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Nós não nos arranhámos na árvore.

Nós não nos arranhámos na árvore.
We did not scratch ourselves on the tree.
From Lesson 81:Past tense reflexive verbs (-se)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Nós não nos arranhámos na árvore.

Why is the reflexive pronoun nos placed before the verb instead of attached to the end?
In European Portuguese, pronouns normally attach to the end of the verb with a hyphen. However, negative words like não act as a 'magnet' and pull the pronoun in front of the verb. Because of the não, the pronoun moves forward to form não nos arranhámos.
Why is there an accent mark on the verb arranhámos?
The accent on the á shows that this verb is in the simple past tense (Pretérito Perfeito). In European Portuguese, regular -ar verbs look almost exactly the same for 'we' in both the present and the past tense. The accent is the only difference! Nós arranhamos means 'we scratch' (present), while Nós arranhámos means 'we scratched' (past).
Doesn't na usually mean 'in the'? Why does it translate to 'on the' here?
The word na is a contraction of the preposition em + a (the). The preposition em is very flexible and can mean 'in', 'on', or 'at' depending on the context. Since you generally get scratched by the surface of a tree, 'on the' is the most natural English translation for this situation.
Could nos arranhámos also mean 'we scratched each other'?
Yes! Plural reflexive pronouns like nos can be either reflexive (doing the action to ourselves) or reciprocal (doing the action to each other). While 'we scratched each other on the tree' is a strange image, grammatically it is a perfectly valid translation of this phrase.

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