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When should you use among or amongst?
Both words mean the same thing, but among is the older form and is now more commonly used in the United States, whereas amongst is more commonly used in Britain. For example, Google’s Ngram viewer suggests the word “amongst” appeared far more frequently in literature in the early 1600s.
How do you use amongst and among in a sentence?
Among is commonly followed by a plural noun phrase:
- I’m not worried about her. She’s living among friends.
- I think I’ve got that album among my boxes of CDs upstairs.
- The results show that both girls are amongst the top 10\% of students in the whole school.
How do you properly use among?
When to Use Among Among is used when talking about people or things that are not distinct and are viewed as a group: There wasn’t much unity among the council members. Among could indicate that something belongs to a group: She only ever felt comfortable when she was among her friends.
Is amongst grammatically correct?
In both speech and writing, among and amongst are interchangeable. Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing. However, amongst is often considered old-fashioned or pretentious in American English, so you may want to avoid it.
How do you use amongst in a sentence?
Using Amongst in a Sentence
- I brought individual servings of creme brulee for our tea party. Please distribute them amongst yourselves.
- During the cotillion, the young debutante found herself amongst many powerful citizens of her town.
Is amongst past tense?
Among is not a verb, so it does not have a past tense. Instead, among and its variant amongst are preposition. Typically, prepositions come after the verb and connect the subject and verb to the rest of the sentence. You can also start a sentence with among as part of a prepositional phrase.
Is it amidst or amongst?
Amongst is a variant spelling of the preposition “among.” Amidst is an alternative version of the preposition “amid.”
What is different between among and amongst?
Amongst and among mean the same thing, but among is more common, particularly in American English. Among is the older version of the word, tracing its roots back to Old English. Amongst appeared in Middle English. During this period, the English language added sounds to some words to form adverbs.
What’s the difference between among and between?
Between is typically used when referring to two things, like “between a rock and a hard place,” while among is used for a greater number. However, these rules should be reconsidered if the sentence sounds awkward or overly pretentious.
Is there a difference between among and amongst?
Can a sentence start with amongst?
Among is not a verb, so it does not have a past tense. Instead, among and its variant amongst are preposition. You can also start a sentence with among as part of a prepositional phrase. She danced among the crowd.
Can I start a sentence with amongst?