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外國人雖然表達意見直接,但是該婉轉的時候他們也會借用其他字來代替,像是失業會用"between jobs"來替代,表示在前一份跟下一份工作之間。若聽見別人說"It's just between you and me."別誤會別人對你真情流露,其實他是要你把事情當做秘密,有點像中文說「我們兩個知道就好」,between這個字本身的意思就是「在...之間」,所以經常用來處理類似青黃不接的情形。

Between you and me, I don't think Alex is going to marry his boyfriend.(我不覺得Alex會嫁給他男友,但這別說出去。)

My little sister is between jobs.(我妹妹現在待業中。)

I'm between relationships.(我現在沒男/女友。)

He knows quite a lot of Spanish but he's at an in between stage and not fluent yet.(他會蠻多西語的,不過現在他到了一種不上不下的階段,還稱不上流利。)

都是「之間」,between與among的差異?
曾經有看過一些資料,將這兩個差異整理成2個之間用between,2個以上用among,這個答案是也不是,因為真正的差異不是在數量,而是between強調個別性,among是強調整體性,無法精確區分。

My grandma's house is between the mountains and the river.(我奶奶的房子在山河之間。)→清楚可區分為一邊面山,一邊面河

The gate is hidden among the trees.(大門藏在樹林裡。)→門被樹環抱,無法清楚區分門與樹

I have to choose between NTU, NCU and C&C university.(我得從NTU、NCU、C&C大學中挑選一所。)→可以清楚區分是哪三間學校

I have to choose among universities in Taipei.(我得從台北的大學中挑選一所。)→大學只是一個整體概念

There is an agreement between China, Russia, India and North Korea.(有個協約是跟中國、俄國、印度、北韓有關。)→強調個別性

There was an agreement among 4 countries.(有個協約和4個國家有關係。)→強調整體性

我很喜歡身旁圍繞著朋友跟鄰居。
(X)I'm pleased to be between friends and neighbors.

(O)I'm pleased to be among friends and neighbors.

說明:這裡的朋友鄰居泛指一個群體,所以用among強調整體,也有包含、部分、圍繞之意。

他們1988-1994住在東京。
(X)They lived in Tokyo among 1998-1994.

(O)They lived in Tokyo between 1988-1994.

你可以在早上8點到8點半之間到嗎?
(X)Could you arrive among 8 am and 8.30 am?

(O)Could you arrive between 8 am and 8.30 am?

說明:數字、時間,本身就是很精確的所以不能用模糊的among,要用精確的between。

文章轉自{商業週刊}
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