Reciprocal pronouns: each other, one another

🔊 The teacher reads for you

« Lovers hold hands in public and sometimes embrace and kiss each other. » « Players now hug one another when they score. » In both sentences the action goes both ways: nobody only gives, nobody only receives. Two small pronouns say it. You already know each other and one another; this lesson makes sure you can use them — and choose between them. So when do we say each other, and when one another?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

التعبير عن التبادل بضميري التبادل ⁦each other⁩ و ⁦one another⁩
اختيار ⁦each other⁩ حين يجري الفعل بين شخصين، و ⁦one another⁩ حين يجري بين أكثر من شخصين
التمييز بين التبادل ⁦(they help each other)⁩ والانعكاس ⁦(they help themselves)⁩
استعمال ضميري التبادل للحديث عن الصداقة والمشاعر

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

ضمائر المفعول به والضمائر الانعكاسية ⁦(them, themselves)⁩
الأفعال التي يليها مفعول أو حرف جرّ ⁦(help, laugh at, say goodbye to)⁩
مفردات التحيّة والتعبير عن المشاعر: ⁦greet, hug, kiss, comfort⁩

1. Each other and one another

ضميرا التبادل يدلّان على أنّ الفعل متبادل: كلّ واحد يفعله بالآخر. ⁦each other⁩ بين اثنين، و ⁦one another⁩ بين أكثر من اثنين.

Each other and one another are reciprocal pronouns: they show that an action goes both ways — each person does it to the other. Like other object pronouns, they come after a verb (they help each other) or after a preposition (they never laugh at each other). We use each other when the action goes between two people, and one another when it goes among more than two. And a reciprocal pronoun is not a reflexive one: « they help themselves » means that each person helps himself or herself; « they help each other » means that each one helps the other.

Feelings — how the British show affection today

Many British youths now show feelings of affection in public. Women sometimes kiss each other on the cheek as a greeting and people may greet or say goodbye to each other with a hug. Lovers hold hands in public and sometimes embrace and kiss each other, but many elderly people do not like to see this. However, when British people are part of a crowd they are less worried about expressing their emotions. Football crowds sing and cheer when their side scores a goal. Players now hug one another when they score. Even cricket supporters, who had a reputation for being much quieter, enjoy cheering as well as giving the traditional polite applause. From The Oxford Guide to British and American Culture, p. 192

Task 1 — Pick out from the text the sentences which contain each other and one another.

استخرج من النصّ الجمل التي فيها ⁦each other⁩ و ⁦one another⁩.

Women sometimes kiss each other on the cheek as a greeting.
People may greet or say goodbye to each other with a hug.
Lovers hold hands in public and sometimes embrace and kiss each other.
Players now hug one another when they score.

Task 2 — A. What part of speech are each other and one another? B. What relationship do they express: reciprocity, reflexivity or pronominality? C. Why is one another used in one of the sentences? D. Rewrite the sentences without them. What do you notice?

أجب عن الأسئلة الأربعة انطلاقا من الجمل التي استخرجتها.

A. They are pronouns: they take the place of a noun, as the object of a verb (kiss each other) or of a preposition (say goodbye to each other).
B. Reciprocity: each person does the action to the other. Reflexivity would be themselves: the action coming back to the same person.
C. « Players now hug one another when they score »: the whole team hugs, more than two people at once. When women kiss or people say goodbye, it happens between two people at a time: each other.
D. Without them, the action has to be said twice: « One lover kisses the other, and the other kisses him or her back. » The reciprocal pronoun says it all in two words.

2. Talking about friends

املأ الفراغات بـ ⁦each other⁩ أو ⁦one another⁩: في كلّ جملة، اسأل كم شخصا يتبادل الفعل.

Fill in the blanks with each other or one another.

Rashid and Karim are really good friends. They help …(1) in hard times. They never laugh at …(2) when they say embarrassing things, or look awkward. They invite …(3) to a restaurant on special occasions. Smail, Karima and Sabrina are also good friends, but they show their friendship in a different way. They have known …(4) for years. They always comfort …(5) when they feel low. They never criticize …(6).

Task 3 — the answers, and the question to ask each time

في كلّ فراغ اسأل: هل الفعل بين اثنين أم بين أكثر من اثنين؟

1-3. each other — Rashid and Karim are two friends: they help each other, never laugh at each other, invite each other.
4-6. one another — Smail, Karima and Sabrina are three friends: they have known one another for years, comfort one another, never criticize one another.

The verbs do not change; only the number of people does. Count the people before you choose.

Do this alone, in writing. Write four sentences: two about your best friend and you, with each other, and two about your group of friends, with one another. Then check each sentence: how many people share the action — two, or more than two?

اكتب وحدك أربع جمل: اثنتان عنك وعن صديقك المقرّب بـ ⁦each other⁩، واثنتان عن مجموعة أصدقائك بـ ⁦one another⁩.

A model answer

My best friend and I have known each other since primary school. We phone each other every evening before an exam. In my class, the five of us revise together: we help one another with difficult lessons. When one of us gets a bad mark, we comfort one another.

In the exam, reciprocal pronouns are tested in a text with blanks (each other or one another), or by joining two sentences into one: « Rashid helps Karim. Karim helps Rashid. » becomes « Rashid and Karim help each other. » Have three things ready: ① each other between two people, one another among more than two; ② their place, after the verb or the preposition: laugh at each other, say goodbye to each other; ③ reciprocal is not reflexive: each other is not themselves. ⚠️ The frequent mistake: « they help themselves » for « they help each other » — the first says that each one helps himself.

What I keep — Each other and one another are reciprocal pronouns: the action goes both ways. Each other between two people (Rashid and Karim help each other), one another among more than two (Players now hug one another when they score). They come after a verb or a preposition — they never laugh at each other — and they are not reflexive: they help each other is not they help themselves.

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