Among, Amongst or Between? Usage Guide

Use between when you are talking about distinct, individual things, whether two or more (between Sydney and Melbourne; talks between the US, the UK and Australia). Use among when you mean something spread through a group without singling members out (popular among teenagers). Amongst means exactly the same as among; it is just more common in British and Australian English.

The famous rule that "between is for two and among is for more than two" is a simplification. It works for many sentences, but careful writers break it all the time, and usage guides back them up.

Quick answer: Between = separate, identifiable items (any number). Among = an undivided group or mass. Amongst = a variant of among, fine in the UK and Australia, rare in the US. And it is always between you and me**.

On this page

1. The three words at a glance
2. Etymology
3. Between vs among: the real rule
4. Amongst: when and whether to use it
5. US vs UK vs Australia
6. Example sentences
7. Common mistakes
8. "Between ... and," never "between ... to" or "between ... or"
9. Related words: amid, amidst, betwixt and in between
10. A five-second test
11. A memory trick
12. Practice quiz
13. Putting it into practice

The three words at a glance

Pronunciation

• between: bih-TWEEN
• among: uh-MUNG
• amongst: uh-MUNGST

Etymology

Between comes from Old English betwēonum, built on the same root as two and twain. That origin is the source of the "only two" idea, but even in Old and Middle English the word was used with more than two items.

Among comes from Old English on gemang, literally "in a crowd" or "in a mixture." Its core sense has always been "in the middle of a mass."

Amongst added an extra -st in Middle English. The -s was an adverbial ending (also found in once and besides), and the t was added later, the same way whilst grew from while. That t is called an excrescent consonant: a sound that slipped in because it was easy to say.

Between vs among: the real rule

Use "between" for distinct, individual relationships

The key is whether you see the items as separate, each relating to the others individually.

• The negotiations between Ford, Toyota and the union lasted weeks. (three separate parties)
• Choose between the red, the blue and the green. (three distinct options)
• The road runs between Brisbane, Toowoomba and the coast.
• There's a strong rivalry between the three schools.

In each case, you could imagine lines drawn from each item to every other. That is "between" territory.

Use "among" for groups, crowds and spread

• She felt at home among the musicians. (surrounded by a group)
• The rumor spread quickly among the staff. (diffused through a group)
• Among the guests was a former prime minister. (one of a group)
• The cake was shared among the children. (distributed generally)

You cannot draw individual lines here. The group is treated as a whole.

When both are possible

Some sentences can take either, with a small shift in focus:

• The prize money was divided between the four finalists. (four specific shares)
• The prize money was divided among the four finalists. (shared within the group)

Both are correct. Choose the one that matches the picture you want the reader to see.

When only "between" works

Some uses have nothing to do with the number of items:

• Time: between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., between meals
• Position on a line: Canberra is between Sydney and Melbourne.
• Ranges: between 20 and 30 people
• Differences: the difference between affect and effect (see affect vs effect)

Among cannot replace any of these.

When only "among" works

Use among with collective or uncountable nouns, because there are no separate items to relate:

• among the crowd, among the wreckage, among the population, among the trees

"Between the crowd" makes no sense, because a crowd is one undivided mass.

Amongst: when and whether to use it

Among and amongst are fully interchangeable in meaning. The difference is regional and stylistic.

• In American English, amongst is unusual. Many American readers find it old-fashioned, poetic or British.
• In British English, among is still the more common form, but amongst is widely used and perfectly natural.
• In Australian English, the situation is similar to Britain: both are used, with amongst comfortable in speech and writing.

Some writers use amongst before a vowel sound (amongst others, amongst us) because it flows better. That is a reasonable stylistic habit, not a rule. Others feel amongst adds a formal or literary note. If you want a neutral tone everywhere, among is never wrong.

The same pattern applies to the pair while and whilst: whilst is common in British and Australian English and rare in American English.

US vs UK vs Australia

The between-versus-among distinction itself is the same in all three countries. Only the use of amongst varies.

Example sentences

Everyday

1. Can you choose between the pasta and the risotto? I can't decide.
2. We found the missing earring among the cushions on the sofa.
3. There's a footpath between the two houses on our street in Hobart.
4. (UK) She was happiest amongst her old school friends.
5. The puppy hid among the tall grass at the bottom of the garden.
6. Let's keep this between ourselves.

Workplace and email

7. The budget will be split between marketing, IT and operations.
8. There is broad agreement among the leadership team on the new strategy.
9. Please schedule the call between 2 and 4 p.m. Brisbane time.
10. (AU) The bonus was shared amongst everyone who worked on the launch.
11. Communication between the London and Chicago offices has improved.
12. Among the applicants, three stood out for their experience.

Academic

13. The study compared outcomes between rural and urban patients.
14. Anxiety was more common among first-year students than among final-year students.
15. The correlation between income, education and health was strong.
16. (UK) The theory is popular amongst historians of the period.

News style

17. Talks between the three governments resumed on Monday.
18. Concern is growing among residents of western Sydney about rising rents.
19. The bill passed with support from among both major parties.
20. Leeds sits between the Pennines and the Vale of York.

Fixed phrases and idioms

21. Honestly, between you and me, the plan won't work.
22. Visits from my cousins are few and far between.
23. He's caught between a rock and a hard place.
24. She counts several Olympians among her friends.

Common mistakes

❌ Between you and I, the meeting was a waste of time. ✅ Between you and me, the meeting was a waste of time. Prepositions take object pronouns; see my family and I vs me and my family for the same rule.

❌ There was panic between the crowd. ✅ There was panic among the crowd. A crowd is a single mass, not separate items.

❌ The meeting is among 2 and 3 p.m. ✅ The meeting is between 2 and 3 p.m.

❌ You must choose among Option A, Option B and Option C. (sometimes "corrected" this way) ✅ You must choose between Option A, Option B and Option C. Distinct options can take between even when there are three.

❌ Between each house is a garden. ✅ There is a garden between each house and the next. / Between the houses are gardens. "Between each" is common in speech, but strictly "between" needs two things.

❌ (US marketing copy) Popular amongst young professionals. ✅ (US marketing copy) Popular among young professionals. Not wrong, but "amongst" reads as unusual to American readers.

"Between ... and," never "between ... to" or "between ... or"

One of the most frequent slips with between has nothing to do with among at all. Between sets up a pair of end points, and the word that joins them is always and.

❌ The venue holds between 200 to 300 guests. ✅ The venue holds between 200 and 300 guests. ✅ The venue holds 200 to 300 guests.

❌ You can choose between the train or the bus. ✅ You can choose between the train and the bus. ✅ You can take the train or the bus.

The to error usually comes from blending two correct patterns, between X and Y and from X to Y. The or error blends between X and Y with either X or Y. Pick one structure and finish it. The same applies to dates and times: write between 1 May and 15 June or from 1 May to 15 June, not a mix of the two. In tables, timetables and slides, a plain en dash (200–300, 9–5) avoids the issue entirely, but in running prose, between still needs its and.

A related trap is putting a plural on only one side. Between meetings is fine because meetings is already plural. Between each meeting, as the mistakes section notes, is common in speech, but in formal writing between meetings or between one meeting and the next is cleaner.

Related words: amid, amidst, betwixt and in between

Several neighbors of among and between turn up in the same sentences, and they follow similar patterns.

Amid is the word news writers reach for when the "group" is really a situation rather than a set of people or things: Shares fell amid fears of a slowdown. You would not write among fears, because fears are not individuals you could stand among. As a rough guide, among goes with countable plurals (among the trees), while amid is happier with mass nouns and events (amid the noise, amid the protests).

A five-second test

When you are unsure, try these two quick swaps:

1. Replace the word with "in the middle of the group of." If that paraphrase fits, use among: popular in the middle of the group of teenagers is clumsy but accurate, so popular among teenagers is right.
2. Draw a line from each item to the others. If every item has its own relationship with each of the rest (a contract, a border, a difference, a choice), use between, however many items there are.

Then run one last check for audience: if your reader is American, change any amongst to among.

Quick editing exercise

Fix any errors in these sentences. Some are already correct.

1. The flight takes between nine to ten hours.
2. There is little trust among the two founders.
3. Amid the confusion, nobody noticed the fire alarm.
4. The scholarship will be shared between the whole graduating class.
5. The dispute between the council, the developer and local residents went to court.

Answers: (1) between nine and ten hours. (2) between the two founders; two individuals in a relationship. (3) Correct. (4) among the whole graduating class; a class is one group. (5) Correct; three separate parties.

A memory trick

"Be-TWEEN has TW, like TWo, TWins and TWine: it ties separate things together one by one. A-MONG sounds like 'a mob': a crowd you are inside." If you can picture strings tying distinct items to each other, use between. If you picture yourself standing in the middle of a crowd, use among. And if you are writing British or Australian English and amongst sounds better, use it.

Practice quiz

1. The Murray River forms much of the border ___ New South Wales and Victoria. (between / among)
2. The disease spread rapidly ___ the population. (between / among)
3. Keep this secret between you and ___. (I / me)
4. (US company blog) The new feature is popular ___ teachers. (among / amongst — best choice)
5. The trade deal ___ Canada, Mexico and the United States was renegotiated. (between / among)
6. I found my keys ___ the papers on my desk. (between / among)

Answers

1. between – a boundary between two specific places.
2. among – spreading through a mass.
3. me – object pronoun after a preposition.
4. among – amongst is unusual in American English.
5. between – three distinct parties with individual relationships.
6. among – surrounded by an undivided pile.

Putting it into practice

Forget the count of items and ask a different question: are you looking at separate things one by one, or at a group as a whole? Separate things get between; a group gets among. Then decide on among or amongst by audience: among everywhere is safe, and amongst is a perfectly good choice for British and Australian readers. For another case where an old school rule is stricter than real usage, see less vs fewer.