⇒ Reciprocal verbs show that two or more people are performing an action on one another.
⇒ Reciprocal pronouns, which are always plural, indicate who is performing the reciprocal action.
⇒ Reciprocal verbs are a type of pronominal verb used to talk about actions that people do to each other.
⇒ For example:
| Antonio y yo nos besamos.Antonio and I kissed each other. |
| ¿Os conocéis?Do you all know each other? |
| Juan y María se casaron.Juan and Maria got married (to each other). |
| Los estudiantes se ayudan.The students help each other. |
⇒ Reciprocal verbs are formed by the combination of a verb and a reciprocal pronoun.
⇒ Since reciprocal actions always involve two or more people, only plural pronouns are considered reciprocal.
⇒ A list of these pronouns is given in the table below.
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| First person | nos | to, for, from, or off ourselves |
| Second person | os | to, for, from, or off yourselves |
| Third person | se | to, for, from, or off themselves, yourselves |
⇒ Sentences with reciprocal actions sometimes look just like sentences with reflexive actions.
⇒ To differentiate a reflexive action from a reciprocal action, the use of expressions such as uno al otro, uno a otro, mutuamente, recíprocamente, entre sí, etc. can be added to a phrase to show the subjects are performing the action on each other. All these expressions can be roughly translated as each other, one another or mutually.
⇒ For example:
| Se aman mutuamente.They love one another |
| Se aman uno al otro.They love each other. |
| No nos vemos uno a otro.We can’t see each other. |
⇒ Below you'll find a list of verbs that are commonly used to talk about reciprocal actions.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| abrazarse | to hug each other |
| conocerse | to know each other |
| mirarse | to see each other |
| ayudarse | to help each other |
| despedirse | to say goodbye to each other |
| pelearse | to fight with each other |
| besarse | to kiss each other |
| divorciarse | to divorce each other |
| reunirse | to get together |
| casarse | to marry each other |
| estrellarse | to crash into each other |
| turnarse | to take turns |