Друг друга: What Happened to the Friend?
Learn and practice how to say “each other” in Russian, how the phrase changes by case, and how to use it naturally in real sentences.
Alright, I hope you got my joke. The phrase друг друга may look connected to друг, meaning “friend”, but it is a fixed expression, or a reciprocal pronoun, meaning "each other":
- Мы любим друг друга. - We love each other.
- Они помогают друг другу. - They help each other.
Like many Russian words, this little phrase changes according to case. But the good news is: only the second part changes. It has no nominative form because друг друга is not used as the subject of a sentence. Let’s look at the forms and examples in a table:
| Case | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Genitive | друг друга | Они боятся друг друга. - They are afraid of each other. |
| Dative | друг другу | Мы помогаем друг другу. - We help each other. |
| Accusative | друг друга | Они любят друг друга. - They love each other. |
| Instrumental | друг другом | Они интересуются друг другом. - They are interested in each other. |
| Prepositional | друг о друге | Они думают друг о друге. - They think about each other. |
As you can see, the second word, друг, has very predictable and regular declension forms. In the prepositional case, you can also see how prepositions work inside this phrase. Here is a table with other prepositions you may use:
| Russian | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| друг у друга | at each other’s place / from each other | Мы были друг у друга в гостях. - We visited each other. |
| друг к другу | to / towards each other | Они подошли друг к другу. - They came up to each other. |
| друг с другом | with each other | Мы разговаривали друг с другом. - We talked with each other. |
| друг для друга | for each other | Они много значат друг для друга. - They mean a lot to each other. |
| друг на друга | at each other | Они смотрели друг на друга. - They looked at each other. |
| друг за другом | one after another / behind each other | Студенты вошли друг за другом. - The students entered one after another. |
| друг против друга | against each other | Команды играли друг против друга. - The teams played against each other. |
How do you know which form to choose? Look at the verb or the preposition. The phrase друг друга follows the same logic as other Russian words: the verb or preposition asks for a certain case. If Russian cases still feel a little mysterious, I explain the whole system step by step in my guide: Russian Cases: The Logic Behind the System.
So yes, друг друга looks a little funny at first. But the logic is friendly: the first друг stays the same, and the second part simply follows the case. Now go to the Exercise tab at the top of the page and practise it a little — your future Russian-speaking self will thank you :)
Choose the correct form: друг друга, друг другу, or друг другом.
Мы давно не виделись и сначала (at first) не узнали .
На уроке студенты помогали с новыми словами.
После первой встречи они заинтересовались .
Друзья каждый день пишут короткие сообщения.
Дети боялись в первый день, а потом стали друзьями.
Мы всегда ждём после урока.
Мы часто звоним вечером.
Они слушали очень внимательно.
Они хорошо понимают без слов.
Эти люди довольны : работать вместе им легко.
Choose the correct form of друг друга with a preposition.
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