English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
THEMSELVES or ONE ANOTHER?
The players were staring at ~themselves~ (nonstandard).
The players were staring at *one another* (standard).
“Each other” and “one another” are used to express actions that are exchanged by two or more persons. It is used for a two-way thing. Another example is:
These two brothers do not like themselves. ✖️
These two brothers do not like each other (standard).
Note that in modern English, “each other” and “one another” are called reciprocal pronouns and are used interchangeably although “each other” used to be for two and “one another” for three or more.
They sponsored ~one another~ in school (nonstandard).
They sponsored *themselves* in school (standard).
When reflexive pronouns (myself, himself, herself, itself, yourself/ves, themselves) are used, it means the doer (they) is the same as the receiver (themselves). In that case, the sponsors are the sponsored.
GAB
