【问】 each other与one another到底有无区别?

【答】 有些英语语法学家甚至在最近出版的著作中还在坚持each other只能用于两个人之间。例如S.E.Paces等人在1976年出版的Common Errors in English一书中说：“Use Eachother for two persons only.Use One another for more than two persons.Wrong：All men arebrothers and should love each other.”有不少考题就是拿这个理论来考学生的：

These three boys help____to finish the project. (P) one another (Q)each other(Obje.Eng. Test Pap. to Cert. level，P. 22)

这种考法完全脱离了现代英语的实际使用情况。请看下面的实例：

1. On the morning of the 18th of June the two enemies faced one another on the field ofWaterloo. (Green，Short Hist.，Ch. X)

2. The three gentlemen looked at each other... (Poutzma，P. 1168)

3.“Do you like music?”“Yes，and I think music is one way people can get to know____.”答案为C(each other better)(TOEFL，1974年6月)

许多现代英语学者对each other只能用于两个人的说法提出了异议。A.Zeiger说：

“Each other and one another are used interchangeably by almost everyone.”(Encyclopedia ofEnglish，P. 255)F.Crew教授说，对于each other只能用于两个人的说法“可以置之不理”。

下面的英语试题就避免了在each other与one another之间进行选择：

They’ll hurt____if we don’t stop them fighting.

A. one to another B. one the other

C. each the other D. each other(Nelson，250D)