Comparing "zhijian" and “zhongjian"

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

Time 1 + 和 + Time 2 + 之间

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

Noun + (的 +) 中间

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

Noun 1 + 和 + Noun 2 + 之间

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

Noun + (的 +) 中间

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

中间 + Noun

Examples

• 中间人 intermediary (lit. "middle person")
• 中间商 broker (lit. "middle business")