Reciprocal Action |
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English |
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| English uses a regular verb followed by the expression "each other". | |
| The dog and cat looked at each other. | |
| Our children call each other every day. | |
Spanish |
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| Spanish uses reflective pronouns to express an action that is reciprocal. | |
El perro y el gato se miraron. The dog and the cat looked at each other. |
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Nuestros hijos se llaman cada día. Our children call each other every day. |
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Context will often tell you if the meaning of the Spanish pronoun is reflective (-self, -selves) or reciprocal (each other). |
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| Las chicas se miran en el espejo The girls looked at themselves in the mirror. Because they are looking in a mirror it would be assumed that they were looking at themselves and not each other. |
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However when no information is given, the meaning can be ambiguous. Las chicas se miran. The girls looked at themselves. or The girls looked at each other. |
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One way to avoid ambiguity and to indicate that the meaning is reciprocal is to add an expression equivalent to "each other" such as "el uno al otro" (singular) or "los unos a los otros" (plural). |
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El perro y el gato se miran el uno al otro. The dog and the cat looked at each other. |
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Los niños se miran los unos a los otros. The children looked at each other. |
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