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¿Podrían prestarse las raquetas el uno al otro para practicar el revés?

¿Podrían prestarse las raquetas el uno al otro para practicar el revés?
Could you lend each other the rackets to practice the backhand?
From Lesson 380:Reciprocal actions (el uno al otro)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about ¿Podrían prestarse las raquetas el uno al otro para practicar el revés?

Why do we need el uno al otro if prestarse already has the pronoun se?
The pronoun se on prestarse can be ambiguous. Depending on context, it could mean yourselves, themselves, to each other, or even be a passive construction. Adding el uno al otro emphasizes the reciprocal meaning, making it crystal clear that the action goes back and forth: you are lending the rackets to each other.
Why is it al otro here instead of just el otro?
The phrase literally translates as the one to the other. Because the verb prestar (to lend) takes an indirect object to show who receives the item, it requires the preposition a (to). Combining a with the masculine article el creates the contraction al.
If I am asking this question to two women, does the phrase el uno al otro change?
Yes! The phrase needs to match the gender of the people involved. If you are speaking exclusively to two women, you would change it to la una a la otra. If you are talking to a mixed-gender pair or a group of unknown gender, you stick with the masculine default el uno al otro.
Could I put the pronoun se before the verb podrían instead of attaching it to prestar?
Absolutely. You can say ¿Se podrían prestar las raquetas...? and it is completely correct. When you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive, you can always choose to place the pronoun right before the conjugated verb or attach it directly to the end of the infinitive.
Does el revés literally mean the reverse?
Yes, in general Spanish, al revés means backwards, upside down, or inside out. However, in the context of racquet sports like tennis, el revés is the specific, standard noun used to describe a backhand stroke.

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