Another vs. other vs. others
English grammar lesson
another
other
others
What is the difference between these words?
Let's start with the word ANOTHER.
Another is an adjective (or determiner)
or a pronoun
ANOTHER generally means one more
an extra, an additional.
ANOTHER can also mean
an alternative or
or, a different.
For example
She wants another cup of tea.
This is the same as saying:
She wants one more cup of tea
or
She wants an additional cup of tea.
Perhaps she liked it or she is very thirsty so she wants another cup of tea.
Another example... which means an extra example
or one more example.
You can stay another day.
This can mean
You can stay one more day.
or
You can stay an additional day.
But ANOTHER can also mean an alternative, a different.
For example
We have to go another day.
This can mean...
We have to go on an alternative day.
Maybe because the day we planned is not available.
We have to go on a different day.
Look at this example.
I need another pen.
This can mean...
I need an alternative pen.
or
I need a different pen.
Maybe because my pen isn't working right now
or maybe I need another pen or an alternative pen.
because I want to change the color of my writing.
In general, ANOTHER is followed by a singular countable noun.
As you can see in our previous examples,
I need another pen.
We have to go another day.
She wants another cup of tea.
Pen, day and cup are singular countable nouns.
ANOTHER can also be used as a pronoun.
That cake was tasty. I think I'll have another.
ANOTHER here means another cake
because I enjoyed the first one quite a lot.
I don't like this room. Let's ask for another.
ANOTHER means another room.
Note: you can also add ONE after ANOTHER.
I think I'll have another one.
Let's ask for another one.
Another + number + plural noun
Another can be used before a plural noun
when there is a number before that noun
or before number words such as couple of and few etc.
Look at these examples
I think I'm going to spend another three days in the city.
Here we're saying in an additional three days.
She was given another couple of weeks to finish the project.
It doesn't need to be a specific number.
Certain words referring to numbers are still possible.
A couple means two.
What does OTHER mean?
OTHER is an adjective (or determiner) or a pronoun.
OTHER generally means more in addition to the one that's already mentioned.
It can also mean alternative or different.
In this case OTHER is the plural form of ANOTHER.
We have another book for you.
ANOTHER refers to one additional book for you.
OR... an alternative book for you.
We used ANOTHER because book is singular.
We use: another + singular noun
We have other books for you.
OTHER refers to additional books apart from the one you already have.
We used OTHER because there is more than one book.
We use other + plural noun.
OTHER can also mean alternative / different from what was mentioned.
We have other styles if you're interested.
Other styles means alternative styles, different from the styles you have already seen.
Have you got any other dresses or are these only ones?
The person would like to see different or alternative dresses.
As you can see, the order is generally other + plural countable noun
OTHERS is a pronoun or a noun
OTHERS replaces other + plural noun
OTHERS is not followed by a noun.
We don't have a noun after it.
OTHERS can also mean other people.
Let's look at the first use of others.
These shoes are too small. Do you have any other shoes?
You can see other + plural noun.
But repeating the word shoes again sounds repetitive and not natural
so we use the pronoun OTHERS.
so now it becomes
These shoes are too small. Do you have any others?
And there's no noun after others.
OTHERS replaces other shoes.
Often OTHERS or THE OTHERS refers to other people or the other people.
He has no interest in helping others.
This means he has no interest in helping other people.
What are the others doing tonight?
The others can refer to the other people as we have already seen
but here it can be used to refer to our friends
What are our other friends doing tonight?
So a quick summary what is the difference between another other and others?
A simple rule to help you remember the differences
Another + singular noun
Other + plural noun and
Others a pronoun to replace other plus plural noun.
I need another cup.
cup is singular so we use another.
I need other cups.
Cups is plural so we use other.
I need others.
This refers to other cups.
I hope you found this lesson about the difference
between another other and others useful.
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