Between
“Between” puede funcionar como preposición o adverbio. A continuación analizamos su uso como preposición.
Tradicionalmente se ha considerado que esta preposición tan sólo se debía utilizar cuando había dos referencias; con 3 o más referencias había que utilizar la preposición “Among”. En esta lección al analizar las diferencias entre estas dos preposiciones se explica que hay contextos con 3 o más referencias en los que se puede utilizar “Between”.
Significado
1.- Preposición de lugar: Entre (en medio de 2 objetos, personas, lugares…)
The yellow pepper is between the other two
I sat between my wife and my son
The Strait of Gibraltar is situated between Spain and Morocco
The city of York lies between Manchester and Leeds
I have parked the car between the two buses
Put the bedside table between the two beds
There is a bus service between London and Paris
Andorra is between France and Spain
The red car is parked between the yellow and the blue one
2.- Preposición de tiempo: Indica dos momentos de un periodo, inicial y final
The doctor can attend you between 7 and 9 o´clock
The president will appear between 10 and 11 o`clock
I get lunch in the office between 13 and 14 o´clock
I went to the school between the ages of 6 and 17
He was Prime Minister between 2010 and 2014
The president will attend the meeting between 12 and 14 o´clock
Students between 14 and 17 years of age will participate in a poetry competition
3.- Otros significados
3.1.- Compartido (por personas / cosas)
Peter and John ate the pizza between them
The prize was divided between the winner and his manager
The two brothers divided the money between them
The changing room was shared between the two teams
3.2.- Muestra una relación, una elección, una diferencia
Negotiations between Real Madrid and Barcelona FC are continuing
For our honey moon we had to choose between Paris and Rome
The volume of trade between Japan and China is increasing dramatically
Today’s match is between Manchester United and Liverpool
Exploratory talks between the two companies started two months ago
Sometimes it’s difficult to appreciate differences between expensive wines and less expensive ones
3.3.- Situado entre dos puntos de una escala
In the Spanish alphabet the vowel “E” is between the consonants “D” and “F”
Mary weighs between 60 and 65 kilograms
In summer the temperature in Seville varies between 30 and 40 degrees
Diferencias
1.- Between vs Among
1.- Tradicionalmente se ha considerado que la diferencia principal entre estas dos preposiciones consiste en que “between” se utiliza cuando hay 2 referencias mientras que “among” se utiliza cuando hay 3 o más referencias.
I was sitting between my two friends
I was sitting among my friends (3 o más)
My brother had to choose between two jobs
My brother had to choose among many options (3 o más)
Actualmente se considera que en determinados contextos con 3 o más referencias es perfectamente válido utilizar la preposición “between”.
The father divided the prize bewteen his five children
The father divided the prize among his children
En todo caso hay que tener claro que estas dos preposiciones no son intercambiables, no se pueden utilizar indistintamente. Entonces: ¿Qué regla se podría aplicar”?
1.- Se utiliza “between” (NO “among”) cuando hay 2 referencias:
The students were aged between 10 and 12
The students were aged among 10 and 12 (NO)
2.- Se puede utilizar “between” cuando hay 3 o más referencias pero están perfectamente individualizadas:
I divided the cake between Mary, Peter, John and Eddy
3.- Se utiliza “among” cuando hay 3 o más referencias pero están consideradas conjuntamente, sin individualizarlas.
I divided the cake among the children (3 o más)
Veamos otro ejemplo:
Belgium is situated between Holland, Germany, Luxembourg and France
Belgium is situated among four European countries