Confused in OTHER V/S ANOTHER

Question

Hi Experts,

I am slightly confused in between the below two examples. Kindly help.

The guests at the party interacted with ONE ANOTHER.
The guests at the party interacted with EACH OTHER.

Which of the above two is correct and why??

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

I can't say I can think of an official question that tested this. My instinct is that 'each other' implies only two people. 'One another' would involve a group.

So presuming this party has more than 2 guests, 'one another' would be correct.

crampipan · Answer

"Some handbooks and textbooks recommend that each other be restricted to reference to two and one another to reference to three or more. The distinction, while neat, is not observed in actual usage. Each other and one another are used interchangeably by good writers and have been since at least the 16th century."

source: merriam webster

I assume this is not a real GMAT question.

source: merriam webster

I assume this is not a real GMAT question.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  warrior1991 !  one another  would be more appropriate in this context.

another  is used when there are  multiple  entities. For example:

While my favorite dish was available at the restaurant, I ordered another.

On the other hand,  each other  is used to depict interaction between exactly  two  entities.

While the couple filed for divorce, it was clear that they were still in love with each other .

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  these differences between "another"/"the other"/"each other"/"one another" . Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.

warrior1991 · Answer

Thank you so much for clearing the doubt and sharing the concept over PDF.

EducationAisle · Answer

Welcome. Glad it helped.

Confused in OTHER V/S ANOTHER

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