Between and Among - 2 groups or 2 items - The Beat The GMAT Forum

Between and Among - 2 groups or 2 items

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whitney: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:56 pm

by whitney » Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:35 am

Hi LunarPower-

I just read your response to a post on between/among here: https://www.beatthegmat.com/between-vs-among-t69113.html

And had a quick clarifying question on the following example:

"Electronic pets are more common among girls than boys."

Is "among" used because there are multiple girls and multiple boys, so more than 2 items? Is it true that the rule is more than 2 individual items, so 2 groups doesn't count?

Thanks in advance!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:35 am

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by [email protected] » Wed Jul 24, 2013 6:32 pm

Hi whitney,

Your post leads me to believe that you're trying to lump in an idiom rule with a pronoun rule. You also have to think about the "intent" of the sentence.

The word 'between' is used for two individuals.
The word 'among' is used for any number greater than two.

So, in your example:

"Electronic pets are more common among girls than boys."; this sentence is referencing *all* girls, which is clearly more than two. The word "among" would be the correct usage. The intent of this sentence is NOT to compare 2 individuals, it's to compare all of one group to all of another.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Sat Jul 27, 2013 4:41 am

whitney wrote:Is "among" used because there are multiple girls and multiple boys, so more than 2 items?

Yes. It's an entirely context-based difference.

Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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