Breakdown of El beneficio es claro cuando los animales se ayudan el uno al otro.
ser
to be
los
the (masculine plural)
el animal
the animal
al
to the
ayudar
to help
claro
clear (obvious, transparent)
uno
one
otro
other
cuando
when (statement)
se
each other (reciprocal)
el beneficio
the benefit (profit, advantage)
Questions & Answers about El beneficio es claro cuando los animales se ayudan el uno al otro.
Why do we need el uno al otro if se ayudan already translates to 'they help each other'?
The pronoun se in se ayudan can mean either 'themselves' or 'each other.' By adding el uno al otro, we remove any confusion and make it completely clear that the animals are helping each other, rather than each animal just helping itself.
What is the al doing in the phrase el uno al otro?
It comes from the 'personal a.' In Spanish, when a verb targets a specific living thing (like an animal), we must put the preposition a right before it. The phrase literally means 'the one to the other.' When a and el (the) sit next to each other, they merge into the contraction al.
Since los animales is plural, shouldn't it be los unos a los otros?
You can absolutely use the plural los unos a los otros, and that is often preferred if there are three or more animals involved. However, the singular el uno al otro is the natural choice if we are only talking about two animals, and many native speakers also use it as a set phrase for 'each other' regardless of the exact number.
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