Word
Die Spieler sind immer fair zueinander.
Meaning
The players are always fair to each other.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Die Spieler sind immer fair zueinander.
sein
to be
immer
always
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
fair
fair
Questions & Answers about Die Spieler sind immer fair zueinander.
How is zueinander formed in this sentence?
It is a combination of the preposition zu (to) and the reciprocal pronoun einander (each other). In German, when a preposition is used with "each other", the two words fuse into a single reciprocal adverb, like zueinander, miteinander, or voneinander.
Could I use the reflexive pronoun sich instead of einander here?
It is much better to use zueinander. While sich can sometimes mean "each other", it primarily means "themselves". If you said Die Spieler sind immer fair zu sich, it would sound like the players are always fair to themselves. Using zueinander makes it perfectly clear that they are acting fairly toward each other.
Why do we use the preposition zu to make zueinander?
The choice of preposition depends on the adjective or verb being used. In German, the adjective fair pairs specifically with the preposition zu when you are talking about being fair to someone (fair zu jemandem sein). Because the sentence requires zu, the fused word must be zueinander.
Since zu requires the dative case, why doesn't einander get a dative ending?