Breakdown of Она спрашивает, а вы ей не отвечаете.
не
not
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
а
and (contrastive)
вы
you (plural)
спрашивать
to ask
отвечать
to answer
ей
to her
Questions & Answers about Она спрашивает, а вы ей не отвечаете.
Why use ей instead of её for "her"?
ей is the Dative form of она (she). In Russian, the action of answering is directed "to" someone, so the verb отвечать (to answer) always requires the Dative case for the person receiving the answer. её is the Accusative form, which is used for direct objects.
The English translation says "and", so why use а instead of и?
The word а is used to show a contrast between two things. Here, we have two different subjects doing opposing things: she asks, but (and) you do not answer. If you used и, it would sound like a simple list of disconnected facts rather than highlighting the contrast.
Why is the pronoun ей placed before не отвечаете? Can I put it at the end?
Yes, you can! Russian word order is flexible. Putting a short pronoun like ей before the verb is very natural and common, but а вы не отвечаете ей is also perfectly fine. Just remember that the negative word не must always stay immediately before the verb it negates.
Why do the verbs спрашивает and отвечаете have different endings?
They are matching their specific subjects. Both are in the present tense, but спрашивает ends in -ет because the subject is она (she, 3rd person singular). отвечаете ends in -ете because the subject is вы (you, 2nd person plural or formal).
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