"Το παιδί είναι ανάμεσα στα βιβλία."

Translation: The child is among the books.

[ShaoxuanLi]

In a previous question, between them is ανάμεσα τους, why is σε omitted in that case? What is the rule concerning adding σε after ανάμεσα;

[mizinamo]

Rule of thumb: use σε before a noun phrase, and the short genitive forms of personal pronouns if you use a pronoun.

[ShaoxuanLi]

Thanks so much! Now I understand. Does the same rule apply to other positional preps. such as κάτω, δίπλα, κοντά, μεταξύ κτλ.;

[mizinamo]

I believe so, but the preposition used with nouns sometimes varies, e.g. μαζί με, κάτω από etc.

[Rob594774]

"in between the books" marked incorrect?

[StefanMorris]

In between should be correct too!

[D_..]

Did you report it? Commenting in sentence discussions is not how you should be making suggestions for missing alternative answers. ;)

[relox84]

I have a question: do all greek prepositions govern accusative or do some govern genitive ?

[troll1995]

Those are the most common that govern genitive case: άνευ, (διά), εις, εκ, εκτός, εν, ένεκα, εντός, επί, κατόπιν, λόγω, μέσω, (μείον), περί, πλην, προ, (συν), υπέρ, υπό, χάριν. Those in parenthsis can also use accusative.

[mizinamo]

And there are even a couple which govern the dative case :)

So since the dative case got lost, we find those mostly only in set phrases, e.g. εν τω μεταξύ, συν γυναιξί και τέκνοις.

[troll1995]

Yes, when the dative existed, all prepositions were followed by dative. Now it only exists in "fossile" phrases.

[carolin_o]

Would "amid", "in among," "in the middle of" or "amidst" the books also be acceptable?

[carolin_o]

I ask because "The child is among the books" is likely to suggest that "The Child" is the title of one of the books in question.

[Panchete1]

What means that "στα"? is it not simply "τα" or does it change for any reason?

[ApostolosB4]

The word you are looking for is σε (which means in). Σε more often than not is synthesized with the definite article (ο/η/το for Singular, οι/οι/τα for Plural) to create types like στο(ν)/στη(ν)/στο for Singular and στους/στις/στα/στων*.
Now σε + accusative is used to declare:
1. Place(stop or direction) [Answers where(are you)?]
- I am going to Athens (Πάω στην Αθήνα)
- I am in Athens (Είμαι στην Αθήνα)
2. Time [Answers when(are you coming back)?]
- I will be back in two hours (Θα επιστρέψω σε δύο ώρες)
3. Way [Answers how/in which way(did he get his parents permission/did he get sick)?]
- He went out in secret (Βγήκε έξω στα κρυφά)
- He was faking it (Το έκανε στα ψέματα)
4. Quantity or number approximate [Answers how much(does the good weight)?]
- The good is (about) twenty kilos (Το εμπόρευμα είναι (γύρω) στα είκοσι κιλά)
5. Result [Answers what(happened to the paper)?]
- The paper was torn into two pieces (Το χαρτί σκίστηκε σε δύο κομμάτια)
6. Reference [Answers how(did you do on the test)?]
- I am really bad at this lesson (Είμαι πολύ κακός σε αυτό το μάθημα)
7. The indirect object of many verbs [Answers to whom(was the prize awarded)?]
- The prize was awarded to a new poet (Tο βραβείο απονεμήθηκε σε έναν νέο ποιητή)

Hope this helped

*Στων is not commonly used in modern Greek so do not bother with it

Edit: Because duolingo doesn't let me keep the line changes, this link has a screenshot of the text above in a much cleaner form: http://prntscr.com/cg2j9b

[mizinamo]

Type two spaces at the end of a line
to keep the next line from being joined up

Also, if you start a paragraph (i.e. something after a blank line) with a number, it should be numbered correctly:

1. Place(stop or direction) [Answers where(are you)?] - I am going to Athens (Πάω στην Αθήνα) - I am in Athens (Είμαι στην Αθήνα)
2. Time [Answers when(are you coming back)?] - I will be back in two hours (Θα επιστρέψω σε δύο ώρες)
3. Way [Answers how/in which way(did he get his parents permission/did he get sick)?] - He went out in secret (Βγήκε έξω στα κρυφά) - He was faking it (Το έκανε στα ψέματα)
4. Quantity or number approximate [Answers how much(does the good weight)?] - The good is (about) twenty kilos (Το εμπόρευμα είναι (γύρω) στα είκοσι κιλά)
5. Result [Answers what(happened to the paper)?] - The paper was torn into two pieces (Το χαρτί σκίστηκε σε δύο κομμάτια)
6. Reference [Answers how(did you do on the test)?] - I am really bad at this lesson (Είμαι πολύ κακός σε αυτό το μάθημα)
7. The indirect object of many verbs [Answers to whom(was the prize awarded)?] - The prize was awarded to a new poet (Tο βραβείο απονεμήθηκε σε έναν νέο ποιητή)

Even without two spaces at the end, just as long as each number is at the beginning of a new line when you type it.

[Panchete1]

Great!! It helped a lot! Thank you very much! :) It seems that the "σε" is an important preposition/particle then. In most of the cases that you've told, the preposition sounds logic, but in this example, I'm not sure what's its function after "ανάμεσα". Is this last preposition not enough for a logic sentence (I mean "Το παιδί είναι ανάμεσα τα βιβλία., is it possible in greek?), or always after "ανάμεσα" you use "σε"? Thanks, ApostolosB4! Lingot for you :)

[mizinamo]

Yes, ανάμεσα σε is a compound preposition, a bit like how in English we say "because of the father" with compound preposition "because of".

[Panchete1]

Thanks a lot, mizinamo! That's what I wanted to know... if "among" in greek was "ανάμεσα" or "ανάμεσα σε". When you hover the cursor over the word "ανάμεσα", it displays "among" and the "στα" displays "at the, to the, on the", and that's a bit confusing. Obviously, it's impossible that Duolingo to tells you "ανάμεσα σε = among", since σε is joined to τα. Anyway, surely these comments will be helpful for other persons having the same doubt. Thanks again, mizinamo and ApostolosB4! :)

[AlexanderM597295]

What is more commonly used for saying among/between: αναμεσα or μεταξυ?

[Rob43066]

Why is "in the middle of" wrong?

[AswinKS3]

Is 'ανάμεσα σε' like a pharsal verb in greek