"One another" for couples

Question

I am translating a book that makes heavy use of the term "one another". (eg. love one another, spend time with one another, care for each other, etc.) I understand that the literal translation of this is "uno al/con/etc. el otro". However, since we are speaking of man and woman, would it be preferred to use "uno a la otra/con la otra" etc.? Is this phrase gender dependent? In other translation examples I have seen, it appears not. Thank you.

Answer 1

A veces se dice como: "Carlos y Luisa se aman." Carlos and Luisa love each other or one another.

Acabo de notar que "gringojrf" ha puesto la misma respuesta.

Daniela,

I like your comment under my answer! - annierats, Nov 5, 2014

Answer 2

Alternatively use reciprical plural pronouns, nos or se.

Se besan/besaron = They kiss/kissed one another.

Nos casamos = We marry/married one another.

Etc.

Answer 3

Ufff, i don't know if i undestood your question well:

The spanish sentence depends of the gender:

Boy with boy - Uno con el otro

Girl with Girl - Una con la otra

Boy with Girl - Uno con el otro

Girl with Boy - Uno con el otro

Since I am not a native Spanish speaker, it is difficult for me to approach questions in any other way than by looking at the grammar. Can you tell me why "boy with girl" would not be "uno con el otra" and vice versa with "girl with boy"? - tuamiga1973, Nov 4, 2014

In Spanish more emphasis is given to the masculine. - jorja2004, Nov 4, 2014

Yeah, In Spanish if there is a group of men and women, you used the male form of the word. If there are only women in the group you can use the female form of the word. 15 or 20 years ago this rule changed: to refer to a mix group, you can use the female - txustaboy, Nov 18, 2014

Answer 4

Another example, in testaments this is a very common format:

“Del uno para el otro, y después para los hijos” This means that the husband or wife passes his /her property to the suviving partner and only when both are dead do the children inherit.

Otherwise I think, for loving, as Gringo and Daniela say, the Spanish would probably use the verb rater than add on unos y otros...

To care for each other : se cuidan el uno al otro, se apoyan el uno al otro. I think, I hope Txboy will correct this, he is the native!

It's not only for loving, how about Carlos y Pedro se odian mucho y pelean todo el tiempo.Se tiran rocas y otros objectos.. LOL - Daniela2041, Nov 5, 2014

I never thought about what annierats had to say. Good going! Creo que entre todos nosotros hemos contestado bien la pregunta. - Daniela2041, Nov 5, 2014

Great addition, Daniela. - annierats, Nov 5, 2014

Your last both examples are totally correct Annie, but if I have to tell something similar i would never say "el uno al otro" because is redundant. The word "se" it´s indicating that is mutual - txustaboy, Nov 18, 2014

Ok, thanks, I'll try to remeber that, should t such a situation arise. - annierats, Nov 18, 2014

Answer 5

Gracias por todas las respuestas. Nativos, alguna sugerencia?

txustaboy is a Spaniard from Andalucía. ;) - bosquederoble, Nov 3, 2014

Answer 6

From what I could determine from this site's translator and Google Translate, el uno al otro, or los unos a los otros seems to be the Spanish phrase. It did not change depending on the gender of the people. For example, when I put in "The women must love each other" it still came out "los unos a los otros." Of course I understand the limitations of computer translators.

Answer 7

Gracias por las buenísimas repuestas, amigos! Parece que más a menudo se usan los verbos reflexivos, y para enfatizar a veces "el uno al otro" pero nunca "el uno a la otra"; no importa que se refiera a un hombre y una mujer....