Between or Among?

Just between you and me , we can determine proper usage from among the basic rules of English grammar. 

The preposition “between” specifically designates “two” of something.  Between two people, two cities, two lines, or two of anything, the proper word to use is “between.”  Be–tween specifically designates the number two, and should normally be confined to comparisons that are limited to two.

•  “Let’s keep this secret between you and me (the object of the preposition is always in the objective case, btw)."
•  “The tip was split between the chef and the waitress.”
•  “It was difficult to differentiate between the identical twins.”

“Among,” also a preposition, is used in a comparison of more than two. Among properly compares: the three children, the many streets in town, the states in the USA, or any group of three or more.

Examples:

•  “Let’s keep this secret among this threesome.”
•  “The tips were split among the entire wait-staff.”
•  “It was difficult to differentiate among the identical triplets.”

To further complicate the point, however, we should note that collective nouns have their own set of rules. The faculty, the team, or the class, are all collective nouns that can be used properly in either singular or plural forms. When used as a unit, a collective noun is treated as singular. When referring to the individual parts of the whole, the noun should be considered as plural.

Singular Examples:

•  “The basketball game between the faculty and students is an annual fund-raiser.”
•  “They had just enough water to dispense between the two teams.”
•  “An essay competition was assigned between the 7th grade and 8th grade class.

Plural Examples:

• “The basketball game was made up of volunteers from among the faculty.”
•  “They had enough water to dispense to the players among the team.”
•  “An essay competition was assigned among the students in 9th to 12th grades.”

Are we having fun yet?   :-D