Among versus Between and Amid

Students often confuse certain prepositions and make silly mistakes in exams. In this article, we will study about some of the most often confused prepositions, such as among, between, amid.

We will study their use cases, and also some of their variants, such as amongst and amidst.

Among vs. Between

When we see two or more people or things as individual or separate → We use between

When we see the people or things as part of a group or mass → We use among

But we don’t use ‘among’ in case of only two people or things.

He held the ring between his thumb and forefinger.
India is situated between Russia to the north, China to the east, Pakistan to the west, and Sri Lanka to the south.

The match will be played among India and Australia. (incorrect; we do not use among in case of two things)
The match will be played between India and Australia. (correct)

Rohit stood among all his teammates in the award ceremony.
We distributed the blankets among the beggars.
I eventually found my ID card among the clothes in my almirah.

Now, let us go into more details.

Concept 1

Between (rather than among) is used in reference to more than two in the following cases:

• when we talk about a definite number of things/people etc., i.e. we specify the individual members of the group using singular nouns
• when we talk about comparisons/mutual relationship/co-operation etc. (e.g. a difference between…, contrast between…, a connection between…, a friendship between…, a link between…)

In this rugby tournament, matches will be played between South Africa, England and New Zealand. (definite number of countries)

Treaty of Amsterdam was a treaty between the nine European nations. (mutual relationship)

What are the differences between football, soccer and American football?

Concept 2

We use plural noun/pronoun with ‘between’.

between the countries, between friends, between them/us

Concept 3: Between …. and

• ‘between’ is often followed by ‘and’
  Pattern: between + and
  
  The press conference will be held between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
  My village is somewhere between Meerut and Hapur.

• ‘between …. and’ takes objective case of pronoun.
  There is no relationship between him and me. (not he and I)

Concept 4

Among is used in relation to more than 2 things which are physically present and easily countable.

This brunette woman was among the 88 victims of the green river serial killer.

So, we can’t use ‘among’ in the following cases:

• We can’t use among when the things are uncountable. E.g. destroyed building parts.

• If the things are physically not present, we can’t use among. That is, we can’t use among with concepts, e.g. problems.

Among Vs Amongst

Amongst and Among mean the same. But there are a few minor differences.

• Amongst comes before ‘the’
  There was no co-ordination amongst the players.

• Among is used before consonant sound, while amongst is used before vowel sound.
  among them. (‘them’ starts with a consonant sound)
  amongst us. (‘us’ starts with a vowel sound)

Amid vs. Amidst

Amid/Amidst is used for more than two. Same is true for Among/Amongst.

Just like Among & Amongst, the meanings of Amid & Amidst are also quite similar, i.e. Amid and Amidst mean the same thing.

Then what is the difference between them?

Well, the differences are very minor and so we will have to dive deep.

Amid is used before consonant sound, while Amidst is used before vowel sound.

Voting was conducted amid pandemonium. (‘pandemonium’ starts with a consonant sound)
You should speak for us while you are sitting amidst us. (‘us’ starts with a vowel sound)

‘Amid/Amidst Vs. Among/Amongst

Concept 1

‘Amid’ (rather than Among) is used in the collection of three or more, when things are not physically present. (i.e. we can use it with concepts)

I am amid many difficulties.

Concept 2

‘Amid’ (rather than Among) is also used when the things are physically present, but it’s difficult to count them. So, ‘Amid/Amidst’ can be used before uncountable nouns too.

Amid / Amidst – can be used with countable / uncountable noun
Among / Amongst – used only with countable noun.

There was a lot of stirring amid the crowd.
I got these useful articles amid the rubble.
I could see a colourful, beautiful bird amid the leaves.

Mr. Modi finished his speech among tremendous applause. (incorrect)
Mr. Modi finished his speech amid tremendous applause. (correct; applause - uncountable noun)

Concept 3

Amid/Amidst – gives the sense of surround, i.e. being surrounded by something.
Among/Amongst – gives the feeling of being a part of something.

I didn’t find anything of this sort among your luggage. (incorrect)
I didn’t find anything of this sort amid your luggage. (correct)

Extra Books and Tools

If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.