She spotted things she'd never seen before like three-wheeled bikes and elephants. She caught the sight of one of them on the sidewalk.
I want to replace one with a word that would make it clear that I'm referring to an elephant.
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1"She caught sight of an elephant on the sidewalk." – TrevorD Jul 17 '13 at 15:20
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@TrevorD Is it possible to use another word? In order to avoid repetition? – janoChen Jul 17 '13 at 15:22
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Incidentally, "bike" is a contraction of "bicycle"; "bi-cycle" means two wheels. You mean a *tricycle". – TrevorD Jul 17 '13 at 15:22
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2You could say "one of the latter" - but it sounds strange and awkward. It's easier, simpler, and clearer to repeat the word.. – TrevorD Jul 17 '13 at 15:24
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2@TrevorD, JINX! I posted my answer at the same time as your comment, apparently. I don't agree that "one of the latter" is necessarily awkward. I agree that repeating "elephant" is more awkward - but this is getting into an off-topic area of opinion-based answers. In any event, I think "latter" will serve to answer OP's question. – Kristina Lopez Jul 17 '13 at 15:28
I'd say, "She caught sight of the latter, lumbering along the sidewalk." "Latter" makes it clear that she means the last one in the list and I added "lumbering" because that's how I see it in my mind's eye. :-)
answered Jul 17 '13 at 15:25
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Thanks for the suggestion, but can I use latter to refer to to only one elephant (given the context)? – janoChen Jul 17 '13 at 15:31
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1Given the context, my example could imply more than one - though it's ambiguous. "one of the latter" would be more specific to state that she saw just one elephant on the sidewalk, at that moment in time. If you wanted to give the impression that as she scanned the overall scene, there were more than one elephant, you could say "She caught sight of the latter, lumbering along, here and there, along the sidewalks." – Kristina Lopez Jul 17 '13 at 15:39
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