Reciprocal Pronouns (each other)

English has a tidy little phrase for reciprocity: each other (or one another). "They love each other," "they help each other," "they talk about each other" — one fixed expression, dropped into whatever slot the sentence needs. Croatian has no single equivalent. Instead it solves reciprocity two ways: most often with the small reflexive particle se, which on the right verb quietly means "each other"; and, when you need to be unambiguous or when a preposition is involved, with the explicit phrase jedan drugoga ("one another", literally "one the other"). The catch English speakers must absorb: se is ambiguous between "themselves" and "each other", so when reciprocity has to be clear, you switch to jedan drugoga — and there the second word carries all the case and preposition marking.

Reciprocity through se

Many Croatian verbs express a mutual action simply by adding the reflexive clitic se to a plural subject. Vole se — literally "they love selves" — is the natural way to say "they love each other". The verb does the heavy lifting; se signals that the action loops back among the participants. This is the everyday, unmarked way to express reciprocity, and for a large family of verbs it is the only way anyone actually says it.

Some verbs are reciprocal by their very meaning and almost demand se: sresti se (to meet), posvađati se (to quarrel), pomiriti se (to make up), rastati se (to part), dopisivati se (to correspond), grliti se (to embrace), ljubiti se (to kiss). With these, the se version is the normal one and an English learner can lean on it confidently.

The ambiguity that forces a choice

Here is the problem se cannot solve on its own. Because the same se also marks the true reflexive ("themselves"), a plural sentence with se can mean either thing. Gledaju se can mean "they look at themselves" (each one at a mirror) or "they look at each other". Brane se can mean "they defend themselves" or "they defend each other". Context usually decides, but when it doesn't — or when you must be precise — Croatian abandons se and spells the reciprocity out with jedan drugoga. The difference between se as "self" and se as "each other" is the heart of why a second construction exists at all; the reflexive side is treated on the reflexive sebe/se.

This ambiguity is not a flaw a learner can simply ignore — it bites in real sentences. If a coach says Igrači se kritiziraju, do the players criticise themselves (healthy self-reflection) or each other (a locker-room problem)? The two readings are opposite in meaning, and the se sentence genuinely supports both. English never lands in this trap, because themselves and each other are different words. So when the reading actually matters, a Croatian speaker reaches for the explicit forms: sami sebe nails down "themselves", jedan drugoga nails down "each other".

The explicit phrase: jedan drugoga

When you want "each other" beyond doubt, Croatian uses a two-part phrase: a first element jedan ("one") and a second element drugi ("the other"), with the second element put into whatever case the verb or preposition demands. Think of it as "one [does it to] the other". The first part stays as the subject-like jedan; the second part inflects:

The principle is clean once you see it: the first word is fixed, the second word takes the case. A verb that governs the accusative gives jedan drugoga; one that governs the dative gives jedan drugome; a preposition wraps around the second word — jedan o drugome, jedan s drugim, jedan za drugoga.

Gender agreement on jedan ... drugi

Both halves agree with the gender of the people involved. With men or a mixed group you use the masculine jedan ... drugoga; with two or more women, the feminine jedna ... drugu; with neuter or mixed-as-things, jedno ... drugo. The first element matches the subject's gender, the second element matches that gender plus the required case.

Note that in mixed-gender groups, or when the people are referred to by a masculine or general noun (ljudi, prijatelji, susjedi), the masculine jedan ... drugoga is the default — exactly as masculine doubles as the unmarked plural elsewhere in the grammar. For two non-human things, or when you want a neutral "one another" with no gender in view, the neuter jedno ... drugo is used, as in Dva sustava ovise jedno o drugome ("two systems depend on one another").

One more refinement worth knowing: when more than two parties are involved, careful written Croatian sometimes shifts the first element to the plural — jedni drugima ("to one another", among several groups) — but in ordinary speech the singular jedan drugome covers any number of participants and is what you should produce. Treat jedni drugima as a recognition item for formal prose, not a form you need to manufacture.

Reciprocal versus reflexive: keep them apart

The cleanest way to feel the contrast is to set the two meanings side by side. A genuinely reflexive action loops back onto each individual; a reciprocal action crosses between them. When se alone would be ambiguous, the reflexive can be made explicit with sebe / sam sebe ("oneself"), and the reciprocal with jedan drugoga ("each other").

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Croatian has no single word for "each other"; reciprocity is shown with se or with the explicit jedan drugoga.
• The bare verb + se is the default, unmarked reciprocal: vole se, poznaju se, sreli su se.
• se is ambiguous between reflexive ("themselves") and reciprocal ("each other") — context usually decides.
• When clarity is needed, or with a preposition, use jedan drugoga: jedan stays fixed; the second word takes the verb's or preposition's case (jedan drugome, jedan o drugome, jedan s drugim).
• Both halves agree in gender with the people: jedan drugoga (men/mixed), jedna drugu (women).