The former… the latter… (前者…后者…)

Structure (A and B) … 前者 + comment on A，后者 + comment on B

前者 (qián zhě) and 后者 (hòu zhě) are the contrastive anaphoric pair of literary Chinese: 前者 picks up the FIRST item mentioned and 后者 the SECOND, just like "the former… the latter…" in English. They are an essential essay-and-press tool for comparing two things without repeating their names: you cite A and B, then comment on them with 前者…后者…. The order is fixed and mirrors the order of appearance — 前者 can never point to the second item. It combines naturally with 二者/两者, which sums up both.

Examples

他tā面miàn对duì自zì由yóu与yǔ责zé任rèn，前qián者zhě诱yòu人rén，后hòu者zhě沉chén重zhòng。
He faces freedom and responsibility: the former is tempting, the latter is heavy.
茶chá和hé咖kā啡fēi我wǒ都dōu爱ài，前qián者zhě清qīng淡dàn，后hòu者zhě浓nóng烈liè。
I love both tea and coffee: the former is light, the latter strong.
改gǎi革gé有yǒu渐jiàn进jìn与yǔ激jī进jìn两liǎng条tiáo路lù，前qián者zhě稳wěn妥tuǒ，后hòu者zhě冒mào险xiǎn。
Reform has two paths, gradual and radical: the former is cautious, the latter risky.

Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.

This point and the other 370, with audio on every example, inside Wanyu.