kàndào nà jiā kāfēiguǎn, wǒ jiù xiǎngqǐ wǒmen dìyīcì jiànmiàn de shíhou.

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Breakdown of kàndào nà jiā kāfēiguǎn, wǒ jiù xiǎngqǐ wǒmen dìyīcì jiànmiàn de shíhou.

• 我们wǒmen: we
• 那nà: that
• 就jiù: then

Questions & Answers about kàndào nà jiā kāfēiguǎn, wǒ jiù xiǎngqǐ wǒmen dìyīcì jiànmiàn de shíhou.

Why does the sentence start with 看到 instead of 我看到?

Because Chinese often omits a repeated subject when it is already obvious.

In this sentence, the subject of both parts is 我:

• 看到那家咖啡馆
• 我就想起我们第一次见面的时候

So the first 我 can be left out naturally. The idea is roughly:

• (我)看到那家咖啡馆，我就想起...

This sounds a bit like Seeing that café, I think of... or When I see that café, I think of... in English.

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What exactly does 看到 mean here?

看到 is 看 + 到.

• 看 = to look
• 到 = a result complement meaning something like successfully reach / attain

So 看到 means to see, to catch sight of, or to notice.

It is a little more result-focused than just 看.
Compare:

• 看那家咖啡馆 = look at that café
• 看到那家咖啡馆 = see/catch sight of that café

So here it is not just the act of looking; it is the moment the café comes into the speaker’s awareness.

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Is 看到 past tense here, like saw, or present, like see?