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Thread: each other

  1. #1
    dido4 is offline Member
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    Default each other

    I got the question from a test.

    1.The telephone can't work normaly.

    I couldn't hear ______ voice.

    (A)each other's (B) the other's (C) one another's (D) each's

    The answer is (A)

    Q1: Why we can't choose (B)(C)(D) as the correct answers?

    Q2:How do we explain these 4 options or why we choose (A)?

    Q3.What different meaning do we have if we choose all the options as an answer?

    Thank you

  2. #2
    Coffa is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: each other

    Quote Originally Posted by dido4
    I got the question from a test.
    1.The telephone can't work normaly.
    I couldn't hear ______ voice.
    (A)each other's (B) the other's (C) one another's (D) each's
    The answer is (A)
    Q1: Why we can't choose (B)(C)(D) as the correct answers?
    Q2:How do we explain these 4 options or why we choose (A)?
    Q3.What different meaning do we have if we choose all the options as an answer?
    Thank you
    Hi dido4,

    I can tell you categorically that the answer is not A. The question is wrong. The only grammatical answer is B.

  3. #3
    Casiopea's Avatar
    Casiopea is offline VIP Member
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    Default Re: each other

    I agree with Coffa's post. The correct choice is (B):

    (B) I couldn't hear the other's voice.

    Here "the other's voice" is short for the other person's voice.

    Choice (A), each other's, doesn't fit. It's a reciprocal pronoun; it refers to more than one person, e.g., they, we:

    (A) We/They couldn't hear each other.

    "each other's" doesn't work with the singular pronoun "I".


    The same holds true for choice (C). "one another" requires a plural pronoun:

    (C) They/We couldn't hear one another.


    Choice (D) doesn't fit. "each" refers to more than one, so a plural pronoun, not a singular one is required. Moreover, "each's" isn't Standard English. "each" can be a determiner and a pronoun, and those forms cannot take apostrophe, -'s.

    (D) *We/They couldn't hear each's voice. <ungrammatical>

    Hope that helps.

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