Comments for The Final Touch

Comment on Even Very Good Writers Get Confused! by Heidi Mann

Heidi Mann — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:22:09 +0000

Thanks for writing! And what a great question! I would still hold firm and say it would be “each other’s” because if you weren’t dealing with a possessive but were just making a statement such as, “They all saw each other at the meeting,” there would be no “s” at the end of “other.” Like other plurals that are irregular — think of “men,” “oxen,” “sheep,” etc. — to make the plural into a possessive plural, we don’t add “s-apostrophe”; we add “apostrophe-s.” So we have “men’s clothing,” “the oxen’s yoke,” “the sheep’s pen,” and “each other’s gifts.”

Additionally, the Chicago Manual of Style (one of my go-to resources when I want to double-check something) states the following at 5.220: “each other; one another. Traditionalists use each other when two things or people are involved, one another when more than two are involved.” So, writers and editors who would be nit-picky would not opt to use “each other” in regard to a group of more than two. Of course, not everyone worries about being quite that precise!

Again, thanks for your post! Hope to hear from you again!
–Heidi

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Comment on Even Very Good Writers Get Confused! by Timotheus

Timotheus — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:52:55 +0000

Concerning “each other’s” or “each others’”, what about when not just two people are being considered, but a group of people? For example,

All the meeting attendees shook each others’ hands as they entered the room.

Is that correct? Thanks.

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Comment on What Do You Think?! by Heidi Mann

Heidi Mann — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:06:43 +0000

What can I say? I have a very talented husband!!!

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Comment on What Do You Think?! by Doug Z

Doug Z — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:30:33 +0000

That was the first thing I thought when I logged in: hey, that’s a cool logo! Very snazy!

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