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Home » What’s the Difference Between Among and Between?

What’s the Difference Between Among and Between?

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Key Difference: The literal meaning of Among is “in the midst of“. This word is commonly used to refer to a group of people. You can use this word to talk about things you are unsure of. The word Between refers to “in common to“. You can use this word to represent either one or another among two. Here, we come up with explanations and examples to define the difference between Among and Between.

Among: We decided that one among us should participate in the competition.
Between: He was confused about choosing between red and blue color.

AmongPinBetweenPin
Among Vs Between

Among:

AmongPin

Determines one among the Group Of Things or People.

The word Among is a preposition. This word can be referred to as “in the midst of, by the joint action of, in a group.” You can add this word when referring to a group of people. If you want to mention a people from a group of people, you can use this word. Let’s see an example to make it clear. We found the ball among the bushes. From this statement, we understand that the word “among” represents one ball among the bushes.

How Do We Spell the Word Among?

Phonetics pronunciation of the word Among is əˈmʌŋ. And this word sounds like the following audio.

Enunciation:

Syllables are phonological building blocks of words. It divides the words into parts that can help you read words more accurately. Let’s see how to split the word “among” using syllables. Learning syllables can also help you to spell words correctly. 

  • The word “Among” has two syllables
  • It can be divided as “A-mong.”

More Examples:

  • They were quarreling among themselves.
  • We suggested to choose one among the options they provided.
  • She picked the red ball among the plenty of toys.
  • We compared several smartphones but found few differences among them.
  • They distributed the food among the people.

Between:

BetweenPin

It represents a thing in common between two things or people.

As we said previously, between means “by the common action of.” It can be used between two things, places, objects, or people. It can be used as either adverb or preposition. Anyone can use this word with two contradicting things. You can use this word to explain two different things or two different options. Let’s see the sample sentence to understand it clearly. He was asked to choose between this or that. From this sentence, you can understand that while using the between, you are asked to choose between two options.

How Do We Spell the Word Between?

Phonetics pronunciation of the word Among is bɪˈtwiːn. And this word sounds like the following audio.

Enunciation:

Syllabification refers to the process of division of words into smaller parts. It is commonly known as syllables. With its help, you can easily read and spell the word accurately. Here, you will see how to split the word “Between” by syllables. 

  • The word “Between” has three syllables
  • It can be divided into “be-tween.”

More Examples:

  • We saw gates between all the houses.
  • Students are asked to choose between English and science class.
  • I was squeezed between my mother and my aunt during the travel.
  • She weighs between 30 and 35 Kilograms.
  • The office lunch hours were between 1:00 and 1:45 PM.

Compare: Among Vs Between

This table will show you the contradiction between the words Among and Between.

AmongBetween
DefinitionIt refers to “in the midst of.”This word refers to “by the common action of.”
SynonymsIn the midst of, in the company of, one of.joining, in the middle of, connecting, linking.
Antonymsaway from, outside, separateafar from, away from, outside, without
Parts of Speechprepositionadverb or preposition
EtymologyOld English ongemang (from on ‘in’ + gemang ‘assemblage, mingling’). The -st of amongst represents -s (adverbial genitive) + -t probably by association with superlatives (as in against ).Old English betwēonum, from be ‘by’ + a Germanic word related to two.
ExamplesWe have to divide the money among us.
He was tall among them.
she has to choose one among the students.
It is hard for us to choose one among the gifts.
We decided to divide the money between us.
We were only given choices to choose between two options.
Tonight’s game is between Robert and Sam.
She was confused to choose between the two decors.
Among Vs Between

Resources and References:

Resources: Cambridge Dictionary (Among, Between), Merriam-Webster (Among, Between), Dictionary.com (Among, Between)
Reference: Dictionary.Cambridge.org[1], Merriam-Webster.com[2][3], Dictionary.com[4].

  1. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/among
  2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/between
  3. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/among
  4. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/between
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