Fa molt temps que la meva mare es mira al mirall abans de pentinar-se.

This is a very common Catalan structure for talking about duration.

The pattern is:

fa + amount of time + que + verb

So fa molt temps que... means that something began in the past and is still true now.

In natural English, this often corresponds to:

• for a long time now
• has/have been ... for a long time

Also, fa is from fer, but here it is used impersonally, so it stays in the 3rd person singular.

In this structure, que links the time expression to the clause that follows.

So:

• Fa molt temps que la meva mare...

is the normal pattern.

You should learn fa ... que as a set expression when talking about how long something has been happening.

Because Catalan often uses the present tense where English would use the present perfect or present perfect continuous.

So Catalan:

• Fa molt temps que la meva mare es mira...

can correspond to English:

• My mother has been looking at herself... for a long time
• or, in a habitual sense, For a long time now, my mother looks at herself...

This is normal Catalan usage: present tense can describe something that began earlier and still continues.

Because mirar-se here is reflexive: the mother is looking at herself.

• mira = looks at
• es mira = looks at herself

In this sentence, the subject and the object are the same person, so Catalan uses the reflexive pronoun es.

Without es, the meaning would change. La meva mare mira al mirall would sound more like my mother looks at the mirror rather than looks at herself in the mirror.

Yes, English normally says in the mirror, but Catalan usually says mirar-se al mirall.

Here:

• al = a + el
• mirall = mirror

So this is just the normal Catalan expression. You should not translate the English preposition literally.

Because Catalan normally uses the definite article with possessives:

• la meva mare
• el meu pare
• la nostra casa

This is different from English, which usually says just my mother, my father, and so on.

So la meva mare is the expected standard form.

It uses the pattern:

abans de + infinitive

which means before doing something.

So:

• abans de pentinar-se = before combing her hair / before combing herself

This is a very common Catalan structure:

• abans de sortir = before leaving
• abans de menjar = before eating

The preposition de is required before the infinitive here.

Because in Catalan, when a verb is in the infinitive, pronouns are usually attached to the end.

So:

• pentinar-se
• rentar-se
• veure’l

That is why you get pentinar-se, not se pentinar.

In this sentence, -se refers back to la meva mare.

Yes, literally it is reflexive, but in normal Catalan pentinar-se usually means to comb one’s hair.

Catalan often leaves the body part unstated when it is obvious.

If you want to be more explicit, you can say:

• pentinar-se els cabells = to comb one’s hair

So in your sentence, pentinar-se naturally means to comb her hair.

This is an important vocabulary distinction:

• mirar = to look at
• veure = to see

So:

• es mira al mirall = she looks at herself in the mirror
• es veu al mirall = she sees herself in the mirror

Mirar suggests a deliberate action.
Veure is more about perception.

In this sentence, es mira is used because the mother is actively looking at herself.

Yes, that is also possible.

For example:

• Des de fa molt temps, la meva mare es mira al mirall abans de pentinar-se.

This also means for a long time now.

Both patterns are common:

• Fa molt temps que...
• Des de fa molt temps...

The version in your sentence is especially common when directly introducing the clause.

Yes. In this sentence, the reflexive -se naturally refers back to the subject, la meva mare.

So the meaning is:

• she looks at herself in the mirror
• before she combs her own hair

If the person doing the second action were different, Catalan would normally make that clear with a different structure.

Yes, temps is being used as an uncountable idea here, like time in English.

So molt temps means a lot of time or a long time.

Even though English learners may expect something plural, Catalan normally says:

• fa molt temps not
• fan molts temps

Also, the verb stays singular: fa.