Reciprocal Pronoun: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know what reciprocal pronouns are? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on reciprocal pronouns, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

Your writing, at its best

Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant

What is a reciprocal pronoun?

According to Word Sense, there are many different types of pronouns with different functions:

  •  object pronoun/objective pronoun
  •  substantive pronoun
  •  subject pronoun
  •  subjective pronoun
  •  resumptive pronoun
  •  intensive pronoun
  •  gender-neutral pronoun
  •  pronoun demonstrative
  •  reflexive pronoun
  •  indefinite pronoun
  •  personal subject pronouns
  •  reciprocal pronoun
  •  substantival pronoun
  •  personal pronoun
  •  demonstrative pronoun
  •  epicene pronoun
  •  prepositional pronoun
  •  determinative pronoun
  •  adjective pronoun
  •  adjectival pronoun
  •  relative pronoun
  •  interrogative pronoun
  •  possessive pronoun
  •  emphasizing pronoun
  •  reflexive possessive pronoun

Today we will explore reciprocal pronouns. According to Grammar Monster, a reciprocal pronoun is used to express a mutual action or relationship and in English grammar includes each other and one another. This is the complete list of reciprocal pronouns in modern English. Each other is used when there are two things or people, and one another is used when there are more than two things or people as in larger groups. In sentences with reciprocal pronouns, both receive the benefits or consequences of that action of some type simultaneously. These can be used in first person, second person, and third person. Often, the subject of the sentence is plural. Reciprocal pronouns can also refer to direct objects. It will depend on the situation of the two-way interaction if a singular verb or plural depending.

What are reciprocal pronoun examples?

A reciprocal pronoun can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! The following examples of reciprocal pronouns from Thought Co, K12 Reader, Grammar Monster, Ginger and English Club can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Try to use the term reciprocal pronouns today or notice when someone else is using a reciprocal pronoun.

  • Old and young disbelieve one another’s truths. (Aphorist Mason Cooley)
  • The ten prisoners were all blaming one another.
  • America is a land of small talk because we won’t violate one another’s privacies. (Author Karan Mahajan)
  • The defendants blamed one another for the crime they were charged with.
  • Dick and Jane waved goodbye to each other as they left the playground.
  • We gave each other gifts.
  • There was confusion with the login when, due to the abstractions, none of the participants could see one another.
  • Both groups fought hard against each other.
  • Why don’t Anne and Romeo believe each other?
  • Laws, like houses, lean on one another. (Statesman Edmund Burke)
  • When two people are like each other, they tend to like each other. (US author Tony Robbins)
  • The twelve angry men were all pointing fingers at one another.
  • The team members played their hearts out for one another.
  • Susan and Juliet, the siblings, can’t see each other in Chicago.
  • The kids spent the afternoon kicking the ball to one another.
  • Ben and Frank like to throw the ball to each other.
  • (Both of these could be correct. In the second version, the writer might have been focused on how one person treats another, i.e., two people.)
  • We give each other gifts during the holidays.
  • The gangsters were fighting one another.
  • The competitors were deliberately blocking one another’s view to gain an advantage.
  • The cars were bumping into each other on the icy road.
  • My dog and cat love each other. 
  • Terry and Jack were talking to each other in the hallway.
  • Jack and Jill hate each other after the exam grades came out.
  • They asked each other the same question and the same time.
  • That can’t talk to each other.
  • Maria and Juan gave each other gold rings on their wedding day.
  • The boats were bumping against each other in the storm.
  • Allie and Jerry loathe each other.
  • Betty and Veronica like to give surprise gifts to each other.
  • Why do you question each other?
  • “Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.” (Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958)
  • Friends are kind to one another’s dreams. (Philosopher Henry David Thoreau)
  • The students helped one another perform the group experiment.
  • Gentlemen don’t read each other’s mail. (US Secretary of War Henry Stimson)
  • Maria and Juan kissed each other at the end of the ceremony.
  • “All birds and animals talk to one another–they really have to, in order to get along.” (E.B. White, The Trumpet and the Swan. Harper & Row, 1970)
  • Peter and David hate each other.
  • Friends are kind to each other’s dreams.
  • My dog, cat, and emu love one another. 
  • Peter and Paul admire each other.
  • Have you seen each other ‘s solution?
  • “The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.” (H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926)
  • We drink one another’s healths and spoil our own.  (Author Jerome K Jerome)
  • They deliberately blocked one another’s proposals.
  • The horses were tripping one another as the race came to an end.
  • The doctors rely on one another for peer consultations.
  • John and Mary love each other.
  • Both teams played hard against each other.
  • The cats were happily grooming each other.
  • The crayfish started eating one another.
  • They gave each other presents.
  • The students congratulated one another after giving practice speeches
  • “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. (John F. Kennedy, in a speech prepared for delivery on the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963)

Overall, the term reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another.

Sources:

  1. Glossary of Grammatical Terms | OED
  2. What is a Reciprocal Pronoun? Reciprocal Pronoun Example Sentences | K12 Reader 
  3. Reciprocal Pronouns | What Are Reciprocal Pronouns? | Grammar Monster 
  4. pronoun: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense 
  5. Reciprocal Pronouns – Definition, Examples & Exercises | Ginger
  6. Reciprocal Pronouns | Grammar | EnglishClub   
  7. Reciprocal Pronoun Definition and Examples | Thought CoÂ