Breakdown of Он часто приказывает мне, а я не слушаю.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
а
and (contrastive)
я
I
часто
often
слушать
to listen
приказывать
to order, to command
Questions & Answers about Он часто приказывает мне, а я не слушаю.
Why is мне used after приказывает instead of the accusative меня?
The verb приказывать (to order or command) is a verb of communication. In Russian, when you direct a message or command to someone, that person takes the Dative case without a preposition. Because of this verb government, 'orders me' translates using the Dative мне.
Why are приказывает and слушаю both in the imperfective aspect?
The word часто (often) tells us these are repeated, habitual actions. Because they are recurring routines rather than one-time completed events, we need the imperfective forms of both verbs.
The English translation says 'but', so why does the sentence use the conjunction а instead of но?
The conjunction но is used for a direct contradiction or an unexpected result. Here, the sentence simply contrasts two different subjects doing two different things: he does one thing, while I do another. The conjunction а is the natural choice for this kind of 'whereas' or 'on the other hand' contrast.
Could I use слушаюсь instead of слушаю here?
Yes, and it would change the nuance slightly. Слушать primarily means 'to listen', though in this context it implies ignoring what he says. If you used the reflexive слушаться (making it не слушаюсь), it would specifically mean 'to obey'. Both fit well, but не слушаюсь translates strictly as 'I do not obey'.
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