היא רואה את עצמה במראה.

את is the direct object marker. It appears before a definite direct object.

In היא רואה את עצמה, the thing being seen is עצמה = herself, and that object is definite, so Hebrew uses את before it.

A rough breakdown is:

• היא = she
• רואה = sees / is seeing
• את עצמה = herself
• במראה = in the mirror

Unlike English, את usually does not get translated by a separate word. It is just a grammar marker.

Because the sentence is reflexive: the subject and the object are the same person.

• אותה = her
• עצמה = herself

So:

• היא רואה אותה = She sees her (some other female)
• היא רואה את עצמה = She sees herself

English makes the same distinction between her and herself, and Hebrew does too.

Because the subject is היא = she, and in the present tense Hebrew adjectives/participles agree with the subject in gender and number.

The verb לראות = to see has these common present-tense forms:

• רואה = masculine singular
• רואה = feminine singular
• רואים = masculine plural
• רואות = feminine plural

In unpointed Hebrew, the masculine singular and feminine singular are both written רואה, but they are pronounced differently:

• masculine: ro'eh
• feminine: ro'ah

Since the subject is היא, the pronunciation here is ro'ah.

Here it is pronounced ro'ah.

The א is important because it helps separate the vowels. So this is not a smooth roa sound; there is a little break: ro-'ah.

That comes from the infinitive לראות = to see.

So the full sentence is pronounced roughly:

hi ro'ah et atsmah ba-mar'ah / be-mar'ah

depending on how במראה is being read.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Hebrew present tense often covers both:

• she sees
• she is seeing

So היא רואה את עצמה במראה could be understood as:

• She sees herself in the mirror
• or, in context, She is seeing herself in the mirror

Usually English chooses whichever sounds more natural in the situation.

עצמה is a reflexive pronoun form, meaning herself.

Hebrew often builds these forms from עצמ- plus endings. Some common ones are:

• עצמי = myself
• עצמך = yourself (masculine)
• עצמך = yourself (feminine, same spelling without vowels)
• עצמו = himself
• עצמה = herself
• עצמנו = ourselves
• עצמכם / עצמן / עצמם = yourselves / themselves

So את עצמה literally works like herself as the object of the verb.

The ב is the preposition in. In Hebrew, short prepositions are often attached directly to the following word.

So:

• ב = in
• מראה = mirror

Together:

• במראה = in a mirror or in the mirror

This attachment is very common in Hebrew:

• בבית = in a house / in the house
• בספר = in a book / in the book
• במראה = in a mirror / in the mirror

In unpointed Hebrew, במראה can represent either one.

With vowels, Hebrew distinguishes:

• בְּמַרְאָה = in a mirror
• בַּמַּרְאָה = in the mirror

But when Hebrew is written without vowel marks, both are usually written simply as במראה.

So the exact English translation depends on context.

Yes. Without vowel marks, מראה can be ambiguous.

It can mean:

• mirror = מַרְאָה
• appearance / look = מַרְאֶה

In this sentence, במראה clearly means in the mirror, not in the appearance, because of the context.

This is very common in Hebrew: unpointed spelling may leave more than one possible reading, and context tells you which one is meant.

This sentence uses a very normal Hebrew word order:

subject + verb + object + prepositional phrase

So:

• היא = subject
• רואה = verb
• את עצמה = object
• במראה = prepositional phrase

This is the most neutral way to say it.

Hebrew can change word order for emphasis, but this version is the standard, natural one for learners to use first.

Not in this sentence.

Since עצמה is the direct object of רואה, and it is definite, את is required:

• היא רואה את עצמה = correct

Leaving out את here would sound ungrammatical.

However, עצמה can appear without את when it is not a direct object, for example after a preposition:

• היא מדברת עם עצמה = She talks to herself

So the key point is not the word עצמה by itself, but its role in the sentence.