'between' instead of 'among'

[Tan Elaine]

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today moved to contain damaging reports of a rift among members of the coalition regarding the restoration of the local council elections.

While Anwar admitted that there may be differences among DAP, PKR and PAS, he stressed that the leaders were still working towards a “cohesive alliance.”

Could 'between' be used instead of 'among'? I remember being taught that 'between' can be used when the sense of cooperation is implied even when more than two things are involved.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ha179]

Not a teacher

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today moved to contain damaging reports of a rift among members of the coalition regarding the restoration of the local council elections.

While Anwar admitted that there may be differences among DAP, PKR and PAS, he stressed that the leaders were still working towards a “cohesive alliance.”

Could 'between' be used instead of 'among'? I remember being taught that 'between' can be used when the sense of cooperation is implied.

Thanks in advance.

Between is used when there are only two things/people... , for example:There is a distance between you and I while 'among' is used when there are three or more things/people..., for example: I like badminton the most among the sports in my school.

 

[Tan Elaine]

Could some member/s confirm whether ha179's answer is correct?

Many thanks.

 

[Abstract Idea]

Could some member/s confirm whether ha179's answer is correct?

Many thanks.

In general terms hal179 is correct: use among for more than two and between for two. However he was unlucky with his example which should read "There is a distance between you and me," instead of "you and I."

But you are looking for the exception. Let us see:

Geraldine Woods explains in her book, English Grammar for Dummies, that you should use between for two and among for more than two with the following exception: "Treaties are made between nations, even if more than two countries sign: 'The treaty to outlaw bubble gum was negotiated between Lybia, the US, Russia and Ecuador."

Paul Brians in his famous common erros page asserts the following:
"The “-tween” in “between” is clearly linked to the number two; but, as the Oxford English Dictionary notes, “In all senses, between has, from its earliest appearance, been extended to more than two.” We’re talking about Anglo-Saxon here—early. Pedants have labored to enforce “among” when there are three or more objects under discussion, but largely in vain. Even the pickiest speaker does not naturally say, “A treaty has been negotiated among England, France, and Germany.” "
(extracted from Non-Errors)

Not a native speaker

 

[Abstract Idea]

While Anwar admitted that there may be differences among DAP, PKR and PAS, he stressed that the leaders were still working towards a “cohesive alliance.”

Could 'between' be used instead of 'among'?

It is difficult to give a direct answer. I would use 'among'.
But it is better to try to read some other opinions.

 

[Tan Elaine]

Thanks, Ymnisky.

So far two members have responded, one who is not a teacher and another who is not a native speaker.

I would like to know whether native speakers use 'between' or 'among'?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Kondorosi]

While Anwar admitted that there may be differences among DAP, PKR and PAS, he stressed that the leaders were still working towards a “cohesive alliance.”

between several clearly separated (DAP; PKR; PAS) things or people
among a mass of things or people we do not see separately

 

[sarat_106]

It is difficult to give a direct answer. I would use 'among'.
But it is better to try to read some other opinions.

The grammatical rule says: between is used for two people or entities and among when three or more are involved. But there is always a deviation of the prescriptive rule from the grammatical rule.
In US, the Associated Press (AP) guide included the maxim that “between introduces two items and among more than two”, arguing that as a result it was correct to write “between you and me” but “among the three of us’”.
Not withstanding, this is still a matter that’s capable of arousing controversy in the US. In the year 2008, John McIntyre, an editor with the Baltimore Sun, said in a media discussion that between could be used for more than two. Later on he wrote in his paper that he had come across a passage in Robert Dallek’s Nixon and Kissinger that made his point: “Between February 25 and March 4, Kissinger resumed his shuttle diplomacy, traveling between Damascus, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Amman, Riyadh, and Bonn, before his return to the United States.” Mr McIntyre comments, “He did not travel among those six cities; he traveled between one and another seriatim.” This contention has been accepted by British grammarians according to whom sentences like the following are unacceptable:

1. *She had flour AMONG her fingers.
2. *I put the shovel somewhere AMONG the backdoor, the tool shed, and the mango tree. So that when the preposition is replaced by ‘between’, the sentences are considered right.
1. She had flour between her fingers.
2. I put the shovel somewhere between the backdoor, the tool shed, and the mango tree.
Therefore, it is no wonder that some body has prescribed this guideline:
§ Use between when something/ someone is between several clearly separated thing/ people. Use among when something/ someone is in a group/ crowd/ mass which we cannot see separately.
e.g:
My villa is between the woods, the river and the village.
Your villa is hidden among the trees.

 

[bhaisahab]

In your example, Elaine, I would use "between".

 

[Tan Elaine]

Many thanks to all the members who have responded to my post.

 

[jayan12]

She divided her possessions equally between her four children. [here the number is known]

She divided her possessions equally among her children [group, the number is unknown]

 

[sarat_106]

She divided her possessions equally between her four children. [here the number is known]

She divided her possessions equally among her children [group, the number is unknown]

If you go by prescriptive guide lines, use 'between'.
If grammatical rule as demonstrated in this site(American):

ESL visual guide to prepositions of place for ESL English ... (Page 3)


You can use 'among'. But please take your own decission, the meaning will be same with either word.

 

[Kondorosi]

In your example, Elaine, I would use "between".

Agreed. :up:

 

[TheParser]

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today moved to contain damaging reports of a rift among members of the coalition regarding the restoration of the local council elections.

While Anwar admitted that there may be differences among DAP, PKR and PAS, he stressed that the leaders were still working towards a “cohesive alliance.”

Could 'between' be used instead of 'among'? I remember being taught that 'between' can be used when the sense of cooperation is implied even when more than two things are involved.

Thanks in advance.

***NOT A TEACHER***Wilson Follett, the famous American usage authority, wrote: "between" is required when we want to express the relations of three or more taken one pair at a time -- The main stumbling block in the present delicate exchanges between Paris, Athens, London and Ankara....

 

[hanky]

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today moved to contain damaging reports of a rift among members of the coalition regarding the restoration of the local council elections.

While Anwar admitted that there may be differences among DAP, PKR and PAS, he stressed that the leaders were still working towards a “cohesive alliance.”

Could 'between' be used instead of 'among'? I remember being taught that 'between' can be used when the sense of cooperation is implied even when more than two things are involved.

Thanks in advance.

In your example, Elaine, I would use "between".

I agreed.
I choose 'between' for the reason that here one has two objects: 'PKR and PAS' is only one object and the other is 'DAP'.

If one writes: DAP, PKR, and PAS (i.e, added one commas) then I would go with 'among'.

I am not a teacher nor English native speaker.