among & between深度辨析

Among和between这两个介词都可以表示“在……之间”，具体有什么区别呢?一起来看看吧!

一起来看看下面的例句：

Bill and Mark swam among the sunken ships.

Bill and Mark swam between the sunken ships.

What’s the difference between soup, consommé, and broth?

What’s the difference among soup, consommé, and broth?

这些句子都是正确的么?每组句子的含义是一样的么?一起带着这些疑问往下看吧!

Among 介词，意为“在……之间”，有三种含义：

由一群人或物包围：

We walked among hundreds of bluebells.

我们走在风信子花丛中。

属于某一个团体：

A British woman was among the 20 victims of the crash.

英国女人是车祸的20个受害者之一。

当涉及到三个或三个以上的人或事物，用来显示关系、选择、分配等。

He divided his fortune among his four children.

他把财富分给他的四个孩子。

Between 可作介词和副词，意为“在……之间、中间”等，有六种含义：

空间关系上位于两个独立的人或物之间：

He was standing between Jeff and Kevin.

他站在杰夫和凯文之间。

There’s a high-speed train service between New York and Washington.

纽约和华盛顿之间有高速列车服务。

时间关系上位于两个独立的时间或事件之间：

Many changes took place between the two world wars.

两次世界大战之间发生了许多变化。

两个点之间的时间范围：

Her sons, aged between 5 and 9, go to primary school.

她的儿子年龄在5-9岁之间，转到小学上学。

用来表示关系、选择和区别：

You have to choose between two or three different options.

你必须在两到三个不同选项之间做出选择。

Talks between France and Germany are continuing.

法国和德国之间的谈判仍在继续。

表示人或事物之间的共享：

They ate the whole birthday cake between them.

他们一同吃了整个蛋糕。

表示人或事物之间的资源或动作等联系：

We’ve created something between us.

我们之间已经建立了某种联系。

一些传统的观点认为between应用于两者之间，而among用于三者或三者以上的情形。但目前，这种用法已经过时。一些权威机构认为between和among均可以用于三者及三者以上的情形中。

✔ He divided his fortune between his four children.

✔ He divided his fortune among his four children.

但在一些情况下between和among不可以互换：

具体的时间点之间：用between

✔ The children were aged between 12 and 16.

X The children were aged among 12 and 16.

指具体的人、团体或东西：用between

✔ A treaty was drawn up between France, Germany, Italy, and Greece.

X A treaty was drawn up among France, Germany, Italy, and Greece.

✔ Flights between London and Crete begin in early April.

X Flights among London and Crete begin in early April.

指成员、事物等可作为一个整体：用among

✔ There was agreement among members that fees should not be raised.

X There was agreement between members that fees should not be raised.

✔ The Petronas Towers are among the architectural wonders of the world.

X The Petronas Towers are between the architectural wonders of the world.

具体事物的区别时：用between(不论物体多少)

✔ The difference between those results is not statistically significant.

X The difference among those results is not statistically significant.

文章开头的问题你有答案了么?

Bill and Mark swam among the sunken ships.

Bill and Mark swam between the sunken ships.

这两句话都是正确的，但它们的含义并不相同，第一个例子中Bill和Mark在一群沉船之间游泳。第二个例子中Bill和Mark正在游泳，他们左右两侧分别有一艘沉船。

What’s the difference between soup, consommé, and broth?

What’s the difference among soup, consommé, and broth?

这两个例子中用between更好，因为讨论的是为独立个体之间的不同。