Use between for two or more separate things or people that you think of one by one. Use among for a group that is not counted or named one by one.
Use between for a position, a choice or a connection with two things or people. Use it also for more than two when each one is separate and clear.
Use among when something is inside a group, or a number of things, and they are not separate. It means "in the middle of" or "one of".
| Idea | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| two things | between | the gap between the chairs |
| separate things, one by one | between | the differences between four models |
| group, crowd, mass | among | a bird among the leaves |
| times and numbers | between | between 1998 and 2004 |
The same group can use both words, depending on how you think of it: Between the trees. Among the trees. The first sees individual trees, and the second sees a forest.
✗The ball was between the crowd.
✓The ball was among the crowd.
Here the ball is inside one crowd, not between two separate sides or things: use among.
✗Choose among the two options.
✓Choose between the two options.
Two options use between.
✗The shop is open among 9 and 5.
✓The shop is open between 9 and 5.
Use between, not among, for times and numbers.
See Prepositions of place: at, in, on, under, next to and others for between and other place words, Other prepositions: by, with, without, about, for and of for other prepositions, and Both, either and neither: both doors, either of them, neither answer for two things.
Eight questions. Choose one answer for each.