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You are here: Home / English lessons / Reciprocal pronouns “each other” and “one another”

Reciprocal pronouns “each other” and “one another”

8th February 2018 by Andrew

Here is an example situation:

Mark and Jane are married.
Mark loves Jane.
Jane loves Mark.

Reciprocal love

We can say: “Mark and Jane love each other.”

“each other” is a reciprocal pronoun. We use “each other” to show that each person in a group of people does something to the others. Each person receives the benefits of the action.


We can also use “one another“.
“one another” is also a reciprocal pronoun.

Example:
Mark and Jane love one another.

In modern English, “each other” and “one another” have the same meaning and use.

Example sentences with reciprocal pronouns

Example 1

Mark gave Jane a gift.

Man giving gift
Image by Anusorn P nachol | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Jane gave Mark a gift.

Woman giving gift

Mark and Jane gave each other gifts.
Mark and Jane gave one another gifts.

Example 2

Sarah is talking to Jane.
Jane is talking to Sarah.

They are talking to each other.
They are talking to one another.

Girls talking
Image by stockimages | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Example 3

David: How is Jane?
Mark: She is well. We call each other regularly.
Mark: She is well. We call one another regularly.

Man and woman calling each other

Possessive adjectives with “each other” and “one another”

A possessive adjective describes who owns something.

We can form possessive adjectives from “each other” and “one another” by adding an apostrophe + “s”

Reciprocal pronounPossessive adjective
each othereach other’s
one anotherone another’s

Example:

Mark often uses Jane’s phone.
Jane often uses Mark’s phone.

Mark and Jane often use each other’s phones.
Mark and Jane often use one another’s phones.

Common mistakes with reciprocal pronouns

Let’s look at another example. This sentence is correct:

Mark and Jane helped each other. correct

“each other” are 2 separate words.
“eachother” is therefore wrong.

Example of mistake:
Mark and Jane helped eachother. wrong

“each other” and “one another” do NOT have a plural form.

Examples of mistake:
Mark and Jane helped each others. wrong
Mark and Jane helped one anothers. wrong

Other lessons

Personal pronouns in English
THIS, THAT, THESE & THOSE – Determiners and demonstrative pronouns
Transitive and intransitive verbs – English grammar
How to use DO and MAKE in English
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