#hazza_hazza
1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)
Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.
Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.
The first "nous" is the subject of the verb, who is looking --> we are looking --> at what ? --> at ourselves in the mirror. The second "nous" corresponds to "ourselves" but in french we put it before the verb
Like "My name is ..." = "I call myself ..." --> je appelle moi ... (this is incorrect) --> je moi appelle (still incorrect) --> Je m'appelle
In French, object pronouns are always before a verb.
To look at (sb/sth) = regarder (quelqu'un/quelque chose)
So actually the "at" disappears in French.
French has a whole set of pronouns to express reflexivity, which is generally not marked or expressed by a word like "oneself" in English.
Me, te, se, nous, vous, se
Here the first nous is the subject, the second one is the object, and is reflexive (ourselves)
So a literal translation from french would be something like "we ourselves look in the mirror"
That's why you see « nous nous » and not « nous [verbe] nous »
Or « je te [verbe] » and not « je [verbe] toi »
Je/moi
Tu/toi
Il/lui
Nous/nous
Vous/vous
Ils/eux
Personnal pronoun and object pronoun
No it's good to have double checking
I would say that it's not about 'at' missing but that « regarder » takes a direct object but 'to look' doesn't.
Transivity and directness/indirectness differ from English to French, and I find that it's easier to not do any kind of link between the two to avoid these kinds of things
Let's say that's a more rigorous way to analyse it 
also if you think saying “nous nous” is a mouthful, it’s often avoided in spoken french anyway
