Between or among?

Question

Should I use between or among in the sentence?

You must choose between/among the three books.

I'd use among (more than two), but there's some support for using between these days. See definitions 4 & 5, for example, and contrast them with definitions 1-3. — Lawrence, Jul 19 '17 at 02:54
You would only use "between" for a relatively small number of options, and only for the case where a single option is to be selected. — Hot Licks, Jul 19 '17 at 03:00
@Hot Licks, would choosing "from among" a list also imply that only a single option is to be selected? I believe so. — thomj1332, Jul 19 '17 at 03:08
@thomj1332 - "From among" does not (strongly) imply whether a single choice or multiple choices is expected. — Hot Licks, Jul 19 '17 at 03:10
Just for fun, look up the etymology of each word. Be- tween: of two / Among: in mingling — RaceYouAnytime, Jul 19 '17 at 04:21

thomj1332 · Answer 1 · 2017-07-19T03:05:40.550

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I would say, "You must choose one of the three books."

You could also say "...from among the three books." as suggested in the comments, but the two ways of saying it mean different things. It depends on if you want to say that only one book can be chosen? Or, do you want to leave room for the person to choose 2 or 3 books out of the 3? "...from among the three books." gives room for this.

edited Jul 19 '17 at 03:05

answered Jul 19 '17 at 02:59

thomj1332

4,356

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 19 '17 at 03:25

-1

Choose "among" more than two items, and "between" just two. The following is outright wrong: "The flying stone hit him squarely among his eyes."

I'll extend this fun topic to discuss one of my real pet peeves, as illustrated in the following example:
You must choose one of the following actions: (a) to fly a kite, or (b) to take a hike.

The above example illustrates an ubiquitous error in that "or" is incorrect; it should be "and". This is a very common error, even in legal documents.

answered Jul 19 '17 at 03:25

WeeWilly

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As written, or is fine for your kite/hike example. – Lawrence Jul 19 '17 at 05:33
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@Lawrence I think so too, A:"You must choose blue or yellow", B: "You must choose between blue and yellow", You must choose one of the following... is equivalent to A – Mari-Lou A Jul 19 '17 at 05:39
So the following sentence is grammatically incorrect? "If I had to choose a colour between blue, yellow and green, I'd go for blue" – Mari-Lou A Jul 19 '17 at 05:46

Between or among?

2 Answers2