Älä heitä lasia roskiin, vaan kierrätä se erikseen.

Don’t throw glass in the trash; recycle it separately.

Breakdown of Älä heitä lasia roskiin, vaan kierrätä se erikseen.

• se: it
• vaan: but
• älä: don't
• heittää: to throw
• lasi: the glass
• kierrättää: to recycle
• erikseen: separately

Questions & Answers about Älä heitä lasia roskiin, vaan kierrätä se erikseen.

What does the sentence älä heitä lasia roskiin, vaan kierrätä se erikseen mean in English?

It means “Don't throw glass in the trash, but recycle it separately.” This is a command directing someone not to dispose of glass with regular waste but to recycle it on its own.

Why is the word lasia in the partitive case instead of the nominative?

In Finnish, when giving negative commands or when describing an action considered incomplete or non-totalized, the object often takes the partitive form. Lasia is the partitive singular of lasi (glass), which emphasizes that the command refers to glass in general rather than a specific, whole object.

What is the role of roskiin in the sentence and which case is it?

Roskiin is in the illative case. The illative case expresses movement or direction toward a place—in this case, indicating the destination (the trash) where the glass should not be thrown.

How is the negative imperative formed in this sentence?

Finnish forms the negative imperative by using the negative particle älä followed by the base form of the verb. Here, Älä heitä translates to “don’t throw.” This construction is different from the positive imperative, where the verb typically takes a specific ending instead of a separate negative particle.

What is the purpose of vain in this sentence?

Vain functions as a contrastive conjunction, meaning “but rather” or “instead.” It connects the negative instruction (not throwing the glass in the trash) with the alternative, positive action (recycling it separately).

Why is the pronoun se used in the second clause instead of repeating lasia?

The pronoun se stands in for lasia to avoid repetition. This is a common practice in Finnish to keep the language concise; se clearly refers back to the glass mentioned earlier, maintaining clarity and fluency within the sentence.