How do I say former/previous/last?


In the dictionary, many words have these English translations:

最後 前 以前 先 昔 etc

I would be grateful if you could tell me the differences between these words.
What i'm trying to say are things like "at my previous school" or "my last
girlfriend" etc




最後 means _final_ ; the Japanese title for the most recent Star Wars movie was
最後のジェダイ.

前 generally means _before, former_ and probably the most useful prefix in the
two cases you gave would be 前の, as in 前の学校, or 前の彼女. In the case of
girlfriends, however, it is also common to refer to one's ex-girlfriend as
元カノ, カノ being an abbreviation of かのじょ.

元の is another term meaning _former_ (Ex. 元の同僚, former colleague)

先の can also mean former, but implies a relatively short interval of time.

昔の means long ago. 昔の彼女 would imply a girlfriend from a relatively long time
ago.

