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 as "Between... and..."

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.

Structure

A + 和 + B + 之间／中间

Examples

• 上海 在 江苏省 和 浙江省 之间 / 中间 。Shanghai is between Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province.
• 我家 客厅 和 卧室 中间 是 洗手间 。Our bathroom is between the bedroom and the living room.

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.

• 明天 早上 我 有 两个 考试 ，中间 有 20 分钟 的 休息时间 。I have two exams tomorrow morning. And there is a 20-minutes break in between them.

中间 as "In the Middle of"

When something is inside a place and it's right in the middle, you can only use 中间.

Structure

Place (+ 的) + 中间

Examples

• 客厅 的 中间 有 一个 沙发 。There is a sofa in the middle of the living room.
• 大厅 的 中间 有 很多 人 。There are many people in the middle of the lobby.
• 我 的 座位 在 第七排 的 中间 。 My seat is in the middle of Row 7.
• 把 花 放 在 桌子 中间 。Put the flowers in the middle of the table.

之间 as "Ranging from... to..."

This usage refers to examples like "between 8am and 3pm" or "between 20 and 30."

Structure

A + 到 + B + 之间

Examples

• 你 可以 明早 八 点 到 十 点 之间 过来 。You can come between 8am and 10am tomorrow.
• 45 岁 到 60 岁 之间 的 人 最容易 得 这种病 。.

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.

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")