In Dutch, the word elkaar means "each other" or "one another." You use it to describe mutual actions or feelings, where two or more people do the same thing to or for one another.
Direct Actions
When a mutual action directly affects the other person, elkaar simply acts as the object of the sentence.
| We respect each other. | We respecteren elkaar. |
| We will always protect each other. | We zullen elkaar altijd beschermen. |
With Prepositions
You will often see elkaar paired with prepositions like met (with) or tegen (against) to show how people interact, argue, or compete.
| We talk to each other. | We praten met elkaar. |
| The colleagues are arguing with each other. | De collega's hebben ruzie met elkaar. |
| They are playing a match against each other today. | Ze spelen vandaag een wedstrijd tegen elkaar. |
Exchanging and Sharing
Elkaar is also used when giving things to one another or sharing something among a group.
| We give each other good advice. | We geven elkaar goed advies. |
| We share the pizza with each other. | We delen de pizza met elkaar. |
With Separable Verbs
When using elkaar with a separable verb like tegenkomen (to run into / to bump into), the verb's prefix separates and moves to the end of the clause, just as it usually does. Elkaar sits earlier in the sentence alongside the other objects.
| We run into each other everywhere today. | We komen elkaar vandaag overal tegen. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
