Among vs. Between

Many people think about the differences and similarities between 'among' and 'between'. So, come with me so as to make progress in your learning process.

What Are Their Main Differences?

Both of these refer to a position within some other things/people. To talk about the position, use 'among' if there are more than two people or things around someone or something, and 'between' if there is just one person or thing on each side.

Differences

'Among' is a preposition and it is mainly used to refer to more than two things/people that are not clear-cut, or when they are in a community or a group. Look at the following examples for more clarification:

Who loves cake more among you guys?

Among the blue team members, Ron was the most talented one.

As stated above, 'between' also has the same grammatical function as 'among'. It is a preposition. Some people believe that 'between' is only used when we want to talk about two things or people. That is not true. We can use 'between' to distinguish one among several items. However, it is used with distinct items. After some words (such as 'relationship' or 'difference') use between, even when there are more than two people or things. Look at the following examples:

I envy the relationship between the three friends. (Not 'I envy the relationship ~~among~~ the three friends.')

There was a conflict between them but they got over it quickly.

Similarities

As mentioned above, we use both to refer to one specific item/person in a group with others. Look:

Does anyone among you guys know how to drive this car?

The yellow case is between the purple one and the dark blue one.

Are They Interchangeable?

Since we use 'between' for more distinct and clear-cut items, we cannot replace these two words. Look at the examples below. We can never use 'among' whenever we are talking about distinguished items. Compare:

✓ Can you put this book between the red book and the vase?

✗ Can you put this book among the red book and the vase?

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