“among” and “between” are Trickier than you Think

How to use “among” and “between” correctly

by | Jul 12, 2019 | Vocabulary

Fill in the gaps:
a) Let’s share this cake *……….. John, Jack, and Jane. 
b) *……….. my friends, I only trust John.
(*Answers at the bottom of this lesson)
Many people believe “between” should be used for choices of two items and “among” for choices that involve more than two items. That can get you to the right answer some of the time, but it’s not that simple :

1 between two

We say that something is between two people, things, or groups of things.

  • She was standing between Alice and Mary.
  • a long valley between high mountains

Between is often used to talk about distances or intervals.

  • We need two meters between the windows.
  • I’ll be at the office between nine and eleven.

2 between or among more than two

We usually say that somebody or something is between several clearly separate people or things. We prefer among when somebody or something is in a group, a crowd or a mass of people or things which we do not see separately.

Compare:

– Our house is between the forest, the river, and the village.

His house is hidden among the trees.

– I saw something between the wheels of the car.
Your letter is somewhere among all these newspapers.

Among is normal before a singular (uncountable) noun.

  • They found an envelope full of money among all the rubbish.

3 dividing and sharing; the difference

We can talk about dividing or sharing things between or among more than two people or groups.

  • He divided all his money between/among his children and grandchildren.
  • We shared the work between/among the five of us.

We normally use between after difference.

  • There are enormous differences between languages.
  • What’s the difference between ‘between’ and ‘among’?

4 ‘one of’ etc

Among can mean ‘one of’, ‘some of’ or ‘included in’.

  • Among the first to arrive was the ambassador.
  • He has a number of criminals among his friends.

* a) between    b) among

About the Author

About the Author

CEO and Co-founder of Juice Academy

Mehdi Safavi is a Cambridge certified English teacher (CELTA Grade A), IDP-trained IELTS expert, Sussex Downs College TESOL with 17+ years of teaching & teacher training experience. More about him →

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