"each other" and "one another"
Hello everyone. I have a question.
I'm wondering if the pronouns "each other" and "one another" have the same meaning. Although all the dictionaries I've consulted so far say that there's very little difference in meaning between the two terms, I know some people say that "each other" is used when the speaker refers to interactions between two people, whereas "one another" is used when describing those between three or more people. What do you think?
Top answer
"Each other" and "one another" are semantically equivalent, with "each other" the more frequent of the two. You are right that there has been a prescriptive tradition of saying that "each other" is used for sets of two, while "one another" is used for sets of three or more, as in Kim and Pat like each other , but Kim, Pat and Alex like one another . But there's no evidence to support this rule, and most usage manuals recognise that the pronouns cannot be distinguished this way.
- "Each other" and "one another" are semantically equivalent, with "each other" the more frequent of the two.
- You are right that there has been a prescriptive tradition of saying that "each other" is used for sets of two, while "one another" is used for sets of three or more, as in Kim and Pat like each other , but Kim, Pat and Alex like one another .
- But there's no evidence to support this rule, and most usage manuals recognise that the pronouns cannot be distinguished this way.
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"Each other" and "one another" are semantically equivalent, with "each other" the more frequent of the two.
You are right that there has been a prescriptive tradition of saying that "each other" is used for sets of two, while "one another" is used for sets of three or more, as in
Kim and Pat like each other, but Kim, Pat and Alex like one another.
But there's no
0
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