English reciprocal pronouns

What are reciprocal pronouns?

Reciprocal pronouns are used to explain an action that is being reciprocated between two or more people at the same time. There are only two pronouns of this type that severely differ from the other pronouns we studied as they are actual words by themselves: each other and one another. 

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Reciprocal pronouns examples:

• Ryan and I will always love each other.
• We bumped into each other during the festival.
• The team helped one another to get to the finish line. 
• We accessed each other's data.
• Inna and George were moved to separate desks. They wouldn't stop talking to each other.
• They are accusing one another again. 

Each other vs one another

Warning: While this unwritten rule applies in the majority of the cases you will witness it is not a foolproof one as different speakers choose different methods to express themselves.

Each other and one another hold the same meaning in a sentence. However, each other is used far more widely than one another therefore if in doubt which one to choose use each other. While there might not be one concrete usage rule that holds for 100% of the time most people use the pronouns in the following ways:​