VOA慢速英语2018--Between and Among

 

Prepositions can be tricky¹ in any language, including English. And English has a lot of them. But, do not worry! Ask a Teacher is here to make things easier. Today’s question comes from Edgar of Venezuela. Here it is:

Question:

I would like to know the difference between “among” and “between.” Thanks! – Edgar, Venezuela

Answer:

Hello Edgar, that is an excellent question.

This week, I had a choice between this question and many others. But I chose this one.

Did you see how I used “between”?

I see that you also used the word correctly when you asked about the “difference between” the words. Good job!

“Between” and “among” are two prepositions that generally mean “in the middle of two or more things.” But how do we know which to use?

Many English learners are taught that we use “between” for two things and “among” for three or more.

It is true that we usually use “between” to talk about things that are clearly separate, as you and I both did. However, the use of “between” is not limited by the number of things.

We use “among” to talk about things within a group. They are not clearly separate. “Among” means “in or through a group of people or things.”

Here are some sentences to compare:

He is choosing between Spanish, French and Italian.

He is choosing among the languages.

The word “between” named the languages while “among” spoke² about them as part of a group. Now compare these:

A liger is a hybrid³ between a lion and a tiger.

Ligers are among the many animal hybrids⁴ in the world.

The word “between” named the animals, while “among” spoke of them as being part of a group.

Take Note

A few things to note:

In everyday spoken English, Americans usually do not use the word “among” as it sounds a little formal. Instead, we might use “between” or a different preposition.

The word “between” is also used to talk about time, space and other measurements, such as in “Please arrive between the hours of 10am and 1pm” and “There was a meter of space between my bike and the cars.”

And that’s Ask a Teacher.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

preposition – n. a word or group of words that is used with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object

hybrid – n. an animal or plant that is produced from two animals or plants of different kinds

1 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

4 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句