English prepositions: among, between.

One on either side.

We say something is between one thing or person and another thing or person:

x X x

My house is between the post office and the bank. (The post office and bank are on either side of my house.)

The mother sat between Mary and her new boyfriend. (The mother was in the middle.)

Groups of things.

Between is preferred if, instead of referring to one thing or person, we refer to a group or groups:

(group a) X (group b) or x X (group)

There was a lovely beach between the mountains and the sea. (The mountains and the sea were on either side of the beach.)

The Indian chief sat between his warriors on one side and the soldiers on the other.

Surrounded by.

We use between if a thing or person has some things around it. However, there are only a few and each one is identified:

a X b c d or a b X c d

Switzerland lies between Austria, Germany, France and Italy. (Switzerland is surrounded by these countries.)

Peter, Mary, John and Steve were sitting in the front row of the cinema. Sally came in and sat between them. (There was a person or people either side of Sally.)

Crowds and groups.

We use the preposition among if there is a thing or person surrounded by many others not identified:

xxxxx X xxxxxxxxxx

I found our cat asleep among the flowers.

We were among a large crowd of people in the football stadium.

Divide and share.

When we use the verbs "divide" and "share", we use between if we name the singular nouns:

I divided the money between my sister, brother and son.

We use among or between if plural nouns are referred to:

The father shared the land among / between his seven sons and daughters.

They divided it among / between themselves.

One of, some of.

Among also means "one of" or "some of":

I was among the few people who finished the race. (I was one of...)

They were among the best photographers in the country. (They were some of...)

Exercises on among, between...