Chinese grammar：Comparing 之间zhijian and 中间zhongjian

When describing spatial relationships, the words 之间 (zhījiān) and 中间 (zhōngjiān) will come in handy to express the concepts of "between" and "among." Both have a few particular uses, though.

Both can mean "in the middle"

Grammatically, both 之间 and 中间 are nouns (location nouns, to be precise). One difference between the two, however, is that 中间 can be used all by itself, but 之间 is always used together with other words.
Between two points in space
之间 and 中间 can both refer to a space "in the middle" between two points, as long as we're talking about physical space. So between Shanghai and Beijing, between my eyes, between the psychotic monkey and the enraged elephant, etc.
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For time and number ranges use 之间
This usage refers to examples like "between 8am and 3pm" or "a number between 32 and 51."
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Examples

For describing location within an object, use 中间
This "within" could be "inside" a space (like inside a house, or inside a refrigerator), and is similar to 里面 except that it is also centered in the space (with regards to the sides, but not height). But it can also mean "in the middle of" a two-dimensional physical space, like in the middle (center) of a table, or in the middle of the screen.
You can't use 之间 in this way.
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Examples

Other uses of 之间

之间 can be used to indicate relationships
The idea is that the relationship is "between two people," and the "between" is indicated by 之间. This usage of 之间 can also refer to relationships between a person and a company, two companies, two countries, etc.
You can't use 中间 in this way.
Structure

In the structure above, Noun1 and Noun2 are frequently people.
Examples

Other uses of 中间

中间 can also mean "among"
中间 is used when referring to one (or more) "among many."
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Examples

中间 can be used as part of other words
中间 is a noun, and can combine with other nouns to create a number of fairly common verbs.
Structure

Examples