When describing spatial relationships, the words 之间 (zhījiān)
and 中间 (zhōngjiān) will come in handy to express the concepts of
"between" and "among." Both have a few particular uses, though.
Both can mean "in the
middle"
Grammatically, both 之间 and 中间 are nouns (location nouns, to be precise). One difference
between the two, however, is that 中间 can be used all by itself, but
之间 is always used together with other words.
Between two points in
space
之间 and 中间 can both refer to a space "in the middle" between two
points, as long as we're talking about physical space. So between
Shanghai and Beijing, between my eyes, between the psychotic monkey
and the enraged elephant, etc.
Structure
Noun 1 + 和 + Noun 2 + 之间／中间
Examples
- 上海 在 江苏省 和 浙江省 之间 。 Shanghai is
between Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province.
- 在沙发和桌子之间有一只猫。 There's a cat
between the sofa and the table.
For time and number
ranges use 之间
This usage refers to examples like "between 8am and 3pm" or "a
number between 32 and 51."
Structure
Number 1 + 和 + Number 2 + 之间
Examples
- 你 需要 在 八 点 到 十 点 之间 来 。 You need
to come between 8:00 and 10:00.
- 3月 到 7月 之间 是 旅游 的 好 时间 。 Betwen
March and July is a good time to travel.
- 上海 的 外国人 数量 在 17 万 到 20 万 之间 。 There are between 170,000 and 200,000 foreigners in
Shanghai.
- 上海 的 外星人 数量 在 170 到 200 之间 。 There
are between 170 and 200 extraterrestrials in Shanghai.
For
describing location within an object, use 中间
This "within" could be "inside" a space (like inside a house, or
inside a refrigerator), and is similar to 里面 except that it is also
centered in the space (with regards to the sides, but not height).
But it can also mean "in the middle of" a two-dimensional physical
space, like in the middle (center) of a table, or in the middle of
the screen.
You can't use 之间 in this way.
Structure
Examples
- 房子 的 中间 有 一 个 大 桌子 。 In the middle
of the apartment there's a table.
- 我 在 这 一 排 座位 的 中间 。 I'm in the
middle of this row of seats.
- 把 花 放 在 桌子 中间 。 Put the flowers in
the middle of the table.
Other uses of 之间
之间 can be used to
indicate relationships
The idea is that the relationship is "between two people," and
the "between" is indicated by 之间. This usage of 之间 can also refer
to relationships between a person and a company, two companies, two
countries, etc.
You can't use 中间 in this way.
Structure
In the structure above, Noun 1 and Noun 2 are frequently
people.
Examples
- 父母 和 孩子 之间 应该 多 交流 。 There should
be plenty of communication between parents and
children.
- 我们 公司 ， 同事 之间 的 关系 很 复杂 。 The
relationships between our company and its employees are quite
complex.
- 中美 之间 还 有 很 多 问题 需要 解决 。 There are
a lot of issues between China and the USA which need to be
resolved.
- 我们 之间 什么 话 都 说 。 The two of us can
talk about anything.
- 你 要 学 会 处理 上下 级 之间 的 关系 。 You need
to learn to handle the relationships between superiors and
subordinates.
- 国家 之间 的 政治 关系 受 经济 的 影响 很 大 。 The
effect of economics on the relationship between the two countries
is significant.
Other uses of 中间
中间 can also mean "among"
中间 is used when referring to one (or more) "among many."
Structure
Examples
- 你们 中间 有 会 唱歌 的 吗 ？ Can anyone
among you sing?
- 这些 人 中间 只 有 一 个 我 认识 。 Among these
people, there's only one I know.
中间 can be used as
part of other words
中间 is a noun, and can combine with other nouns to create a
number of fairly common verbs.
Structure
Examples
- 中间人 intermediary (lit. "middle
person")
- 中间商 broker (lit. "middle
business")
Sources and further
reading
Books
Dictionaries
Category:grammar comparison