Other
vs. Another
After more than 35 years, I am finally living in my native Virginia again. I am also in a unique position to observe my 10-year old granddaughter learn English as her second language. She has been studying fourth grade in the local public school for the last seven months. Her English is “awesome,” which is one of her favorite words; but there are some things that she is having difficulty mastering. If she is having difficulty in an environment where she is completely immersed 24-7 in English, then these may be problem areas for other students learning English; so we will address them in the next few blogs.
"Other" and “another” are troublesome. According to the websites consulted and listed under references below, a simple general rule is to follow is to use “another” before a singular, noncount specific noun and “other” with a plural or uncountable nonspecific noun.
Examples according to the above guideline:
- Let’s call another volunteer on the list to see if they can come in and help with the cookie sales.
- Another problem the organizing committee is facing is finding a centrally located convention site.
- Other people have been having problems logging onto Internet in this area.
- Mary and John want to find other locations to set up their business.
From observing my granddaughter and correcting her, I have made the following observations. When there are ONLY two items or two possibilities, we use “other.” When there are three or more possibilities, “another” is used. Notice that there only has to be a possibility of three or more things; they do not actually have to be present.
Let's imagine that a husband and wife are
looking for a picture or painting to brighten up their living room décor. There are many places they can go to find
something to both their liking. In the
first store they did not see anything either one of them liked, so the husband
says, “Let’s go to another
store.” By saying “another,” he is
saying that there are other places
where they can go to look for a picture.
If he had said, “Let’s go to the other
store,” then anyone who overhears this comment understands that there are only
two businesses where pictures may be purchased in that place.
After visiting several stores, the husband
and wife have finally found a picture that they agree on, but there are two
models. One has a traditional frame and the other has a more contemporary frame. The husband states, “I like the one with the
traditional frame;” but his wife says, “I like the other one better. It is more
in keeping with our style.”
Now, we know that there are millions of pictures and paintings in the world, but in this situation there are only two options. the only choice is between one or the other. If there were three or more different types of frames to make a selection from, then neither “other” nor “another would be
used; we would have to refer to each with a more specific description such as
“the one on the left/right,” “the one in the middle,” the one with the gold/silver/white
frame,” or “the traditional/contemporary/retro one.”
 |
| One picture |
 |
| The other picture |
“Other” and “another” can be used either as an adjective or a pronoun.
When followed by a noun or another
pronoun, they are considered adjectives:
Examples:
- Frequently when we socialize with friends, we have several rounds. At the end of the evening, someone will probably say, “Let’s have another round before calling it a night.”
- Some friends are buying a gift for Sheila and they have come down to two choices. One of them picks up one of the sweaters but another friend disagrees and says, “Sheila would like the other sweater better because it’s her favorite color.”
- Of the two bags I liked, I wish I’d have picked the other one. This one is of very poor quality which I didn’t realize at the time.
- John would like another piece of cake, but he is too embarrassed to ask. (Here the connotation is that John has already had at least two pieces of cake and there is the possibility to have more pieces since there is cake left.)
- June asked the sales clerk if there was another blouse like this one in her size. (Because June does not know how many blouses of that model are in stock, she assumes that there must be more than two.)
If you think you have got the gist of “other” and “another”, go to http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ei074/esl-test.php to test yourself.
References: Listed in order of helpfulness
Hi, my dear teacher. I do not know if you remember me, I'm Richard Grandson (Nieto), one of your former UPEL students. Thanks a lots for your advices you always worried for improve our knowledge about the english language
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