ArcaMax

Q: Is it correct to use the phrase "each other" only when it refers to two individuals and "one another" only when it refers to three or more individuals? -- Debra Holz, Pittsburgh

A: Language authorities differ with each other, er... one another on this issue.

Traditionalists maintain that "each other" should be used for two people, e.g., "The two women talked with each other," and that "one another" should be used when more than two people are involved, e.g., "The three women talked with one another."

But other experts say this is a fussy distinction with no basis in logic or history. Indeed, many noted writers, including two prominent dictionary makers, have used "each other" and "one another" interchangeably.

The British lexicographer Samuel Johnson, for instance, once wrote of "sixteen ministers who meet weekly at each other's houses," (presumably not for a poker game). American word master Noah Webster once referred to several men who "live remote from each other" (which wasn't that hard to do in sparsely populated 18th-century America).

Two hundred years later, John Updike wrote in his novel "Couples" that "Janet and Marcia would, by way of greeting, neigh at one another." (Two women from the horsey set, no doubt.)

I hate to be a neigh-sayer, er... nay-sayer, but I wouldn't ride roughshod over the distinction between "each other" and "one another." In situations involving more than two people, "one another" is the right choice.

For instance, "the graduates followed one another into the auditorium" would be preferable to "the graduates followed each other into the auditorium" -- unless, of course, there were only two graduates.

In fact, that was actually the case in the first graduating class at Kingswood School, a forerunner of the school where I teach. Its class of 1922 comprised just two students: Bill Conklin and John Cooley.

Because school officials wanted to graduate these lads in alphabetical order and both their last names started with "Co," they had to resort to considering the third letters of their names, and, even then, Conklin's "n" came just one letter before Cooley's "o." Thus, Bill edged out John to become the first-ever graduate of the school.

A quick valedictory: The proper possessives of "each other" and "one another" are "each other's" and "one another's" (never "each others'" or "one anothers'"), e.g., "Bill and John examined each other's diplomas," and "The three graduates examined one another's diplomas."

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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM

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