Breakdown of Nos hacemos una seña el uno al otro para coordinar la volea.
una
a, an (feminine)
a
to
hacer
to do / to make
para
for
uno
one
la
the (feminine)
otro
other
nos
each other (reciprocal)
coordinar
to coordinate
la seña
the signal (gesture)
la volea
the volley
Questions & Answers about Nos hacemos una seña el uno al otro para coordinar la volea.
Why include el uno al otro if nos hacemos already means "we make to each other"?
While nos usually means "each other," it can also just mean "to us" or "to ourselves." Adding el uno al otro removes any ambiguity and adds emphasis to the sentence. It explicitly spells out the reciprocal action: person A makes a signal to person B, and person B makes a signal to person A.
Why is it al otro instead of just el otro?
The preposition used inside the el uno... otro phrase must match the grammatical role of the action. Because we are making a signal to each other, we need the preposition a (to). When a is followed by the masculine article el, they contract into al.
How would el uno al otro change if "we" referred to two women or a whole team?
The phrase must agree in gender and number with the people involved. If "we" refers to two women, it becomes la una a la otra. If it refers to a group larger than two people, it becomes plural: los unos a los otros (or las unas a las otras). The phrase el uno al otro used here implies exactly two people, at least one of whom is male.
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