Differs between

Question

Hi,Is "differs between" or "differs among" ok to use?E.g., "X differs between thin and fat students."Thank you.P.s. I am not referring to "There is a difference in X between thin and fat students." I am focused on if using "differ" in the above way is ok.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

AnonymousIs "differs between" or "differs among" ok to use?

This is fine, but I'd stick with "among," and avoid "between" in this particular case.

"X differs between thin and fat students."

I'd say "X differs between the two categories," and even that troubles me.
The problem is that there may be more than two values for "X," making "between" unusable.
"X will differ between a thin student and a fat student." No problem.

"X differs according to the the group." No problem.

"X differs among races." No problem.

Edit. The more I think about it, the less I like "differs between" under any circumstances.

Perhaps if there were only two discrete values possible for X, it would be okay. "X differs between A and B."

I suppose "between" could describe the range, as in "X varies between A and B." But "differs" is not often used as a synonym for "varies."

I have to say that "differs between" is unnatural. "Alternates between" is natural, but not synonymous with "differs between."

LouiseT · Answer

In my opinion you can use both. (UK English)

Differs between for two things - your example is fine.
differs among for more than two

Differs between

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