Word
De buurvrouw roept jou, maar jij hoort haar niet.
Meaning
The neighbor calls you, but you do not hear her.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about De buurvrouw roept jou, maar jij hoort haar niet.
Why does this sentence use jou first, and then jij?
Jou is an object pronoun (the person receiving the action of being called), while jij is a subject pronoun (the person doing the action of hearing). In English, both are just 'you', but Dutch uses different words depending on their role in the sentence.
Could I use je instead of jou and jij?
Yes, grammatically you could use the unstressed je for both. However, using the stressed forms jou and jij creates a strong contrast for emphasis: the neighbor is calling you, but you are not hearing her.
How do we know to use haar (her) at the end of the sentence?
The word buurvrouw specifically means a female neighbor. If the neighbor were male, it would be de buurman, and you would use the masculine object pronoun hem (him) instead.
Why is niet placed at the very end of the sentence?
When you negate a complete action (like not hearing someone), niet usually goes at the end of the clause. In Dutch, niet must come after specific objects, like the pronoun haar.