Breakdown of Die Geschwister haben einander geholfen.
haben
to have
die Geschwister
the siblings
helfen
to help
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
einander
each other
Questions & Answers about Die Geschwister haben einander geholfen.
Could I use sich instead of einander in this sentence?
Yes, you could say Die Geschwister haben sich geholfen. However, sich can mean either "themselves" or "each other." While context usually makes it clear, using einander guarantees there is no confusion: it strictly means "each other."
The verb helfen takes a dative object. Why doesn't einander have a dative ending?
The word einander is invariable, meaning its spelling never changes to reflect case. Whether the verb requires an accusative, dative, or genitive object, the pronoun always stays exactly as einander.
Why is einander placed between haben and geholfen?
This sentence uses the present perfect tense (Perfekt). In German, the conjugated helping verb (haben) takes the second position, and the past participle (geholfen) is pushed to the very end of the sentence. Objects like einander go inside this "bracket".
Does Geschwister mean brothers and sisters, or can it refer to just brothers?
Die Geschwister simply means "the siblings." It can refer to a mix of brothers and sisters, just brothers, or just sisters. It does not specify gender.
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