watasitati ha houritu ni sitagau.

It is pronounced:

Watashitachi wa hōritsu ni shitagau.

A breakdown:

• 私たち = watashitachi
• は = wa here, not ha
• 法律 = hōritsu
• に = ni
• 従う = shitagau

When は is used as the topic particle, it is pronounced wa.

So in this sentence:

• 私たち = we
• は = marks we as the topic

This is a very common point in Japanese:

• as a normal syllable: は = ha
• as a particle: は = wa

私たち means we or us, depending on context.

• 私 = I
• たち = a suffix that makes it plural or refers to a group

So 私たち is literally something like I + group, which becomes we.

In many situations, Japanese leaves out words like we if they are already understood, so this sentence could also naturally appear without 私たち.

は marks the topic of the sentence.

So 私たち は means something like:

• As for us, ...
• We, ...

The rest of the sentence says something about that topic:

• 法律に従う = follow/obey the law

Japanese often organizes sentences as:

• topic + comment

So this sentence is structurally:

• As for us, we obey the law.

Because the verb 従う normally takes に, not を, for the thing or person being followed/obeyed.

So:

• 法律に従う = obey the law
• ルールに従う = follow the rules
• 先生に従う = obey the teacher

This is one of those cases where Japanese verb patterns do not match English directly. Even though English says obey the law with a direct object, Japanese uses に with 従う.

It can mean both follow and obey, depending on context.

In this sentence, 法律に従う, the natural meaning is:

• obey the law
• or follow the law

The core idea of 従う is to act in accordance with something or submit to it:

• obey a person
• follow rules
• act according to instructions

So here it means behaving in accordance with the law.

従う is the dictionary form of the verb.

In Japanese, the dictionary form can express:

• a general truth
• a habitual action
• a future action, depending on context

So 私たちは法律に従う。 can mean:

• We obey the law.
• We will obey the law.
• We follow the law.

Without more context, it is usually understood as a general statement.

This sentence is in the plain style because it ends with 従う.

A more polite version would be:

• 私たちは法律に従います。

Both are correct. The difference is tone:

• 従う = plain
• 従います = polite

The plain form is common in dictionaries, casual speech, written statements, and explanatory text.

Yes, very often.

Japanese frequently omits subjects and topics when they are obvious from context. So just saying:

• 法律に従う。

can still mean:

• We obey the law.
• I obey the law.
• They obey the law.

The exact subject depends on context. Adding 私たち makes we explicit.

法律 means law, especially in the legal sense.

So:

• 法律 = law, legislation
• ルール = rule

Examples:

• 法律に従う = obey the law
• ルールに従う = follow the rules

If you are talking about society, government, or legal systems, 法律 is the right word.

Because Japanese normally places the verb at the end.

This sentence follows the usual Japanese word order:

• 私たち = topic
• 法律に = the thing being obeyed
• 従う = verb

So Japanese often looks like:

• Topic / subject + other information + verb

That is very different from English, where the verb usually comes earlier:

• We obey the law.

Yes. A very common expression is:

• 法律を守る

This literally uses 守る, which means protect or keep, but in this context it means observe / obey.

So both can work:

• 法律に従う = follow/obey the law
• 法律を守る = obey the law, keep the law

The nuance is a little different:

• 従う emphasizes following or acting according to something
• 守る emphasizes keeping or observing it

Both are natural, but 法律を守る is extremely common in everyday Japanese.

Here are the main readings:

• 私 → わたし (watashi)
• 法律 → ほうりつ (hōritsu)
• 従う → したがう (shitagau)

And the full sentence is:

• 私たちは法律に従う。
• わたしたちは ほうりつに したがう。

Note that たち, は, and に are written in hiragana.