Reciprocal Pronouns

Using 'each other' and 'one another' for mutual actions

intermediate

When to Use

•Mutual actions between two people: They love each other.
•Mutual actions among groups: The team members help one another.
•Exchanged actions: We email each other every week.
•Shared feelings: They respect one another.
•Possessive form: They borrowed each other's books.

How to Form

Affirmative (+)

Subject + verb + each other / one another

Negative (-)

Subject + don't/doesn't + verb + each other

Question (?)

Do they help each other?

💡 Traditionally, 'each other' = two people, 'one another' = more than two. In modern English, they're often interchangeable.

Examples

✓The two sisters help each other.

✗The two sisters help themselves.

Reciprocal (mutual action) needs 'each other', not reflexive 'themselves'.

✓They looked at each other and smiled.

✗They looked at them and smiled.

Use 'each other' for mutual action, not object pronoun.

✓We read each other's essays.

✗We read each others essays.

Possessive form: each other's (with apostrophe).

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

• Each other = two people (traditional); one another = 3+ (traditional)
• Modern usage: both are interchangeable
• Possessive: each other's / one another's
• Different from reflexive: themselves = self-action; each other = mutual
• Common verbs: love, help, know, see, meet, email each other

reflexive-pronouns subject-object-pronouns possessive-pronouns 📝 pronouns-intermediate 📝 reciprocal-pronouns-quiz

Reciprocal Pronouns

Using 'each other' and 'one another' for mutual actions

intermediate

When to Use

•Mutual actions between two people: They love each other.
•Mutual actions among groups: The team members help one another.
•Exchanged actions: We email each other every week.
•Shared feelings: They respect one another.
•Possessive form: They borrowed each other's books.

How to Form

Affirmative (+)

Subject + verb + each other / one another

Negative (-)

Subject + don't/doesn't + verb + each other

Question (?)

Do they help each other?

💡 Traditionally, 'each other' = two people, 'one another' = more than two. In modern English, they're often interchangeable.

Examples

✓The two sisters help each other.

✗The two sisters help themselves.

Reciprocal (mutual action) needs 'each other', not reflexive 'themselves'.

✓They looked at each other and smiled.

✗They looked at them and smiled.

Use 'each other' for mutual action, not object pronoun.

✓We read each other's essays.

✗We read each others essays.

Possessive form: each other's (with apostrophe).

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

• Each other = two people (traditional); one another = 3+ (traditional)
• Modern usage: both are interchangeable
• Possessive: each other's / one another's
• Different from reflexive: themselves = self-action; each other = mutual
• Common verbs: love, help, know, see, meet, email each other

reflexive-pronouns subject-object-pronouns possessive-pronouns 📝 pronouns-intermediate 📝 reciprocal-pronouns-quiz

Reciprocal Pronouns

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

Related

Reciprocal Pronouns

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

Related

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

✗They hurt theirselves.

✗We know each others well.

✗The students helped each other's.

💡 Practice Tips

Related

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

✗They hurt theirselves.

✗We know each others well.

✗The students helped each other's.

💡 Practice Tips

Related