
• het vorige hoofdstuk = the previous chapter

It is less like English former in the sense of my former boss. For that, Dutch often uses other wording depending on context, such as voormalige.

So in this sentence, vorige should be understood as previous, not former in the biographical sense.

You would say:

• Ik vind de vorige beter.

Here de vorige can mean the previous ones, depending on context.

If you want to make the plural very explicit, you could also use a noun:

• Ik vind de vorige boeken beter. = I think the previous books are better.

Notice that beter does not change in the plural. The comparative adjective stays the same.