Q:

Proper use of "delineate"

Is this the proper use of delineate in this sentence?
"In order to properly discuss the differences between amateur and professional critics it is necessary to delineate between the two."
Or should it be "...delineate the two."?

A:

Actually, I wouldn't use delineate here because it doesn't add anything to the sentence at all -- and worse, it's essentially redundant.
Delineate means to describe precisely; right now, what's been written is effectively the following:

In order to properly discuss the differences between [A] and [B], it is necessary to [discuss the differences between A and B]."

Instead, I would just state the differences:

The principal differences between amateur and professional critics are [X], [Y], and [Z].

