One grammar error I frequently encounter in my work as a copy editor is the misuse of the preposition “between” in the sense of setting the limits or endpoints of a range. This usage of “between” being so basic in English (as in “between you and me” and “between heaven and earth”), I used to think that getting it wrong was simply due to oversight by the writer or to what we might charitably call a typing error. But over the past three years or so, my coming across this grammar transgression much too often has convinced me that there’s actually more to the problem than meets the eye.
SO WHY SHOULD WE EVER BE CAUGHT
SAYING “BETWEEN 8:00 A.M. TO 4:00 P.M.”?
Consider the following sentences (I have changed some particulars to protect the identity of the writers):
“Putting up a water refilling station requires an initial capital outlay of
anywhere between P600,000 to P1.1 million.”
“Plain chocolate contains
between 30 percent to 70 percent cocoa solids.”
“Each shop can carry
between 1,000 to 1,800 items, with groceries comprising the bulk of its sales.”
“The tunnel provided the perfect setting for the locals, who could only
go partying between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. because of the curfew.”
“The estimated investment recovery period for the restaurant is
between one to three years.”
“His distributorship moves
between 1,000 to 2,500 units a month.”
In all of the six “between”-using sentences above, of course, the grammatically acceptable usage is not “between _______ to_______” but “between _______ and _______” instead: “Putting up a water refilling station requires an initial capital outlay of
anywhere between P600,000 and P1.1 million.”
“Plain chocolate contains
between 30 percent and 70 percent cocoa solids.”
“Each shop can carry
between 1,000 and 1,800 items, with groceries comprising the bulk of its sales.”
“The tunnel provided the perfect setting for the locals, who could only
go partying between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. because of the curfew.”
“The estimated investment recovery period for the restaurant is
between one and three years.”
“His distributorship moves
between 1,000 and 2,500 units a month.”
This is because in all of the six sentences, the “between”-phrase is describing not the range itself but a point somewhere within that range. Now, for those who’d rather use “to” because they feel queasy using “and” as go-between for the endpoints of the range, there’s a perfectly acceptable alternative: get rid of “between” and replace it with the preposition “from,” and, if possible, get rid of “from” itself afterwards.
The original five sentences will then read as follows:
“Putting up a water refilling station requires an initial capital outlay of
anywhere from P600,000 to P1.1 million.”
“Plain chocolate contains
from 30 percent to 70 percent cocoa solids.”
“Each shop
can carry 1,000 to 1,800 items, with groceries comprising the bulk of its sales.”
“The tunnel provided the perfect setting for the locals, who could only
go partying from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. because of the curfew.”
“The estimated investment recovery period for the restaurant is
one to three years.”
“His distributorship
moves 1,000 to 2,500 units a month.”
Note that the third, fifth and sixth sentences above did away with “from” and are none the worse for it. In all six sentences, though, it’s clear that the phrase at hand is describing not a particular point within that range but the range itself. There’s one other thing to make sure of when converting an erroneous “between _______ to _______” phrase to a “from _______ to _______” phrase in which the endpoints are dates: don’t change the “to” to a hyphen.
When correcting, say, “The business
flourished between 1995 to 2007, then floundered during the 2008 economic meltdown,” avoid reconstructing the sentence as “The business
flourished from 1995-2007, then floundered during the 2008 economic meltdown.”
For clarity and elegance in construction, always spell out the “to”: “The business
flourished from 1995 to 2007, then floundered during the 2008 economic meltdown.”
This essay first appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the November 15, 2008 issue of The Manila Times
, © 2008 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved
