When two or more people do something to one another, Afrikaans uses a single, unchanging word: mekaar ("each other, one another"). It is wonderfully simple — one form, no agreement, no gender — but English speakers stumble in two predictable places: they try to split it into two words, and they miss the fixed preposition phrases like met mekaar and agter mekaar that have idiomatic meanings of their own. This page covers all of it. For the self-pronouns that mark reflexive action ("themselves"), see the reflexive; the two are easy to confuse and the contrast is the heart of this topic.
mekaar is one invariant word
English "each other" is two words, and that is exactly the trap. mekaar is one word and it never changes — not for number, not for gender, not for case. Whether the subject is two people or twenty, men or women, mekaar stays mekaar. It sits where an object sits, right after the verb (or its complements).
Hulle help mekaar met die huiswerk.
They help each other with the homework.
Ons sien mekaar elke Vrydag by die mark.
We see each other every Friday at the market.
Die twee susters bel mekaar elke dag.
The two sisters call each other every day.
mekaar vs the reflexive: each other ≠ themselves
This is the contrast that matters most, and Afrikaans marks it more clearly than casual English does. Compare:
| Afrikaans | Meaning | Who acts on whom |
|---|---|---|
| Hulle was hulle. | They wash themselves. | each person washes their own self |
| Hulle was mekaar. | They wash each other. | each washes the other |
With the reflexive (here hulle, "themselves"), each person acts on their own self. With mekaar, the action crosses between them — A acts on B and B on A. English "they hurt themselves" vs "they hurt each other" makes the same distinction, but English speakers often blur it; Afrikaans keeps it crisp by choosing a different word.
Die kinders het mekaar seergemaak.
The children hurt each other.
Die kinders het hulleself seergemaak.
The children hurt themselves.
mekaar with prepositions
When the reciprocal is the object of a preposition, the preposition simply comes in front: met mekaar (with each other), vir mekaar (for each other), na mekaar (after/toward each other), van mekaar (of/from each other), langs mekaar (next to each other). The word order is preposition + mekaar, exactly as you would expect for any object.
Hulle hou baie van mekaar.
They like each other a lot.
Ons het lank met mekaar gepraat.
We talked with each other for a long time.
Die twee honde was bang vir mekaar.
The two dogs were afraid of each other.
Hulle sit langs mekaar op die bank.
They're sitting next to each other on the couch.
The idiomatic phrases: agter mekaar, na mekaar
Here is the corner most references skip. Some preposition-plus-mekaar phrases have drifted away from literal reciprocity into sequential meanings — they describe things in a series or in a row, not people acting on one another.
| Phrase | Literal | Idiomatic meaning |
|---|---|---|
| agter mekaar | behind each other | in a row; back-to-back; one after another |
| na mekaar | toward/after each other | one after the other; consecutively |
| langs mekaar | next to each other | side by side |
| op mekaar | on each other | stacked; piled up |
Hy het drie wedstryde agter mekaar gewen.
He won three matches in a row.
Die gaste het een na die ander aangekom.
The guests arrived one after another.
Sit die stoele langs mekaar teen die muur.
Put the chairs side by side against the wall.
Notice that in drie wedstryde agter mekaar there is no reciprocity at all — the matches are not "behind" one another in any real sense; the phrase just means "consecutively". These are fixed expressions worth learning whole. For more of this kind, see fixed prepositional phrases.
mekaar se — reciprocal possession
To say "each other's", Afrikaans uses the same se possessive marker it uses everywhere: mekaar se + noun. (This se is the all-purpose possessive linker, as in Jan se kar, "Jan's car".) So "each other's hands" is mekaar se hande, "each other's children" is mekaar se kinders.
Hulle hou mekaar se hande vas.
They're holding each other's hands.
Die bure pas mekaar se kinders op.
The neighbours look after each other's children.
Ons leen gereeld mekaar se gereedskap.
We often borrow each other's tools.
Common mistakes
❌ Hulle help elke ander.
Incorrect — 'each other' is the single word mekaar, not a two-word calque: Hulle help mekaar.
✅ Hulle help mekaar.
They help each other.
❌ Hulle praat met mekaar se probleme.
Wrong structure — for 'with each other' use met mekaar; mekaar se marks possession only: Hulle praat met mekaar oor die probleme.
✅ Hulle praat met mekaar oor die probleme.
They talk with each other about the problems.
❌ Hulle was hulle. (bedoel: 'each other')
Wrong meaning — this is the reflexive 'they wash themselves'. For 'each other' use mekaar: Hulle was mekaar.
✅ Hulle was mekaar.
They wash each other.
❌ Hy het drie keer agtermekaar gewen.
Spelling — the sequential phrase is written as two words: agter mekaar.
✅ Hy het drie keer agter mekaar gewen.
He won three times in a row.
❌ Hulle hou mekaars hande vas.
Incorrect — possession uses mekaar se, not a fused 's: mekaar se hande.
✅ Hulle hou mekaar se hande vas.
They hold each other's hands.
Key takeaways
- mekaar ("each other") is one invariant word — never split it, never inflect it.
- It contrasts with the reflexive: Hulle was mekaar (each other) vs Hulle was hulleself (themselves).
- With prepositions it follows them normally: met mekaar, vir mekaar, langs mekaar, van mekaar.
- Several phrases have idiomatic sequential meanings: agter mekaar = "in a row", na mekaar = "one after another".
- Possession is mekaar se
- noun (mekaar se hande) — the ordinary se linker, written as two words.
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Reflexive Pronouns and -selfB1 — Afrikaans has no dedicated reflexive like Dutch zich — the ordinary object pronoun does the job (ek was my, hy skeer hom), -self adds emphasis or disambiguates, and mekaar means 'each other'.
- Prepositions with PronounsA2 — Prepositions take object pronouns (vir my, met hom, by ons) — but with the inanimate dit you must switch to a daar-compound (daarmee, not 'met dit'). The person/thing split, plus vir as the all-purpose dative marker.
- Afrikaans Pronouns: OverviewA1 — Afrikaans pronouns keep only a minimal subject/object split — just four persons change form — with no gender agreement on determiners and far less to learn than German.
- Possessive Pronouns: myne, joune, syne, hareA2 — The standalone possessives — myne, joune, syne, hare, ons s'n, julle s'n, hulle s'n — that replace a whole noun phrase, as in 'Die boek is myne' (the book is mine).
- Fixed Prepositional PhrasesB1 — Set phrases like op pad, te koop, in die geheim and aan die brand, where the preposition is idiomatic, the article is often dropped, and the whole phrase must be learned as a unit.