Skip to main content

Reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another

No difference​

Each other and one another mean the same.

  • Anna and I write to each other / one another every week.

Each other is more common than one another, especially in an informal style.

Not used as subject​

Each other and one another are not normally used as subjects (though this occasionally happens in subordinate clauses in very informal speech).

  • They each listened carefully to what the other said. (not usually They listened carefully to what each other said.)

each other’s / one another’s​

Both expressions have possessive forms.

  • They’ll sit for hours looking into each other’s / one another’s eyes.

-selves, possessives and each other / one another​

Note the difference between -selves and each other / one another. Compare:

  • Jack and Emily are strange: they talk to themselves a lot. (Jack talks to Jack; Emily talks to Emily.)
  • Susan and Daniel talk to each other on the phone every day. (Susan talks to Daniel; Daniel talks to Susan.)

There is a similar difference between possessives and each other / one another. Compare:

  • My girlfriend and I are both very interested in our work. (I’m interested in mine; she’s interested in hers.)
  • My girlfriend and I are both very interested in each other’s work. (I’m interested in hers; she’s interested in mine.)

Words used without each other / one another​

We do not normally use each other / one another after words like meet or marry, where the verb itself makes the meaning clear.

  • They met in 1992 and married in 1994.