Breakdown of Nous nous sommes laissé persuader par la nouvelle publicité.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
nouveau
new
par
by, through / out of (motive)
se laisser
to let oneself
la publicité
the advertisement
persuader
to persuade
Questions & Answers about Nous nous sommes laissé persuader par la nouvelle publicité.
How does se laisser + infinitive work here to mean 'be persuaded'?
Using a reflexive pronoun with laisser and an infinitive translates roughly to 'to let oneself be [verb]ed'. Instead of a standard passive like nous avons été persuadés (we were persuaded), nous nous sommes laissé persuader adds the nuance that we allowed it to happen or gave in to it.
Why is there no 's' on laissé even though the subject is nous?
This is a special rule! When the past participle laissé is followed by an infinitive, it is always invariable (it never adds an -e or -s). So even though the subject is plural, it remains laissé, just like the verb faire in the same structure (nous nous sommes fait...).
Why do we use par after persuader here?
Because this structure acts like a passive voice. The advertisement is the agent doing the persuading. Just like in English ('persuaded by'), we use par to introduce who or what performed the action in a passive sentence.
What is the role of the double nous nous at the beginning of the sentence?
The first nous is the subject ('we'), and the second nous is the reflexive pronoun ('ourselves'). Because se laisser is a pronominal verb, it requires a reflexive pronoun and uses the auxiliary verb être in the passé composé, giving us nous nous sommes.
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