Breakdown of De buurman roept mij en ik volg hem.
ik
I
en
and
de buurman
the neighbor (male)
mij
me
hem
him
volgen
to follow
roepen
to call (shout)
Questions & Answers about De buurman roept mij en ik volg hem.
Why does this sentence use mij instead of me?
Both mij and me mean "me", but mij is the stressed form. You use mij when you want to put special emphasis on the person being called, like "The neighbor is calling me (and not someone else)." If you just want to state the fact without extra emphasis, you would use the unstressed me.
How does hem fit into the pattern of object pronouns?
The word hem is the object pronoun for "him" (receiving the action of the verb volg). Unlike "me" (mij/me) or "you" (jou/je), hem does not have a separate unstressed spelling, though in fast speech Dutch speakers often pronounce it as a shortened "'m".
Why does roept have a -t at the end, but volg does not?
The verb ending changes based on who is doing the action. De buurman is a "he" (third person singular), so the verb roepen gets a -t added to its stem (roep + t). The second part of the sentence starts with ik (I), and the "I" form is always just the pure stem (volg).
Does roept mean the neighbor is calling on the phone?
No, roepen means to call out with your physical voice, or to shout. If the neighbor were calling you on the telephone, you would use the verb bellen.
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