How can i use among

When describing spatial relationships, between usually means in the middle of something, or in the space restricted by something:. He drove too quickly between the cars. Among is used when talking about people or things that are not distinct and are viewed as a group:. She only ever felt comfortable when she was among her friends. When referring to spatial relationships, among tells us that something is surrounded by something else:.

Paula always wanted to go swimming among dolphins. Times of Malta. The 59th Annual Grammy nominees were announced Tuesday morning, and while familiar names appeared among the five Latin music categories, there were also some nice surprises. These words also have the same meanings as one another, but between is much more common and suitable for most contexts. Betwixt is somewhat archaic and only appears in very formal situations or for poetic or literary style.

If you can remember that betwixt ends in an st sound although the spelling looks different just like amongst , it can help you remember that amongst is less common, like betwixt. Instructions: Fill in the blank with the correct word, amongst or among , in the correct form. Should I use among or amongst? Although both of these words are correct, and even share the same definition, there are some differences in usage.

Use among most of the time, and only use amongst when you want to be quite formal or to add a certain literary style to what you are saying. Or consider this use of among , which was definitely chosen over between entirely due to the numbers:. The psychiatrist said under cross-examination This sort of overcorrection is common when a writer wants to sound fancy or educated, but there is another overcorrection that gets grief from usage commentators: the substitution of the variant amongst for among or between.

For instance, Bryan Garner, in Garner's Modern English Usage , gives a perfect example of the criticism against amongst , calling it an archaism that "is pretentious at best," but our evidence doesn't confirm that view. Amongst is certainly less common than among , and it's used more in British English than it is in American English " Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency Those two facts may be reason enough for amongst to stand out to an American speaker.

But we have many not-so-quaint and unpretentious American uses of it in our files:. Pelican is a wild town where one year before there had been a shootout of sorts amongst some fishermen, As many as 29 potential sites were found, each of which offered a dead spot amongst the maze of microwave beams. Verity, Datamation , July Amongst the evidence were verbal slams from such network luminaries According to a recently released survey by ACNielsen, satellite-TV penetration into Saudi homes is now 80 percent: "Amongst the highest in the world.

It is, however, a little pretentious when swapped for among in fixed phrases and idioms like among friends and first among equals. What should a discerning reader and writer do, then?

Use your instincts. If swapping among for between sounds off somehow, then it probably is. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

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