Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/30

 of objects of the same nature. A man may be amid, enemies but not among them; he may be among friends but not amid them.

among, between: Among may apply to any number; between applies to two only.

among one another: A pleonasm. Say, rather, "among themselves."

among the rest: Say "among them was he," or "with the rest was he"—not among the rest. As "the rest" specifically excludes himself, it is impossible for him to figure in the midst of them.

amount, number: Amount is used of substances in mass; number refers to the individuals of which such mass is constituted.

an: Modern practice does not permit of the use of an before words beginning with an aspirated "h" as, "hair," "hall," "harangue," "hero," "history," "historical," "historian," "house," "hypothesis," "heraldic," etc. However, it may be correctly used before words in which the initial "h" is not aspirated. Compare.

ancient, antiquated: Anything antiquated is ancient but not all things that are ancient are antiquated; thus ancient refers to things that existed in olden times; antiquated to things obsolete or that have fallen behind the times.

and, (the relative preceded by): Where "and" is used to connect two clauses the clauses must be of 14