English Vocabulary

among & amongst

Pimpanella

User since 2012
Posts: 288

16 Nov. 2012

Could some of you make things clear for me about this preposition, what difference you make between among and amongst ? Furthermore, I learnt not very long ago the word "amid", which seems to be synonym. And today, what a surprise, I discovered that there was "amidst" too. Can we use each of them indifferently ? And does the suffix "st" in amongst and amidst have a common meaning, or role ?

7 comments

green lemon
User since 2011
Posts: 84
28 Feb. 2013

Sincerely sorry, I didn't see that there was some news about among which was often used at the Oskars ceremony broadcasted without subtitles.I begin to understand of what the matter is about.Someone should have tell them that one don't say The Misérab but les miséraBLES.(little revenge).I Hope that GG has taken the opportinities overthere to make the promotion of Frrantastique.I
Sincerely sorry, I didn't see that there was some news about among which was often used at the Oskars ceremony broadcasted without subtitles.I begin to understand of what the matter is about.Someone should have tell them that one don't say The Misérab but les miséraBLES.(little revenge).I Hope that GG has taken the opportinities overthere to make the promotion of Frrantastique.I
green lemon
User since 2011
Posts: 84
25 Feb. 2013

It seems that I experience a phenomena of " dejà vu", because I thought that I have already red this before but nevermind, one are never tired of this topic.
It seems that I experience a phenomena of " dejà vu", because I thought that I have already red this before but nevermind, one are never tired of this topic.
Pimpanella
User since 2012
Posts: 288
26 Feb. 2013

:-) It's normal this feeling of "déjà vu," seen it before... Because I wrote the question three months ago, had AhQ's answer, and then I brought the post out yesterday after I got more explanations in my lesson, thanks to Gymglish, whose team is permanently trying to imagine what we would like to know, so they manage to match our most intimate wonders with our lessons. If you don't believe this look at Trifle's question about "hung like a horse", which made the "Word of the month" ;)
:-) It's normal this feeling of "déjà vu," seen it before... Because I wrote the question three months ago, had AhQ's answer, and then I brought the post out yesterday after I got more explanations in my lesson, thanks to Gymglish, whose team is permanently trying to imagine what we would like to know, so they manage to match our most intimate wonders with our lessons. If you don't believe this look at Trifle's question about "hung like a horse", which made the "Word of the month" ;)
Pimpanella
User since 2012
Posts: 288
24 Feb. 2013

I just learnt in my Gymglish lesson of the day the slightest difference between "among"and "amid", here it is :
Grammatical Note: 'among' and 'amongst' can't directly replace 'amidst' in Belinda's expression. (Amidst this ocean of mediocrity...) Although these terms are synonymous, 'amidst' is often followed by a noun which cannot be separated or individually counted (a collective body). 'Among' and 'amongst' are used in reference to countable quantities, and so we couldn't say 'among the ocean of mediocrity'.
I just learnt in my Gymglish lesson of the day the slightest difference between "among"and "amid", here it is : Grammatical Note: 'among' and 'amongst' can't directly replace 'amidst' in Belinda's expression. (Amidst this ocean of mediocrity...) Although these terms are synonymous, 'amidst' is often followed by a noun which cannot be separated or individually counted (a collective body). 'Among' and 'amongst' are used in reference to countable quantities, and so we couldn't say 'among the ocean of mediocrity'.
Pimpanella
User since 2012
Posts: 288
19 Nov. 2012

Aha. That's an interesting explanation. Thank for the research.
Aha. That's an interesting explanation. Thank for the research.
Pimpanella
User since 2012
Posts: 288
16 Nov. 2012

Could some of you make things clear for me about this preposition, what difference you make between among and amongst ? Furthermore, I learnt not very long ago the word "amid", which seems to be synonym. And today, what a surprise, I discovered that there was "amidst" too. Can we use each of them indifferently ? And does the suffix "st" in amongst and amidst have a common meaning, or role ?
Could some of you make things clear for me about this preposition, what difference you make between among and amongst ? Furthermore, I learnt not very long ago the word "amid", which seems to be synonym. And today, what a surprise, I discovered that there was "amidst" too. Can we use each of them indifferently ? And does the suffix "st" in amongst and amidst have a common meaning, or role ?
AhQ ['a: kiu]
User since 2006
Posts: 2715
17 Nov. 2012

To my mind, Pimpanella, among and amongst - amid and amidst are perfect synonyms. The variation of the word comes from its course in the history of the langange. For instance: My dictionaries say that amid was 'amiddes' in the Middle English (betwen the High and Late Middle Ages). Among(st) comes from "on + gemonge" (gemong = crowd). I presume that the word evolved over the years due to the laziness of people. I wonder whether the words with -st are not nowadays more formal (???).
To my mind, Pimpanella, among and amongst - amid and amidst are perfect synonyms. The variation of the word comes from its course in the history of the langange. For instance: My dictionaries say that amid was 'amiddes' in the Middle English (betwen the High and Late Middle Ages). Among(st) comes from "on + gemonge" (gemong = crowd). I presume that the word evolved over the years due to the laziness of people. I wonder whether the words with -st are not nowadays more formal (???).

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