Among vs. Amongst
Among and amongst mean the same thing. Amongst is a spelling of among that first occurred in Middle English. Among is the more common form of the word in the United States, but amongst is still used, and is perfectly acceptable. Amongst is still used more often in Great Brittan than it is in the United States. Let's look at the meaning of these two words that can be used interchangeably.
Among and Amongst are prepositions. They can be used in the following ways to show a relationship between a noun and another word in the sentence:
1. located in the middle of a group of people or things
a. The puppy crawled among the bushes.
b. The butterfly flitted amongst the flowers.
c. Samuel hid among the trees in the forest.
d. We found the sock hidden amongst the towels in the laundry basket.
2. occurring within a group of specific people
a. I was among the last to finish the quiz.
b. Jeffrey found himself amongst the crowd that was headed toward the roller coaster.
c. Morgan and Jane were among the girls who made the cheerleading squad.
d. Kevin was amongst the students who came down with the flu.
3. divided between a group of three or more people or things
a. The teacher divided the markers among the children.
b. The free tickets were distributed amongst the crowd of shoppers.
c. The coach divided the pizza among the hungry players.
d. The costumes were divvied up amongst the dancers in the play.
In summary, among and amongst mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably. Just remember that in all instances, among or amongst is used to refer to the relationship between a group of three or more and another word in the sentence. If there are only two in the group, you should use "between" instead.
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