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I'm thinking the former is slightly more hard/archaic, and for written style
japanese, where was the latter is more conversational? But they both seem to
have the same meaning.
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2017-10-15T22:27:03.253
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question
words wago-and-kango
When would you use 相互 as opposed to お互い？
> I'm thinking the former is slightly more hard/archaic, and for written style
> japanese, where was the latter is more conversational? But they both seem to
> have the same meaning.

  * 相互 is slightly more hard: yes.
  * 相互 is slightly more archaic: no.
  * 相互 is for written style: yes
  * お互い is more conversational: yes. 
  * they both seem to have the same meaning: yes.

Jisho.org defines them as:

> [相互{そうご}](http://jisho.org/search/%E7%9B%B8%E4%BA%92)  
>  Noun, No-adjective  
>  1. mutual; reciprocal
>
> [お互{たが}い](http://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%8A%E4%BA%92%E3%81%84)  
>  Noun  
>  1. mutual; reciprocal; each other  
>  Polite form of 互{たが}い
>
> [互{たが}い](http://jisho.org/search/%E4%BA%92%E3%81%84)  
>  Noun  
>  1. mutual; reciprocal​

According to the above definitions, 相互 and お互い/互い seem to have the same
meaning and be interchangeable except for 相互 having No-adjective as a part of
speech and except for お互い being polite.

However, their actual use or nuance is slightly different, and they are not
always interchangeable.

As for **お互いに** / **互いに** and **相互に** which are the adverbial forms of お互い/互い
and 相互 respectively, they have the same meaning as " _mutually; with each
other; reciprocally; together_ ", and are almost interchangeable.

But, as for **お互｛たが｝い様{さま}** which is often used in a conversation or in
salutation meaning " _we are of equal status in this regard_ ",
**お相互｛そうご｝様{さま}** or **相互｛そうご｝様｛さま｝** doesn't make sense at all.

I think the biggest difference between 相互 and お互い/互い is that the former can
make compound words as follows, while the latter cannot.

  * 相互作用{そうごさよう} _interaction_
  * 相互理解{そうごりかい} _mutual understanding_
  * 相互交流{そうごこうりゅう} _mutual exchange_
  * 相互運用性{そうごうんようせい} _interoperability_
  * 相互扶助{そうごふじょ} _mutual aid_
  * 相互協力{そうごきょうりょく｝ _bilateral cooperation_

The difference in the nature of both largely comes mainly from the word where
they were born. お互い/互い are _[Yamato
kotoba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_kotoba)_ (大和言葉) or _Wago_ (和語),
which are native Japanese words, while 相互 is _Kango_ (漢語) or [Sino-Japanese
vocabulary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Japanese_vocabulary), which
refers to that portion of the Japanese vocabulary that originated in Chinese
or has been created from elements borrowed from Chinese.

The major difference between _Wago_ and _Kango_ reflected in お互い/互い and 相互, in
general, is that the former has a comprehensive meaning, is not official, is
suitable for colloquial use and has emotional nuance, whereas the latter has a
relatively strict meaning, is suitable for official usage and written
language, and has a descriptive nuance.

A related article: [What are the differences between わけ and
理由?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/53673/what-are-the-
differences-between-%E3%82%8F%E3%81%91-and-%E7%90%86%E7%94%B1/53690#53690)
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answer