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El novio y la novia se respetan mucho.

El novio y la novia se respetan mucho.
The boyfriend and the girlfriend respect each other a lot.
From Lesson 138:Reciprocal verbs and pronouns (nos, se)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El novio y la novia se respetan mucho.

Why does this sentence use se here? Doesn't it usually mean "themselves"?
It can! But se is also a reciprocal pronoun meaning "each other." Because we have two people doing an action to one another, se combined with the plural verb respetan translates to "respect each other."
Could this sentence also mean "The boyfriend and girlfriend respect themselves"?
Grammatically, yes! Without extra context, se respetan can mean either "they respect themselves" or "they respect each other." If a Spanish speaker needed to clear up any confusion, they could add el uno al otro (each other) at the end of the sentence.
Why is mucho used here instead of muy?
Mucho means "a lot" and is used here to describe how much they do the action of the verb (respetan). You use mucho to modify verbs. Muy means "very" and is only used before adjectives or adverbs, like muy enamorados (very in love).
Is there a shorter way to say el novio y la novia?
Yes, you could just say los novios. In Spanish, a mixed-gender couple or group is referred to using the masculine plural form. So, Los novios se respetan mucho is a very natural and common way to express this exact same idea.

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