Breakdown of Sie können viel voneinander lernen.
lernen
to learn
sie
they
viel
much / a lot
können
can / to be able to
voneinander
from each other
Questions & Answers about Sie können viel voneinander lernen.
Why is voneinander written as one word instead of two?
When a preposition like von (from) is used with the reciprocal pronoun einander (each other), they always merge into a single word. So von + einander becomes voneinander.
Could I say von sich instead of voneinander here?
That would change the meaning entirely! If you said von sich, it would mean they learn 'from themselves' because sich is reflexive. To make it clear that person A learns from person B, and person B learns from person A, you must use the reciprocal compound voneinander.
Why does lernen go at the very end of the sentence?
This is a quick refresher on modal verbs: because the sentence uses the modal verb können (can) in the second position, it pushes the main action verb (lernen) to the very end of the sentence in its infinitive (dictionary) form.
How can we tell Sie means 'They' and not 'She' here?
The verb conjugation gives it away. The verb is können, which is the plural form. If Sie meant 'She', the verb would be in the singular form kann. Plus, logically, a single person cannot learn from 'each other'!
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