English — reciprocal pronouns: each other / one another
Reciprocal pronouns show that two or more people do the same thing to each other. English has two: each other and one another. They differ from reflexive pronouns like themselves, which point the action back at the same subject.
How it works
Use each other or one another after a verb or preposition to express a mutual action: they looked at each other, we help one another. To show possession, add 's to the pronoun: each other's, one another's — they wore each other's coats. Traditionally each other was used for two people and one another for more than two, but today they are interchangeable.
Forms and contrast
| Form / example | Meaning |
|---|---|
| They looked at each other. | Reciprocal: A looked at B and B looked at A. |
| They looked at themselves. | Reflexive: each person looked at their own image. |
| We help one another. | Reciprocal with one another (same meaning as each other). |
| They wore each other's coats. | Possessive: A wore B's coat and B wore A's coat. |
| The teams congratulated one another's players. | Possessive with one another's before a noun. |
| They talk to each other every day. | After a preposition: to + each other. |
Good to know
Don't confuse reciprocal and reflexive meaning: they blamed each other means A blamed B and B blamed A, while they blamed themselves means each person blamed himself. Also, each other is written as two words (never *eachother), and the possessive apostrophe goes on other: each other's, not *each's other.