Talking to each other

Question

In sentences such as these:

Las dos muchachas se están hablando.

Estos hombres se están ayudando.

Are these the gerund forms of hablarse and ayudarse?

And do they translate to mean that they are talking to, and helping, each other?

Seems "dos" is not needed Tosh - pacofinkler, Sep 7, 2011

Answer 1

We can use verbs in plural form with reflexive pronouns to express reciprocity.

Las dos muchachas se están hablando.

This could possibly be misinterpreted as "the girls are talking to themselves". I think it would be understood as "they are talking to each other", however, you can reinforce that meaning by adding "el uno al otro", "uno a otro", or of course their feminine equivalents.

Las dos muchachas están hablándose/ se están hablando la una a la otra. The two girls are talking to each other.

Estos hombres se están ayudando. "These men are helping themselves" or " These men are helping each other".

Estos hombres están ayudándose/ se están ayudando uno a otro. "These men are helping each other".

If you want to say they are doing it to themselves, you can say "a sí mismos".

But I'm still curious if the "se" is needed to get the idea across that they are doing these things to or with "each other".

Not all of the time. When the preposition used with the verb is not "a", you don't use "se" unless it's included in the pronominal meaning of the verb.

Esos niños pueden contar el uno con el otro. - Those children can count on each other.

¿Qué harían el uno sin el otro? - What would they do without each other?

Esos amigos siempre se enojan el uno con el otro. - Those friends always get mad at each other.

I agree with la una a la otra, and I wonder if it would be understood the same way without it. I think it might, but I'm not so sure. - jeezzle, Jul 21, 2011

Answer 2

Are these the gerund forms of hablarse and ayudarse?

They are "gerundios" in Spanish, but they work differently in English. In your examples, the English words "talking" and "helping" are present participles.

I hope we get more answers. I'm still learning myself!

Good point. These should not be called gerunds, even though, you often see articles calling the gerundio the Spanish gerund. - 0074b507, Sep 6, 2011

Thanks, Q :) - GuitarWarrior, Sep 6, 2011

Answer 3

I thought that when dealing with reflexive verbs in the gerund form, you put the reflexive pronoun at the end of gerund.

It's optional. - 0074b507, Sep 6, 2011

Answer 4

In sentences with two verbs that follow one subject or in sentences with a gerund, you can place the reflexive pronoun either before the conjugated verb or after it, attached to the infinitive or gerund.

But I'm still curious if the "se" is needed to get the idea across that they are doing these things to or with "each other".