other、another、others：三分法一次讲清

1another 是两个词挤在一起

只要注意到拼写里一个没人点破的细节，整个话题就轻松多了。

因为 another 里含着 an，它永远不能配复数。"Another books" 错得和 "an books" 一模一样，理由也一样。它同样不能配不可数名词，因为 "an water" 也是错的。一旦你看见那个藏起来的 an，就不再需要什么规则了。

• another book — correct, singular countable
• another books — wrong, an cannot take a plural
• another water — wrong, an cannot take an uncountable
• other books — correct, no article involved
• other water — correct

所以第一步判断是机械的，不是语义的：这个名词是可数单数吗？是的话，another 可用。是复数或不可数，你就得用 other。

Tip: 每次要写 another 之前，在心里默念成 "an other"。如果听着别扭，那 another 也是错的。

2another：再来一个，只配单数

another 有两个密切相关的意思，而且都只能配可数名词单数。

• Another cup of tea, please. — one more
• Let's meet another time. — a different time
• That's another problem entirely. — a different one
• I'll need another five minutes. — a special case, see section eight

another 也可以当代词用，后面不跟名词："I've finished this one, can I have another?" 这种说法很常见，也完全自然。

Tip: another one 是个非常常用的短语，值得随手备着：想不起名词、或不想重复名词时，"Can I have another one?" 就够用。

3other：配复数和不可数

只要 another 被堵死，你就要用 other——也就是名词为复数或不可数的时候。

• other books, other people, other options — plural
• other water, other information, other advice — uncountable
• Do you have other colours? — plural
• Other students complained. — plural
• I have other work to do. — uncountable

这是整个话题里最有用的一条界线。名词前面的 other：不加 -s。后面没有名词的 others：加 -s。两条规则，合起来覆盖了学习者大部分的错误。

some other 和 any other 是常见搭配："some other time"、"any other questions?" 两者都遵守同一条规则——不加 -s，因为后面跟着名词。

Tip: 自测一下：紧接着有没有名词？有就用 other，没有就用 others。整个 -s 的问题就到此为止。

4the other：剩下的那一个

加上 the，意思就从"再来一个"变成"剩下的那个特定的"，而干活的正是这个冠词。

"I have two brothers. One is a doctor and the other is a teacher." 一共只有两个人，一个已经提过了，所以 the other 已被完全锁定。对比 "another brother"，那意思会变成你还没提过的第三个人。

• One shoe is here; where is the other? — of a known pair
• The other side of the street — there are only two sides
• I'll take this one and you take the other. — two items
• The other day — an idiom, see section ten

当剩下的是一样东西时，the other 是单数；它后面也可以接复数名词："the other students" 指的是某个已知群体里剩下的所有学生。

和 another 的对比才是关键。another book = 再来一本，来自一个开放集合。the other book = 那个特定的第二本，来自一个恰好只有两本的集合。如果这个集合数得清、而且只剩一个，就用 the other。

Tip: 如果你说话时正指着某个具体的东西，那你要的几乎肯定是 the other，而不是 another。

5others：带 -s 的代词

这里 -s 终于登场，而它的规则既简单又绝对。

• Some people agreed; others disagreed. — no noun after others
• Some students passed; others failed. — correct
• I have some ideas, do you have others? — correct
• Others books are cheaper. — wrong; use Other books
• Others say it's too expensive. — correct, others as subject

others 总是指"其他人"或"其他东西"，但不点名。"Others disagreed" 是 "other people disagreed" 的简写。一旦把它看成替代品而不是修饰语，那个 -s 就不再显得随意了。

some… others… 这一对在写作里极其常见，尤其是描述一个意见分裂的群体时："Some found it easy; others struggled." 对考试作文来说这是很好用的结构，因为它干净地摆出两种看法。

Tip: some… others… 这个模式值得当成一个整体来练。它在议论性文字里反复出现，而且能以考官一眼看得见的方式展示语言广度。

6the others：已知群体里剩下的全部

给 others 加上 the，就把它从"某些没指明的人"收窄成"我们都知道的那个群体里剩下的所有成员"。

"Three of us stayed; the others went home." 有一个明确的群体，三个人留下，the others 就是这个群体里剩下的每一个人。对比 "others went home"，那只是说某些没指明的其他人回家了——不一定属于你们这群人。

• Two students passed; the others failed. — the rest of that class
• I'll wait here; the others can go ahead. — a known group
• Where are the others? — the rest of our party
• Some agreed, others didn't. — unspecified people, no defined group

others 和 the others 的区别，就是"一些人"和"其余的人"的区别。不带 the，群体是开放的；带上 the，它就封闭而完整了。

the rest 是 the others 的日常替代说法，可数不可数都能用："the rest of the students"、"the rest of the water"。在口语里它比 the others 更常见。

Tip: Where are the others? 在结伴出行时是句真正管用的话，也最清楚地展示了 the 到底加了什么。

7完整决策表

整个话题归结为两个问题：这个词后面有没有名词，以及那个名词是不是单数。

• one more, singular countable → another → another coffee
• different ones, plural → other → other books
• different, uncountable → other → other information
• the specific remaining one, singular → the other → the other shoe
• the specific remaining ones, plural → the other → the other students
• some unspecified ones, no noun → others → others disagreed
• all the rest of a known group, no noun → the others → the others left

注意表里没有"another 配复数或不可数名词"这一行。因为那个藏着的 an，这种组合根本不存在。

Tip: 如果只能记住一件事：名词一走，-s 就来。

8another 配数字和时间

单数规则有一个表面上的例外，它常见到值得真正理解，而不是死记。

"I'll need another five minutes" 看着像是 another 配复数，而第一节说这不可能。但这里的 five minutes 被当作一整块时间，而不是五个分开的分钟。英语数的是这一块，而一块是单数。

• another three days — one period of three days
• another twenty pounds — one amount of money
• another two hundred kilometres — one distance
• another few minutes — a common, slightly informal version
• another books — still wrong, books is not a measured quantity

检验标准是这个复数有没有作为一个单一的计量单位在起作用。minutes、dollars、kilometres 和 weeks 过关；books、people 和 questions 不过关。

a further 和 an additional 用法类似，语体更正式："a further two weeks"、"an additional five hundred dollars"。它们在商务和学术写作里很常见。

Tip: another ten minutes 是日常英语里最好用的短语之一——延误、等待、请人再等一下都用得上。整块背下来。

9each other 和 one another

两个由 other 构成的相互代词，用得极频繁，而大多数学习者都处理得略有偏差。

each other 和 one another 意思相同：A 对 B 做了什么，B 也对 A 做同样的事。"They looked at each other." "We help one another." 传统上有条规则说 each other 用于两个人、one another 用于三个及以上，但几乎没人遵守，在现代英语里两者都不算错。

• We see each other every week. — correct
• We see us every week. — wrong, needs each other
• They helped one another. — correct
• They helped themselves. — different meaning entirely
• each other's names — the possessive

真正要紧的是它和反身代词的对比。"They looked at themselves" 是每个人各自照镜子；"They looked at each other" 是他们互相看着对方。很多语言两种意思共用一个形式，所以这个错误极为普遍，而且会造出真正古怪的句子。

所有格形式是 each other's，撇号在 s 前面："We know each other's families." 不是 "each others' families"——这里的 other 是单数。

Tip: 如果你的母语用反身形式表达相互含义，就把 "we see each other" 和 "we see ourselves" 对着念出声练。差别很大，错了也非常显眼。

10other than、otherwise 和 the other day

三个由 other 构成的固定表达，行为和上面的语法完全不是一回事。

• in other words — rephrasing
• on the other hand — presenting a contrast
• every other day — alternate days, not every single day
• the other way round — reversed
• none other than — emphatic introduction

Tip: on the other hand 和 in other words 是英语写作里最有用的两个衔接语。它们都会出现在高分考试作文里，而且都不难放。

11三十个句子，逐句改正

把右半边遮住，先自己改再看答案。这些是真实学习者英语中最常出现的错误。

• I need another books → I need other books
• Others people disagreed → Other people disagreed
• Do you have an other one? → Do you have another one?
• Some agreed and other disagreed → Some agreed and others disagreed
• I have two sisters; one is a nurse and another is a teacher → …and the other is a teacher
• Where are others? (of our group) → Where are the others?
• Can I have another water? → Can I have some more water?
• I'll need other five minutes → I'll need another five minutes
• We see us every weekend → We see each other every weekend
• They looked at themselves and smiled (at one another) → They looked at each other and smiled
• We know each others' families → We know each other's families
• I go to the gym every other days → I go to the gym every other day
• Other than of the price, it was good → Other than the price, it was good
• In others words, it failed → In other words, it failed
• On other hand, it's cheaper → On the other hand, it's cheaper
• I saw him other day → I saw him the other day
• I have seen him the other day → I saw him the other day
• Some students passed, the other failed → Some students passed, the others failed
• Do you have any others questions? → Do you have any other questions?
• This shirt is too small, show me other → …show me another one
• The others side of the road → The other side of the road
• I have another work to do → I have other work to do
• Let's meet other time → Let's meet another time
• Hurry up, other we'll be late → Hurry up, otherwise we'll be late
• There were three of us; two left and other stayed → …and the other stayed
• Some people like it, others don't → correct as written
• I'll take this one, you take the other → correct as written
• We helped one another during the move → correct as written
• Another two weeks and we're done → correct as written
• Other information is available online → correct as written

Tip: 其中五句本来就是对的。最后一句值得再看一眼——other 配不可数名词、不带冠词，完全正常。

12在真实口语里听出那个 -s

整个区分都压在词尾一个不重读的辅音上，所以这既是语法问题，也同样是听力问题。

在连读中，others 常常直接冲进下一个词，那个 -s 几乎听不见，尤其是在辅音前。语速一快，"others said" 和 "other said" 几乎一模一样。如果你只在书面上见过这些形式，你听不出区别——更糟的是，你会以为母语者把它省掉了，而他们并没有。

好处是语法白送你一个校验：既然 others 后面永远不能跟名词，那么只要你听见紧接着是个名词，无论耳朵报告了什么，那都是 other。规则替你补上了听力的缺口。

• 在访谈和评论文章里留意 some… others…——它无处不在
• 听到 other 时，看看后面有没有跟名词；那就能判断是哪个形式
• 把 each other 和 one another 当整块收集，绝不要拆成单个词
• 把整个短语存下来，因为后面那个名词才决定用哪种形式
• 出声描述一个意见分裂的群体：some… others…——说三遍

在这里把整个短语存下来比平时更重要，因为孤零零一个 other 不带任何你需要的信息。other students、the other one 和单独的 others 教的是三条不同的规则，只有周围的词才能把它们分开。

Tip: FlexiLingo 给 YouTube 和播客加上互动字幕，你可以点任意单词查看释义和 CEFR 等级，并连整句一起保存——这样即使耳朵听不见，那个 -s 也看得见。