Log inSign up

Nous ne comprenons rien sans le chef de chœur : nous nous regardons les uns les autres !

Nous ne comprenons rien sans le chef de chœur : nous nous regardons les uns les autres !
We understand nothing without the choirmaster: we look at one another!
From Lesson 249:Explicit reciprocity (l'un l'autre)·French

Questions & Answers about Nous ne comprenons rien sans le chef de chœur : nous nous regardons les uns les autres !

Why use les uns les autres instead of l'un l'autre here?
L'un l'autre means 'each other' when exactly two people are involved. Because this sentence is about a choir (un chœur), there are definitely more than two people. Therefore, we use the plural form les uns les autres (one another).
Why do we still need the second nous in nous nous regardons if we already have les uns les autres?
In French, you must always keep the reciprocal pronoun (the second nous) before the verb. The phrase les uns les autres is simply added at the end of the sentence to emphasize that the action is reciprocal (looking at one another) rather than reflexive (looking at themselves), but it never replaces the pronoun before the verb.
Why isn't there a pas in Nous ne comprenons rien?
The negative word rien (nothing) replaces pas. The structure ne ... rien wraps around the verb just like ne ... pas. If you added pas, it would create an incorrect double negative.
The word chœur looks tricky to pronounce. How do you say it?
Even though it shares roots with the English word 'choir', the French word chœur is pronounced exactly like cœur (heart). The ch makes a hard 'k' sound here.

Learn Nous ne comprenons rien sans le chef de chœur : nous nous regardons les uns les autres and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →