How to say each other in Italian?
In a previous lesson, we’ve seen one way of saying each other: with reflexive verbs.
L’uno and l’altro pronouns, on their own, are just two indefinite pronouns, but when used together, they take on a reciprocal meaning and can complement reciprocal verbs. And become l’un l’altro, each other.
Let’s have a look at some examples:
Mario e Gianni si aiutano l’un l’altro.
Mario and Gianni help each other.
Noi ci rispettiamo l’un l’altro.
We respect each other.
When to use l’un l’altro and a vicenda?
We will use these reciprocal pronouns when we want to emphasize that the action is reciprocal, or to make the sentence more clear, even after using a reflexive verb.
In fact, the following sentences have basically the same meaning, but the second puts more emphasis on reciprocity.
In the third example, on the other hand, you will find the expression a vicenda, which also means each other.
Luca e Alberto si aiutano.
Luca and Alberto help each other.
Luca e Alberto si aiutano l’un l’altro.
Luca and Alberto help each other.
Luca e Alberto si aiutano a vicenda.
Luca and Alberto help each other.
How to use l’un l’altro with feminine nouns?
When one of the nouns is feminine, we can change altro for altra, but we usually do not change un.
Have a look at the following example:
Giacomo e Maria si aiutano l’un l’altra.
Giacomo and Maria help each other.
Il ragazzo e la ragazza si amano l’un l’altra.
The boy and the girl love each other.
When building the sentence, it is good to have the masculine noun first and the feminine second so as to maintain the order of the mentioned genders in the pronouns, as we will not say l’una l’altro.
How to use l’un l’altro with prepositions?
L’un l’altro can also be used with different prepositions separating the two words, depending on which preposition the verb requires.
With essere sincero con (be honest with), for example, we will use l’uno con l’altro, while with fidarsi di qualcuno (to trust someone), we will use l’uno dell’altro, etc.
When they are separated by a preposition, the two pronouns need to agree with the gender and number of the nouns described. Have a look at the following examples:
Maria e Giulia sono sincere l’una con l’altra.
Maria and Giulia are honest with each other.
Bisogna fidarsi gli uni degli altri.
We must trust each other.
Io e te siamo fatte l’una per l’altra.
We are made for each other.
Noi non sappiamo niente le une delle altre.
We do not know anything about each other.
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