Breakdown of Ellos aprenden el uno del otro para mejorar el revés y la puntuación.
de
from / of
y
and
ellos
they
para
for
Questions & Answers about Ellos aprenden el uno del otro para mejorar el revés y la puntuación.
Why is it el uno del otro and not el uno al otro?
The phrase adapts to the preposition the verb needs. Because you learn 'from' someone in Spanish (aprender de alguien), the preposition de is placed between el uno and otro. The de then naturally merges with el to form the contraction del.
Where is the reciprocal pronoun se? Shouldn't it be se aprenden el uno del otro?
Usually, reciprocal phrases do pair with a pronoun like se or nos (for example, se ayudan el uno al otro). However, you don't 'learn each other' here, you learn from each other. Because they aren't the direct or indirect objects receiving the action of the verb, we just use the prepositional phrase el uno del otro without a reciprocal pronoun.
If the sentence were about a group of women, would the reciprocal phrase change?
Could we just say Ellos aprenden de sí mismos?