Questions & Answers about Wij gaan mee, maar het hangt ervan af.
Why is the word mee used after gaan?
It comes from the separable verb meegaan, which means to go along or to come with. In a main clause, the verb splits: gaan takes the second position, and the separable part mee moves to the end of that clause.
Why doesn't the word maar change the word order in the second half?
The word maar (but) is a coordinating conjunction. Words like maar, en (and), and of (or) act as a bridge between two normal sentences without changing their word order. That is why we see the standard subject-verb order: het hangt.
Why do we need the word ervan here?
In English, you can simply say it depends. In Dutch, the expression is ergens van afhangen (to depend on something). When referring to an unnamed thing (it), Dutch combines er and van to make ervan (on it). You cannot just leave it out like in English!
Why is af at the very end of the sentence?
It belongs to the verb afhangen (to depend), which is another separable verb. The main verb hangt stays in the second position of its clause, and the prefix af gets sent all the way to the end of the sentence.
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