among and between
1. We say that somebody/something is between two or more clearly separate people or things.
We use among when somebody/something is in a group, a crowd or a mass of people or things, which we do not see separately.
Compare:
- She was standing between Alice and Mary.
- She was standing among a crowd of children.
- Our house is between the wood, the river and the village.
- His house is hidden among the trees.
2. We use between to say that there are things (or groups of things) on two sides.
- a little valley between high mountains.
- I saw something between the wheels of the car.
3. We say divide between and share between before singular nouns.
Before plural nouns, we can say between or among.
- He divided his money between his wife, his daughter and his sister.
- I shared the food between/among all my friends.
The following are links to sites where you can do exercises pertaining to between and among:
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-25854.php
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-21388.php
http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com/2011/11/confusing-words-between-and-among.html
http://www.englishpractice.com/quiz/exercise-11
Note: The tips in this series are picked from various sources!
~* GS *~
March 19, 2013
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