Why is each other not one word

When we want to express a reciprocal relationship between two things, should we write eachother as one word or each other as two words?

Plenty of American English speakers ask this question, including many who grew up with the language. Fortunately, this area of grammar is rather simple to sort out.

The short answer is that each other (two separate words) is correct. We’ll here consider why confusion about the correct phrasing might still sometimes remain.

Why It’s Easy to Misunderstand Each Other

We suspect two reasons why one might think of each other as being a single word. The first reason is that native American English speakers tend to pronounce the two words quickly. Try reading this sentence aloud: “Paul and Jane got married because they love each other very much.” Did you notice how easy it can be to blend each and other into something that sounds like one word?

The second reason for confusion concerns the fact that other English words can be combined (e.g., any and body into anybody). Given that most of us say “each other” with the same speed and fluidity, we can understand how we might fuse them into a single word.

How to Use Each Other Correctly

Now that we’ve covered why we might mistakenly treat each other as one word, let’s look at how we can remember they are two words.

One technique is to simply think about the phrase itself. You can’t have each of a single thing. For instance, if you were selecting one loaf of bread, you could not say you would like to have each one.

Similarly, you cannot have an other if you don’t have a first item to count and compare. In our bread example, if you have only one loaf, you can’t decide to have the other one (it is not present).

Another approach is to recast your phrasing to include the word the. Instead of writing “Lana and Christy are fond of each other,” write “Lana and Christy are each fond of the other.” The latter phrasing is wordy and even stilted, so we don’t recommend writing this way, but it can serve as a tool in helping us remember the separation between each and other.

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Even people who have spoken and written English their whole lives can become confused about an expression used for a shared association. Many wonder whether this expression should be written eachother or each other.

Luckily, the solution to this quandary is straightforward. Each other should always be two words separated by a space. The question remains, how did people become unnecessarily confused bout this expression?

The Root of the Each Other Confusion

There are two likely reasons that writers become confused between each other or eachother. One is verbal, the other logical.

Firstly, consider how you would say the phrase each other in everyday life. Try reciting this sentence as naturally as possible:

David and Josh and have always treated each other with suspicion.

In everyday conversation, the words each and other merge into something like a single word. You might even find that the ch sound migrates to the other word, so it sounds like ee-chother.

Secondly, there is a precedent for these words merging. When you consider words like someone or anybody, it’s unsurprising that even seasoned English writers would be inclined to combine the words in each other.

The Importance of Both Each and Other

We have established that there are logical reasons a writer might think each other should be one word. How, then, can we remember that the expression is always two words?

Let’s consider the phrase systematically. It is a naturally reciprocal expression. Its two words must remain together to create to make any sense.

Here is an example. Imagine you are ordering a lobster from a tank. You only want one lobster. You cannot ask for each, even though it is a singular pronoun. It also implies the presence of multiple similar items.

By the same token, you could not ask for an other lobster without choosing a preliminary lobster to count it against. To communicate the reciprocal relationship, you need both each and other.

A Simple Trick for Remembering

There is a trick for confirming whether it is each other or eachother. Try inserting the into the phrase. Here is how you would do it:

Original Sentence: Zane and Murray are annoyed with each other.

Adjusted Sentence: Zane and Murray are each annoyed with the other.

Bear in mind; the second phrasing has an over-wrought quality to it that will hurt your writing. This is simply a tool to remind you that each other should always be a two-word expression.

Related: Here is another set of words that cause spelling confusion: A part vs. apart.

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Hello, Zeal,

What a fine coincidence! Earlier today I learned something new about each other, and here you’ve asked a question to which my new knowledge applies.

But first, the instances of each other in your second and third examples are reciprocal pronouns. The two words go together as one reciprocal-pronoun unit. I believe that’s why you feel them to be as one. I, too, feel them to be as one, though I have never, if memory serves, seen each other spelled as one word in high-quality published writing.

Each other is not a reciprocal pronoun in your first example. There needs to be a slight pause between each and other; otherwise each other would be understood to apply to they rather than to block, which I assume you are using as a noun (blocks of wood, blocks of a town, etc.).

As to why each other in the second and third sentences are spelled as two words, I learned today that, historically, the preposition in such constructions was placed between the two words. The following passage is from Otto Jespersen’s The Philosophy of Grammar (1924), which I ordered earlier this week and started reading today:

quote:

«The distinction between a formula and a free combination also affects word-order. One example may suffice : so long as some+thing is a free combination of two elements felt as such, another adjective may be inserted in the usual way : some good thing. But as soon as something has become a fixed formula, it is inseparable, and the adjective has to follow : something good. Compare also the difference between the old ‘ They turned each to other ‘ and the modern ‘ they turned to each other ‘».

— Jespersen, Otto. The Philosophy of Grammar. Henry Holt and Company: New York, 1924.

Historically, then, your second example might have read as follows. I’m not sure whether a comma would have been added or not:

• They looked each at (the) other.
• They looked, each at (the) other.

Perhaps each other, in its reciprocal pronoun usage, is on its way to being spelled as a single word. If so, I would imagine that text-messaging culture is assisting in that development.

Cheers,
David