elkaar: the Dutch word for 'each other'

Elkaar is the Dutch for each other — a mutual action between two or more people. Ze kennen elkaar. (They know each other.) It is one fixed word that never changes for person or number, so it is one of the easier pronouns to use.

Put elkaar where English puts 'each other' — usually right after the verb, as its object, or after a preposition. It has one possessive form, elkaars (each other's), and two stylistic variants you will hear or read.

• elkaar — the standard, everyday word: We schrijven elkaar elke week. (We write to each other every week.)
• elkaars — the possessive, 'each other's': De kinderen dragen elkaars jassen. (The children are wearing each other's coats.)
• elkander — a formal, old-fashioned variant of elkaar, mostly in ceremonies and written style.
• mekaar — a casual, spoken variant: Ze hebben mekaar al jaren niet gezien. (They haven't seen each other in years.)

Because elkaar is an object pronoun, it takes the same middle-of-the-sentence spot as other objects — see where object pronouns sit.

A preposition simply goes in front of elkaar, and several of these combinations have become set phrases.

• met elkaar (with each other): Ze praten veel met elkaar. (They talk with each other a lot.)
• na elkaar (one after another): De gasten kwamen kort na elkaar aan. (The guests arrived shortly one after another.)
• achter elkaar (in a row, back-to-back): Ze werkte drie dagen achter elkaar. (She worked three days in a row.)
• door elkaar (mixed up, in a muddle): Alle papieren liggen door elkaar. (All the papers are jumbled together.)
• bij elkaar (together): We horen bij elkaar. (We belong together.)

Do not mix up elkaar (each other) with a reflexive pronoun like zich (himself/herself/themselves). Zich points the action back at the same person; elkaar sends it between different people.

• Reflexive — each person acts on themselves: Ze wassen zich. (They wash themselves — everyone washes their own body.)
• Reciprocal — they act on one another: Ze wassen elkaar. (They wash each other.)
• The difference can flip the meaning entirely: Ze stelden zich voor (They introduced themselves, to a group) versus Ze stelden elkaar voor (They introduced each other).

English writes 'each other' as two words and adds an apostrophe for 'each other's'. Dutch does neither. Write elkaar as one word, and the possessive as elkaars — no apostrophe, just an -s: Ze vertrouwen elkaar (They trust each other), Ze waarderen elkaars werk (They value each other's work).