THE
RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS
Definition: A kind of
pronoun which can be used to mutual actions or relationship. There are just two
reciprocal pronouns in English: one another
and each other. They are
mainly used to stop unnecessary repetition in a sentence, but also to reinforce
the idea that collective and reciprocal actions are happening to more than one
person or thing. John and Mary gave each other gifts. Using each other allows us the sentence to be
more efficient than: John gave Mary a gift and Mary gave a gift to John. The
countries worked with one another on national security. In this example,
one another works to suggest that the action of working is being
reciprocated back and forth by more than one country.
Reciprocal
pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy
identification.
For example:
The boxers
punched each other
The couple love
one another deeply
Peter and Paul
admire each other.
Allie and Jerry
loathe each other.
The twelve
angry men were all pointing fingers at one
another.
Both groups
fought hard against each other.
Why do you
question each other?
That can’t talk
to each other.
The cars were
bumping into each other on the
icy road.
Dick and Jane
waved goodbye to each other as
they left the playground.
The students
helped one another perform the
group experiment.
They
asked each other the same
question and the same time.
Ben and Frank
like to throw the ball to each other.
Betty and
Veronica like to give surprise gifts to each
other.
The doctors
rely on one another for peer
consultations.
The cats were
happily grooming each other.
The horses were
tripping one another as the
race came to an end.
Note: Remembering
which pronouns are reciprocal pronouns is easy since there are only two of
them! Each other and one another are
used when each of two or more people or things are acting in the same way
towards each other. Reciprocal pronouns can only refer to a plural noun or
multiple nouns because the feeling or action has to be shared in the sentence.
That’s what reciprocation is all about.
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