I just got this question wrong on a practice grammar test. I wanted to see if you agree with me.
Question:
Select the correct word(s) for the blank in the following sentence:
“He had to select _______ 6 ties for the job interview.”
A)between
B)from
C)before
D)among
Here was my thinking:
Between is wrong because it refers only to two objects. A) is out.
B) makes sense, ok keep that in mind
C) is obviously wrong unless “ties” is referring to something like tying in a race and that is not what they are going for
D) among sounds right too, but literally would mean that he’d be making his selection among 6 ties, ie, surrounded by them, so from is better
Therefore I chose B) as the best answer. They said that D) was the correct answer.
kayaker, to get my point about “among” consider the substitute sentence:
He had to eat among 6 lions in the safari.
vs
He had to eat from 6 lions in the safari.
From means that he is eating the lions themselves, among means that he is eating [something] with them.
So if the man is actually selecting one of the 6 ties, from is the better choice. If he is selecting [something] while being surrounded by 6 ties, then that’s the better choice.
Since it can be inferred he is to wear a tie to his job interview, B is the better choice.
Out of interest, who was the grammar test issued by? What was it for? And what country are you from?
This doesn’t seem like grammar to me, it just seems like picking the most appropriate lexical item. A, B and D would be acceptable in many different varieties of English. I’m not sure what is deemed the most acceptable in American English (if that is what you’re studying/being tested on).
One way to see why they would argue ‘among’ is better somehow (although I’m unsure what criteria they’re using to judge this) is that the sentence is essentially missing a noun phrase (but it is implied).
i.e.
‘He to select (a tie) among 6 ties for the interview.’
It is the tie he is selecting that is surrounded (among).
I am from the United States of America and a native English speaker. The “grammar” question was from a practice HESI exam that certain nursing students have to pass before being accepted into many nursing schools in the country. My boyfriend is going to have to take this test soon so I wanted to try my hand at a practice test for fun to see how hard it was. And yes for the HESI we can assume American English.
I always make a choice from a group of possible options. Among sounds and feels wrong. I couldn’t get much support from Webster, so not knowing what else to do, I tried a google fight:
Frankly I prefer “between”. I do not agree that it can only be used when ther are just two alternatives. You can choose between several things. “From” would be my second choice. “Select among” just sounds wrong to me.
I agree “from” is the best answer, and can’t see how it could be incorrect. I think there is more justification for calling “among” incorrect, as already noted. British English user here. I suspect the most likely reason is simply a mistake in the answer sheet - they meant “b” but typed “d”.
Okay, well that explains it. This test was put together for more or less vocational purposes and not by someone with extensive experience in language testing.
Whoever made the test was trying to determine if the test-taker knew the “rule” about when to use among instead of between. They probably were looking in some traditional grammar book and found the explanation that if the choice involves two items, one uses between. If the choice involves more than two, one is “supposed” to use among. So they set up a sentence, threw in two answers which they assumed would be automatically wrong, and then thought they had a legitimate test item. But of course they don’t, because choice B is also acceptable according idiomatic English uses.
I have designed many language tests, and I can tell that this one was not prepared according standards. The item should have been better vetted. This kind of thing is typical, though, when “grammar” test are made in a cavalier way.
I actually agree with you, but I cast it off as wrong only because I figured they were going to be picky about it. But yes I wouldn’t bat an eye about between being used in that sentence if I read it anywhere else other than a grammar test.
Dictionary Definition:
be·tween
biˈtwēn
preposition
with reference to a choice or differentiation involving two or more things being considered together.
“if you have to choose between two or three different options”
guizot, you should have seen the reading and math sections of the test. They were almost equally appalling. One of the “math” questions was literally just knowing military time, for example. One or two of the reading questions asked a flat out opinion and required you to read the mind of the test writer.
The reason this upsets me so much is that the HESI entrance exam has a lifetime limit of only being allowed to take it 2 times. If you fail it twice, it’s over. You can never enter (most) nursing programs. And if they are throwing half-baked questions like this on there, it’s gonna screw over people.
The A&P practice questions I did, as you might expect, were extremely specific and highly technical, and gave very detailed justifications for their answers.
This is far from the last time you’re going to be pissed off by HESI, if his school is one of those that uses the HESI tests for each course section. Luckily, it’s hard to actually flunk them, although you’ll get many more “wrong” than you feel is valid on every test. They do this by throwing a ridiculous number of questions on every exam, so you can miss quite a few before you’re into failing territory.
The good news is that the NCLEX is far easier, so if he can do the HESIs, he’ll breeze through the NCLEX, the test that really matters.
But back to the “among” issue: it’s exactly the same with “between”, isn’t it? You’re not literally choosing while physically being between two ties. You are choosing one of two ties. You are not sitting between two lions, you’re choosing between two lions. “Among” and “between” both have multiple definitions, one of which refers to position in space, and another refers to group of options.
HESI is, intentionally, filled with questions where you do not choose the correct answer, you choose the least bad answer. This is a lot like nursing.
Heck, even Grammar Girl allows “between” for more than two items, but it’s not quite that cut-and-dried.
But it sounds like in this case, “among” would be the answer the test is fishing for. That said, I don’t see anything wrong with “select from.” That’s a perfectly acceptable construction.
**“He had to select among 6 ties for the job interview.” ** OK.
**“He had to select from a group of 6 ties for the job interview.” ** Better, although I know that wasn’t one of your possible choices.
Although among would have been my choice of the ones offered, I don’t even like it much. It sounds like you are surrounded by 6 ties. They’re ganging up on us!
