nos v. nosotros

Question

Tenemos dos hijos y nos concentramos mucho en ellos.We have two sons and we focus a lot on them.  "nos" instead of nosotros?  This reads as if the children are concentrating on "us".  l get it for gustar, but "concentramos"?

Silvia Píriz · Accepted Answer

Hola John C.
That's a great question!
In this sentence, nos is not being used instead of nosotros. Rather, it is the reflexive pronoun that belongs to the verb concentrarse ("to concentrate" or "to focus").
The full sentence is:
(Nosotros) nos concentramos mucho en ellos.
Here:

Nosotros = the subject ("we")
nos = the reflexive pronoun required by concentrarse

In Spanish, subject pronouns like nosotros are often omitted because the verb ending already tells us who the subject is. The ending -amos in concentramos makes it clear that the subject is we.
So the sentence means:
"We have two children and we focus a lot on them."
The nos does not refer to the children focusing on us. It is simply part of the pronominal verb concentrarse.
I hope that clears it up!
Silvia