Each Other and One Another
2021-10-09
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1Hello! This week we answer a question from Umut in Turkey.
2I would like to learn the difference between "each other" and "one another." Thanks in advance.
3Dear Umut,
4Thank you for writing to us.
5The pronoun "each other" means that every member of a group of people or animals does something for or to the other members of the group.
6Imagine you see two neighbors passing on the street.
7As they pass, they wave and say, "Hello!" You could say:
8Carlos waved at Ishmael.
9Ishmael waved at Carlos.
10But that is not the easy way to talk about what you see.
11Instead, you can say:
12Carlos and Ishmael waved at each other.
13Let us take a look at more examples of how we use it.
14I heard the cats fighting with each other last night.
15The teacher asked students to help each other in their groups.
16In some cases, you can make a possessive pronoun from "each other" by adding an apostrophe and the letter "s."
17The children walked two by two, holding each other's hands.
18At Christmas, the family gets together and opens each other's gifts.
19You asked us to compare how we use the expression "one another."
20I read in one dictionary that some English speakers use "one another" when talking about three or more members of a group, while using "each other" when talking about just two members of a group.
21If that is the case, then you would find statements like this:
22The baseball players all shook hands with one another after the game.
23Andy and Reyna are always joking with each other.
24But I do not think that many of us follow that rule.
25Instead, we use "one another" in careful or polite speech or writing and "each other" in more casual speech.
26What question do you have about American English?
27Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
28And that's Ask a Teacher.
29I'm Jill Robbins.
1Hello! This week we answer a question from Umut in Turkey. 2Question: 3I would like to learn the difference between "each other" and "one another." Thanks in advance. 4Umut, Turkey. 5Answer: 6Dear Umut, 7Thank you for writing to us. The pronoun "each other" means that every member of a group of people or animals does something for or to the other members of the group. Imagine you see two neighbors passing on the street. As they pass, they wave and say, "Hello!" You could say: 8Carlos waved at Ishmael. 9Ishmael waved at Carlos. 10But that is not the easy way to talk about what you see. Instead, you can say: 11Carlos and Ishmael waved at each other. 12Let us take a look at more examples of how we use it. 13I heard the cats fighting with each other last night. 14The teacher asked students to help each other in their groups. 15In some cases, you can make a possessive pronoun from "each other" by adding an apostrophe and the letter "s." 16The children walked two by two, holding each other's hands. 17At Christmas, the family gets together and opens each other's gifts. 18One another 19You asked us to compare how we use the expression "one another." I read in one dictionary that some English speakers use "one another" when talking about three or more members of a group, while using "each other" when talking about just two members of a group. If that is the case, then you would find statements like this: 20The baseball players all shook hands with one another after the game. 21Andy and Reyna are always joking with each other. 22But I do not think that many of us follow that rule. Instead, we use "one another" in careful or polite speech or writing and "each other" in more casual speech. 23What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com 24And that's Ask a Teacher. 25I'm Jill Robbins. 26Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 27______________________________________________________________ 28Words in This Story 29polite -adj. having or showing good manners or respect for other people 30casual -adj. not formal; done without much thought or effort 31Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.