आपस में (aapas men)
adverb
A fixed reciprocal phrase meaning 'among themselves/each other' -- it always frames an action as happening mutually between the people involved, and is almost always followed by a verb describing shared or reciprocal activity.
Sense
1
:
mutually, among themselves, with each other
adverb Functions as an adverbial modifying the verb, marking the action as reciprocal among the subjects; commonly paired with verbs like बात करना (baat karnaa), लड़ना (ladnaa), मिलना (milnaa), and बाँटना (baantnaa).
Synonyms: एक दूसरे से (ek doosre se, more explicit reciprocal phrase)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: You will hear this constantly in family and community contexts -- भाई-बहन आपस में झगड़ते हैं (bhaaii-bahan aapas men jhagadte hain, 'siblings fight among themselves') is the kind of line every Indian household has said at some point. It carries a warm, communal flavor, evoking a closed group (family, friends, neighbors) doing something together or to one another, rather than a formal or distant 'each other.'
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often try to attach a case-marking postposition directly after आपस (aapas) alone, but the word almost never appears without में (men) -- the two are learned together as one chunk. 2) Some learners substitute a personal pronoun like हम (ham) or वे (ve) where आपस में (aapas men) is needed to express the 'each other' relationship; the plain pronoun does not carry the reciprocal sense on its own.
Sample Sentences:
भाई-बहन आपस में झगड़ते हैं।
Siblings fight among themselves.
(bhaaii-bahan aapas men jhagadte hain।)
बच्चे आपस में खेल रहे हैं।
The children are playing with each other.
(bachche aapas men khel rahe hain।)
हम लोग आपस में सब बात तय कर चुके थे।
We had already settled everything among ourselves.
(ham log aapas men sab baat tay kar chuke the।)
प्लीज़ आपस में मिलकर काम करो, अकेले मत करो।
Please work together with each other, don't do it alone.
(pliiz aapas men milkar kaam karo, akele mat karo।)
पड़ोसी आपस में मिलकर त्योहार मनाते हैं।
The neighbors celebrate festivals together with one another.
(padosii aapas men milkar tyohaar manaate hain।)
अगर वे आपस में बात करते तो यह गलतफहमी नहीं होती।
If they had talked to each other, this misunderstanding wouldn't have happened.
(agar ve aapas men baat karte to yah galatphahmii nahiin hotii।)
मैं चाहता हूँ कि तुम दोनों आपस में सुलह कर लो।
I want the two of you to make peace with each other.
(main chaahtaa hoon ki tum donon aapas men sulah kar lo।)
गाँव में सब लोग आपस में एक-दूसरे को जानते हैं।
In the village, everyone knows each other.
(gaanv men sab log aapas men ek-doosre ko jaante hain।)
कंपनी के कर्मचारियों को आपस में सहयोग करने के लिए प्रोत्साहित किया जाता है।
The company's employees are encouraged to cooperate with one another.
(kampnii ke karmchaariyon ko aapas men sahyog karne ke lie protsaahit kiyaa jaataa hai।)
दोनों परिवारों में आपस में अच्छे संबंध रहे हैं।
The two families have had good relations with each other.
(donon parivaaron men aapas men achchhe sambandh rahe hain।)
दोस्तों के बीच आपस में इतने राज़ भी नहीं होने चाहिए।
There shouldn't be so many secrets among friends either.
(doston ke biich aapas men itne raaz bhii nahiin hone chaahie।)