How to use another, others, the other, and the others?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Which one is correct?
The best among the others,
The best among the other,
or
The best among others

2

There is a super big apple in front of me. The biggest apple among the others is much smaller than the former one.
“The others” means “the other + n.”

3

thanks :smiley:

4

Dear All,
I wonder if i may miss- understand about “other, the others, the other, some others, another”. Please correct me if i make wrong.

  1. The other: is used with singular noun. And is used when you have only two choice, you has no any choices except those 2 choices.
    For Ex: There are 2 books on the table, 1 is maths, the other is music book.
  2. Another: is used with singular noun. And there are more than 2 choices, you do not know exactly which is one of those.
    For Ex: There are 3 books on the table, 1 is maths, another is music book. (in this sentence, you do not know which is music book among 2 remaining books).
  3. The others: is used with plural noun. There are many choices, and you know exactly how many choices remaining and what they are.
    For Ex: There are 3 books on the table, 1 is maths, the others are music and chemistry book.
  4. Some others: is used with plural noun. There are some choices, and you are not sure how many choices is left.
    For Ex: There are much of books on the table, 1 is maths, some others are music and chemistry. (In this sentence, you are not sure how many books is left on table, and you are not sure how many music books, how many chemistry books).
  5. I do not know how to use other. Please teach, and please correct me for No.1 till No. 4 above.

Thanks,
Thuy Kieu,

5

Your explanations in #1 to #4 look to be correct.

I’m not completely sure what you are asking in #5. Perhaps you are asking, specifically, about the use of “other” without a preceding “the”?

“other” without “the” is used before plural nouns, to refer to an unspecified number of people or things that do not fall into a previously defined category. For example, “Some people like opera, while other people prefer pop music”. This is equivalent to saying “… while others like opera”. There may be people who like neither, even though we are not focusing on those. Contrast “… while the other people / the others prefer pop music”, which implies that all the remaining people like pop music.

6

Hallo Dear,
Thanks a lot!

7

The best among others